On June 28th, 1907, Branch Rickey, then a 26-year old backup catcher for the New York Yankees, had 12 Washington Senator players steal safely on him. The Yankees, predictably, lost that day to the Senators 16-5.

It is easy to forget that Branch Rickey, who is most famous for bringing Jackie Robinson to the Major Leagues, also once played the game that he was so instrumental in helping to integrate.

According to Baseball Reference, Rickey played parts of four Major League seasons as a catcher. One for the Yankees and three for the St. Louis Browns. It also looks like he played two games for the Browns in 1914 as Player-Manager.

Playing in the Dead-Ball Era, Rickey had no homers in 463 at-bats. But he did have six triples and stole 8 bases. So he must have had a little speed.

I spent a little time trying to research a few other Branch Rickey games. But being a novice at baseball research I did not get very far. I am guessing though that this game was one of his worse. It would be an exceptionally bad day at the office for any catcher at any level.

Bad days at the office and failure are as much a part of the game of baseball as they are for the rest of life. The oft quoted adage that “A good hitter fails one-third of the time” is something we an all relate to in one way or another.

Rickey did not let a bad game or a relatively modest playing career define him as a person or even a someone involved in the game he obviously loved. Rickey persevered and went on to change the game of baseball, as well as our wider society.

Branch Rickey is a good reminder to all of us to keep on persevering, even after a bad day at the office.