Branch Rickey, American baseball player and manager (died 1965)

Wesley Branch Rickey was an American baseball player, manager, sports executive, and team owner. Rickey was instrumental in breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier by signing black player Jackie Robinson. He also created the framework for the modern minor league farm system, encouraged the major leagues to add new teams through his involvement in the proposed Continental League, and introduced the batting helmet. He was posthumously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967.