Bobby Bragan: Difference between revisions

From Bhamwiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(New page: '''Robert Randall Bragan''' (born October 30, 1917, in Birmingham) is a former shortstop, catcher, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball. He also was an influential execu...)
 
 
(8 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
'''Robert Randall Bragan''' (born [[October 30]], [[1917]], in [[Birmingham]]) is a former shortstop, catcher, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball. He also was an influential executive in minor league baseball. On [[August 16]], [[2005]], Bragan came out of retirement to manage the independent Central League Fort Worth Cats for one game, making him — at 87 years, nine months and 16 days old — the oldest manager in professional baseball annals (besting by one week Connie Mack, the manager and part owner of the Philadelphia Athletics). Always known as an innovator with a sense of humor — and a world-class umpire-baiter — Bragan was ejected in the third inning of his "comeback", thus also becoming the oldest person in any capacity to be ejected from a professional baseball game. Bragan enjoyed the rest of the Cats' 11-10 victory from a more comfortable vantage point.
[[Image:Bobby Bragan.jpg|right|thumb|Bobby Bragan in the 1940s]]
'''Robert Randall Bragan''' (born [[October 30]], [[1917]] in [[Birmingham]]; died [[January 21]], [[2010]] in Fort Worth, Texas) was a Major League Baseball player and manager, and former president of the Texas League and the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues.


==Career as player and field manager==
==Baseball playing career==
During his major league career, Bragan never skippered a game past his 49th birthday. He managed the Pittsburgh Pirates (1956-57), Cleveland Indians (1958) and Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves (1963-66), each time getting fired in the mid-season of his final campaign (in Cleveland, he lasted a total of only 67 games of his maiden season before his dismissal). His career record in the major leagues was below .500: 443-478 (.481).
Bragan and his four brothers all played baseball. Bragan signed with the Panama City Pelicans of the Class-D Alabama-Florida League in [[1937]]. He moved up to the Class-B Pensacola Pilots before getting a tryout with the Philadelphia Phillies at their Spring training camp in [[1940]].


But Bragan was highly respected as a minor league pilot, winning championships in 1948-49 at Fort Worth of the AA Texas League during a successful five-year run, and with the 1953 Hollywood Stars of the Open-Classification Pacific Coast League. A photograph of Bragan lying at the feet of an umpire who had ejected him, still arguing, was published in LIFE Magazine at the time. Bragan also was a major league coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Colt .45s.
Bragan debuted in the majors as a shortstop for the Phillies on [[April 16]] of that year and hit seven home runs that season. He had his best year in [[1941]] with 69 runs batted in. He was traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers in [[1943]] and was used primarily as a utility player and back-up catcher. He dropped out of the majors during the suspension of play for [[World War II]]. He enlisted on [[April 19]], [[1945]] at [[Fort McClellan]] and was commissioned a lieutenant and made captain of the Headquarters Team. He was discharged on [[February 1]], [[1947]] and reported to the Dodger's Spring training in Havana, Cuba.


Bragan was a protégé of Branch Rickey, the Hall of Fame front office executive, who hired him as an unproven young manager at Fort Worth when both were with the Brooklyn Dodgers and then brought Bragan to Hollywood and Pittsburgh, where Rickey was general manager from 1951-55. Bragan started the 1948 season with Brooklyn, but Rickey wanted to bring up Roy Campanella from the minors. Rickey offered Bragan the managerial job with the Fort Worth Cats and he took over in July of ’48, remaining with the Cats for five years.
Bragan returned as a back-up for the Dodgers in [[1947]]. That year he was one of a group of players who petitioned the team not to sign African-American Jackie Robinson. In a [[2005]] interview, he told of his quick change of heart, saying, "After just one road trip, I saw the quality of Jackie the man and the player. I told Mr. Rickey I had changed my mind and I was honored to be a teammate of Jackie Robinson."


Ironically, Bragan had clashed with Rickey in 1947 over the Dodgers' breaking of the baseball color line after the major-league debut of Jackie Robinson. Bragan — the Dodgers' second-string catcher at the time — was one of a group of white players, largely from the American South, who signed a petition against Robinson's presence. He even asked Rickey to trade him. But Bragan quickly relented. "After just one road trip, I saw the quality of Jackie the man and the player," Bragan told mlb.com in 2005. "I told Mr. Rickey I had changed my mind and I was honored to be a teammate of Jackie Robinson." And as a manager, Bragan earned a reputation for fairness and "color-blindedness."
==Managing==
Rickey cut Bragan from the team in July [[1948]], when the club signed Roy Campanella. Over the course of his 7-year Major League career, the right-handed Bragan hit .240 in 597 games, with 15 home runs. Rickey offered Bragan a job as a player-manager for the Fort Worth Cats in the Texas League. He remained with the Cats for five years, winning championships in his first two seasons.


