Bobby Bragan
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.
Bragan and his four brothers all played baseball. Bragan 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 the Brooklyn Dodgers, he had learned how to catch and was for the most part a second stringer for the remainder of his MLB career. A right-handed batter, Bragan hit .240 in 597 games, with 15 career home runs.
In 1947 Bragan 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."
Rickey cut Bragan from the team in July 1948, when the club signed Roy Campanella. He subsequently offered Bragan a job as manager of the Fort Worth Cats in the Texas League. He remained with the Cats for five years and won championships in his first two seasons.
Bragan went on to manage the 1953 Hollywood Stars in the 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.
During his major league career, Bragan managed 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).
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.
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.
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, 9 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.
Bragan died at his home in Fort Worth from a heart attack in January 2010.
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 Kinston Professional Baseball Hall of Fame
- 2005 - Elected into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame
- 2006 - Inducted into the Legends of LaGrave
References
- Bobby Bragan (March 30, 2010) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia - accessed April 5, 2010
External links
- Bobby Bragan at Baseball-Reference.com
- Bobby Bragan at losangelesdodgersonline.com