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Bobby Bragan (Deceased) had an 8 year Major league career as a player with the Brooklyn Dodgers and Phillies. He would also manage the Pirates, Indians, and Braves. 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 Brooklyn and then brought Bragan to Hollywood and the Pittsburgh organization, 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. 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." When Bragan attended Rickey's funeral in 1965, he stated that he decided to attend because, "Branch Rickey made me a better man."
Offered is a 2 page handwritten letter on the Hotel Utah’s letterhead dated July 28, 1959 when Bragan was in between jobs a the Cleveland Indians Manager and Dodgers coach. The Dodgers brought him back on board as a coach in 1960. He writes to Buzzie Bavasi about Tom Saffell who played with the Pirates and Athletics in the 40’s and 50’s. He tells Bavasi that he should consider Saffell as a manager in the winter leagues as Saffell had coached in Spoakane for Bragan. He writes, “I am writing you instead of Al Campanis as I felt that Al will probably prefer a man who has managed previously; and possibly you will feel the same.”
Very cool baseball content showing Bragan going out of his way for a friend.
Item: 9177
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