He began his seven-year (1940-44; 1947-48) major league playing career as a shortstop for the Philadelphia Phillies, but by 1943, his first season with Brooklyn, he had learned how to catch and was for the most part a backup receiver for the Dodgers for the remainder of his MLB playing days. A righthanded batter, Bragan hit .240 in 597 games, with 15 career home runs.
Bragan went on to manage the Hollywood Stars in the Pacific Coast League from [[1953]] to [[1956]]. A photograph of Bragan lying at the feet of an umpire who had ejected him, still arguing, was published in ''LIFE Magazine'' at the time.


Bragan returned to the Major League as a coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Colt .45s. He was given the opportunity to manage the Pittsburgh Pirates (1956-57), Cleveland Indians (1958) and Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves (1963-66). He left each job by getting fired in mid-season. His career record in the major leagues was 443-478 (.481). Known throughout his career for harassing umpires, Bragan was ejected from more than 150 games.


==President of Texas League and National Association==
==Baseball executive and retirement==
In 1969, Bragan, a Fort Worth resident, began a new career chapter when he became president of the Texas League. He was so successful, in [[1975]] he was elected president of the minor leagues' governing body, the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues.
In [[1969]], Bragan, a Fort Worth resident, began a new career chapter when he became president of the Texas League. One of his first innovations was to dress the league's umpired in multi-colored mock-turtlenecks and windbreakers. In [[1975]] he was elected president of the minor leagues' governing body, the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues. He was inducted into the [[Alabama Sports Hall of Fame]] in [[1980]] and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in [[2005]].


Upon his retirement, Bobby and his wife, Gwen, made their permanent home in Fort Worth, Texas.
Upon his retirement, Bobby and his wife, Gwen, made their permanent home in Fort Worth, Texas. After Gwen Bragan’s death, Bobby married Roberta Bloxom in [[1985]]. It was Roberta who suggested to Bobby that he establish a scholarship foundation to encourage youth to do well in school and go on to college. The Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation (BBYF) was established in [[1991]] under the direction of Jim Beckman, Roberta’s son and has provided over 400 college scholarships to North Texas area eighth-graders.


After Gwen Bragan’s death, Bobby married Roberta Bloxom in 1985. It was Roberta who suggested to Bobby that he establish a scholarship foundation to encourage youth to do well in school and go on to college. The Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation [1] (BBYF) was established in 1991 under the direction of Jim Beckman, Roberta’s son.
On [[August 16]], [[2005]], Bragan came out of retirement to manage the independent Central League Fort Worth Cats for one game, making him the oldest man to ever manage a professional baseball game (besting the Philadelphia A's Connie Mack by one week). True to form, Bragan was ejected in the third inning, thus also becoming the oldest person in any capacity to be ejected from a professional baseball game. Bragan enjoyed the rest of the Cats' 11-10 victory from a more comfortable vantage point.


At 90 years old, Bobby continues an active schedule, as the Executive Director of the Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation and making numerous appearances for civic organizations and businesses, as well as in schools, where he enjoys entertaining and motivating students. Each year the Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation honors outstanding athletes for the achievements on and off of the playing field, honorees have included Willie Mays, Lou Brock and Brooks Robinson.
Bragan died at his home in Fort Worth from a heart attack in January [[2010]].


Bragan comes from a baseball family. All five Bragan boys played baseball. His late brother [[Jimmy Bragan|Jimmy]] was a minor league player and longtime coach and scout in major league baseball who himself was president of the AA [[Southern League]] during the 1980s, and the younger generations of the Bragan family have owned and operated numerous minor league teams.
==Publications==
 
* Bragan, Bobby ''You Can't Hit the Ball With the Bat on Your Shoulder: The Baseball Life and Times of Bobby Bragan.''
 
==Honors==
*1950 - Selected as Outstanding Young Man of Fort Worth
*1976 - Elected Outstanding Man of Florida by St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce
*[[1980]] - Elected into [[Alabama Sports Hall of Fame]]
*1989 - Received the Wall of Fame from P.O.N.Y. Baseball, Washington, PA 
*1994 - Number retired (# 10) by [[Fort Worth Cats]]
*1998 - Inducted into the [[List of Kinston baseball people#Kinston Professional Baseball Hall of Fame|Kinston Professional Baseball Hall of Fame]]
*2005 - Elected into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame [[http://www.tshof.org]]
*2006 - Inducted into the Legends of LaGrave


==References==
==References==
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bobby_Bragan&oldid=219280328 Bobby Bragan]. (June 14, 2008). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 25, 2008.
* Bedingfield, Gary (January 22, 2010) "[http://baseballinwartime.blogspot.com/2010/01/bobby-bragan-dies-at-92.html Bobby Bragan Dies at 92]" Baseball in Wartime - accessed April 5, 2010
* Goldstein, Richard (January 26, 2010) "Bobby Bragan, Ex-Baseball Manager and Executive, Dies at 92." ''The New York Times''
* Reeves, Jim (January 27, 2010) "Bragan was friend to all who knew him.'' ESPNDallas.com
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bobby_Bragan&oldid=352935640 Bobby Bragan] (March 30, 2010) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia - accessed April 5, 2010


