Author Mike Mitchell has written a book, “Mr. Rickey’s Redbirds,” and it’s a compelling blend of baseball and American history.
I read it and found it to be thought-provoking and informative.
The book can be ordered on Amazon or at the author’s website, rickeysredbirds.com.
I interviewed Mitchell via email in May 2020. The interview is presented here in an edited, condensed form.
Q: Congratulations on writing the book. What inspired you to do it?
A: “I wrote a book many years ago and appreciated the process. I enjoy researching and writing, but needed time and a new idea. Both emerged around 2015. I had moved back to St. Louis just a few years before, having wound down some previous business commitments. I was fortunate to have the freedom to pursue a new venture. What started as a curious peek into the team’s first World Series championship squad in 1926 eventually became the book that is out today.”
Q: How does this book differ from others about the Cardinals and baseball?
A: “A lot of baseball books focus on a particular person or a particular season. At the other end of the spectrum are books that present a comprehensive history. This book is somewhere in between. It’s largely about Branch Rickey, but also the eras in which he played, managed or ran a front office. It covers a lot of ground because Rickey covered a lot of ground.
“At times, it’s also a book that delves into the broader sweep of history. Prohibition, the Black Sox scandal, the Great Depression, and segregation are all topics Rickey and the Cardinals face during his time in St. Louis.”
Q: From inception to completion, how long did the project take and what was the most time-consuming aspect?
A: “It started around 2015 when I began researching the 1926 team, but as I continued to dig into the material, I quickly realized it was a much bigger story. By 2017, I had the outline for what the book became and by the summer of 2018, I was probably 75 percent complete and expected to have a book done by Christmas of that year. But my father passed away in January of 2019, and from about six months before that until six months afterward, I lost my appetite for the project. I picked it up again in the second half of last year.”
Q: What was the biggest obstacle or challenge you had to overcome and how did you do it?
A: “With the Internet and digitalization of many newspapers, magazines and books, access to information isn’t an issue. Deciding what to include among the fire hose of facts, figures and data available is. One of the ways I handle this is to include all sorts of supplemental information in the end notes of every chapter.”
Q: The book is honest and accurate, and doesn’t sugarcoat or sensationalize. How were you able to strike the right balance?
A: “I can’t say it was some grand strategy, but I can say I started with a blank slate and a curious mind. Whether the information was positive or negative, my main interest was telling a captivating story in a compelling fashion. One thing I notice is that once a book is in print, certain ideas, stories, and quotes get injected into the bloodstream of history. Good stories tend to get told again. I’m sure I’ve fallen for it myself, but I try to be skeptical anytime I see a quote that gets endlessly repeated without attribution. Skepticism, combined with curiosity, goes a long way.”
Q: Do you think anyone in baseball today has qualities similar to Branch Rickey?
A: “If Bill James is the father of SABR metrics, Branch Rickey is the grandfather. As manager of the Browns in 1914, he had a sportswriter named Travis Hoke charting pitches and counting bases, not hits. Later with the Dodgers, he hired a statistician, Allan Roth. The two developed a formula for wins based on things like on-base and slugging percentage.
“If I had to name one person that fits the Rickey mold, Bill DeWitt Jr. comes to mind. His father had a long history with Rickey, worked for him for years. It was Rickey who brokered the deal that saw DeWitt Sr. and Don Barnes take control of the Browns. As a general manager, DeWitt Sr. became the first executive to win pennants in both leagues (1944 Browns, 1961 Reds). Bill Veeck said in the early 1960s, that outside of Rickey, there’s no smarter man in baseball than DeWitt. This is the environment in which DeWitt Jr. grew up.”
Q: What are your personal remembrances of Cardinals baseball and what was its impact on you?
A: “When I think of Cardinals baseball, I think of my family and summertime. My earliest memories aren’t of watching games, but listening to them on the radio with my father, either in the car or on our patio. While I live in St. Louis now, I didn’t grow up here. The only time we saw the Cardinals on television was Sunday road games, or the rare occasion the team would be on the Game of the Week. We made the trip to St. Louis to watch games only a handful of times a year.
“My father got his love for Cardinals baseball from his father, my grandfather, who was born in 1893. I like to think that between the three of us, we’ve had memories of nearly every Cardinals team.
“The weekend Ozzie Smith was inducted into the Hall of Fame, my father and I were there for his speech. That’s the only time I’ve been to Cooperstown, and it’s a memory I’ll always cherish.
“My mother merely tolerated baseball for many years. She’d watch the games because the males in the house would be watching them. That all changed in the summer of 1998. She became a fan that season because of Mark McGwire and the chase to break the record set by Roger Maris. She’s 88 now, still a fan, and like all of us, can’t wait for baseball to return.”
Q: Can you share with us a favorite personal baseball anecdote?
A: “Hands down, Game 6 of the 2011 World Series is my favorite baseball moment. I got lucky. It was the only game of the Series I attended. I remember the knot in my stomach in the bottom of the ninth inning as a group of Rangers fans in front of me stood up to cheer what seemed to be inevitable. Then the David Freese triple happened. Then Josh Hamilton homered and back to despair. Somehow the Cardinals clawed back to tie it again. The roller coaster ride ended with the Freese home run to center. A friend said I began shouting, ”David Freese!” I don’t remember that, but I do remember the feeling. Pure joy.
“I’d never experienced a moment quite like that as a fan, and doubt I will again.”
Q: Anything else about the book?
A: “I hope readers can think about two questions after reading the book: 1. Why isn’t scout Charley Barrett in the Cardinals Hall of Fame? It may surprise people to realize how influential and well-known Barrett was in St. Louis. 2. Why isn’t Rickey’s image on the left-field wall at Busch Stadium along with other greats of the franchise? He didn’t play for the Cardinals, but neither did Jack Buck nor Gussie Busch. If a franchise can honor a broadcaster and an owner, why not a general manager?”
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