Displayed are a 1932-33 contract signed by Hall of Fame baseball executive Branch Rickey and a signed Rickey photo. Rickey was a Major League catcher with the St. Louis Browns and the New York Highlanders (later called Yankees). After struggling in the Major Leagues, Rickey became a Major League manager and general manager. He was instrumental in developing the modern farm system, and he was in the forefront in promoting the use of batting helmets. His crowning achievement was breaking the modern Major League "color line" when he signed Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers organization, and then after Robinson spent a season in the minors at Montreal, Rickey promoted him to the Dodgers for the start of the 1947 campaign, changing baseball history and providing a tremendous civil rights advance. 

The offered contract is a National League Uniform Player's Contract of four pages, measuring 8.5x11". The contract was originally from Feb. 5, 1932, when pitcher Owen T. Carroll signed with the "CINCINNATI BASE BALL CLUB COMPANY" for $6500.00. The contract was then assigned to the St. Louis Cardinals and then further assigned to the Brooklyn Dodgers on Feb. 27, 1933. Rickey signed in steel tip fountain ink, with a slightly cramped signature and a partial cross-out, as the Vice President of the St. Louis Cardinals. The contract is also signed, in steel tip ink, by John Heydler, as the National League President. In addition, the contract is also signed by Owen Carroll, a pitcher with four Major League teams, with a career MLB record of 64-90, whose best season was in 1928 when he went 16-12 for the Detroit Tigers. 

The contract has been folded into thirds, and it has fold lines. On the third page is an approx. half-inch partial tear along the edge of the top fold line. The contract, nearly nine decades old, exhibits some foxing and darkening. There are a few small stains. The signed contract comes with a PSA/DNA LOA for the Rickey and Heydler signatures and a JSA LOA for the signatures of Rickey, Heydler, and Carroll. The included newspaper black & white signed photo of Rickey measures approx. 3.4x7". It is affixed to an approx. 3.75x7" card stock backing. On the bottom of the photo, likely from the 1940s, Rickey has scripted a bold signature in black fountain ink. This signed photo comes with a JSA LOA. The newspaper photo exhibits some slightly roughcut edges and some top corner wear, but it is in overall very good condition. In view of Rickey's historical significance in bringing Jackie Robinson to the Major Leagues, this offering, with two Rickey signatures, makes a prized collectible, with long-range potential value.

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