==External links==
==External links==
* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/bragabo01.shtml Baseball-Reference.com] - career managing record and playing statistics
* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/bragabo01.shtml Bobby Bragan] at Baseball-Reference.com
* [http://www.losangelesdodgersonline.com/bobbybragan.php LosAngelesDodgersonline.com]
* [http://www.losangelesdodgersonline.com/bobbybragan.php Bobby Bragan] at losangelesdodgersonline.com  
 


{{DEFAULTSORT:Bragan, Bobby}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bragan, Bobby}}
[[Category:1917 births]]
[[Category:1917 births]]
[[Category:Basbeball players]]
[[Category:2010 deaths]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball players]]
[[Category:US Army officers]]
[[Category:World War II veterans]]
[[Category:Baseball coaches]]
[[Category:Baseball coaches]]
 
[[Category:Major League managers]]
{{GFDL}}
[[Category:Alabama Sports Hall of Fame]]
[[Category:Heart attack victims]]

Latest revision as of 10:06, 13 April 2016

Bobby Bragan in the 1940s

Robert Randall Bragan (born October 30, 1917 in Birmingham; died January 21, 2010 in Fort Worth, Texas) was a Major League Baseball player and manager, and former president of the Texas League and the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues.

Baseball playing career

Bragan and his four brothers all played baseball. Bragan signed with the Panama City Pelicans of the Class-D Alabama-Florida League in 1937. He moved up to the Class-B Pensacola Pilots before getting a tryout with the Philadelphia Phillies at their Spring training camp in 1940.

Bragan debuted in the majors as a shortstop for the Phillies on April 16 of that year and hit seven home runs that season. He had his best year in 1941 with 69 runs batted in. He was traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1943 and was used primarily as a utility player and back-up catcher. He dropped out of the majors during the suspension of play for World War II. He enlisted on April 19, 1945 at Fort McClellan and was commissioned a lieutenant and made captain of the Headquarters Team. He was discharged on February 1, 1947 and reported to the Dodger's Spring training in Havana, Cuba.

Bragan returned as a back-up for the Dodgers in 1947. That year he was one of a group of players who petitioned the team not to sign African-American Jackie Robinson. In a 2005 interview, he told of his quick change of heart, saying, "After just one road trip, I saw the quality of Jackie the man and the player. I told Mr. Rickey I had changed my mind and I was honored to be a teammate of Jackie Robinson."

Managing

Rickey cut Bragan from the team in July 1948, when the club signed Roy Campanella. Over the course of his 7-year Major League career, the right-handed Bragan hit .240 in 597 games, with 15 home runs. Rickey offered Bragan a job as a player-manager for the Fort Worth Cats in the Texas League. He remained with the Cats for five years, winning championships in his first two seasons.

Bragan went on to manage the Hollywood Stars in the Pacific Coast League from 1953 to 1956. A photograph of Bragan lying at the feet of an umpire who had ejected him, still arguing, was published in LIFE Magazine at the time.

Bragan returned to the Major League as a coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Colt .45s. He was given the opportunity to manage the Pittsburgh Pirates (1956-57), Cleveland Indians (1958) and Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves (1963-66). He left each job by getting fired in mid-season. His career record in the major leagues was 443-478 (.481). Known throughout his career for harassing umpires, Bragan was ejected from more than 150 games.

Baseball executive and retirement

In 1969, Bragan, a Fort Worth resident, began a new career chapter when he became president of the Texas League. One of his first innovations was to dress the league's umpired in multi-colored mock-turtlenecks and windbreakers. In 1975 he was elected president of the minor leagues' governing body, the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues. He was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.

Upon his retirement, Bobby and his wife, Gwen, made their permanent home in Fort Worth, Texas. After Gwen Bragan’s death, Bobby married Roberta Bloxom in 1985. It was Roberta who suggested to Bobby that he establish a scholarship foundation to encourage youth to do well in school and go on to college. The Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation (BBYF) was established in 1991 under the direction of Jim Beckman, Roberta’s son and has provided over 400 college scholarships to North Texas area eighth-graders.

On August 16, 2005, Bragan came out of retirement to manage the independent Central League Fort Worth Cats for one game, making him the oldest man to ever manage a professional baseball game (besting the Philadelphia A's Connie Mack by one week). True to form, Bragan was ejected in the third inning, thus also becoming the oldest person in any capacity to be ejected from a professional baseball game. Bragan enjoyed the rest of the Cats' 11-10 victory from a more comfortable vantage point.

Bragan died at his home in Fort Worth from a heart attack in January 2010.

Publications

  • Bragan, Bobby You Can't Hit the Ball With the Bat on Your Shoulder: The Baseball Life and Times of Bobby Bragan.

References

  • Bedingfield, Gary (January 22, 2010) "Bobby Bragan Dies at 92" Baseball in Wartime - accessed April 5, 2010
  • Goldstein, Richard (January 26, 2010) "Bobby Bragan, Ex-Baseball Manager and Executive, Dies at 92." The New York Times
  • Reeves, Jim (January 27, 2010) "Bragan was friend to all who knew him. ESPNDallas.com
  • Bobby Bragan (March 30, 2010) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia - accessed April 5, 2010

External links

Retrieved from "http://bhamwiki.com/w/index.php?title=Bobby_Bragan&oldid=125998"