May he rest in peace.

Though to be honest, I saw "Braves Mgr. Bobby...Dies" and thought it was someone else...

Bragan was an ardent anti-integrationist, one of the most vocal members of the 1947 Dodgers opposed to Jackie Robinson's presence on the team. But once the season unfolded, and he observed what Robinson went through and how he handled it, Bragan began to greatly admire Robinson, and he saw that he'd been wrong all along, that what he'd been taught to believe was nonsense. Bragan became a vocal champion of integration.

It takes a big person to be that self-aware, and to grow that way. May he rest in peace.

It sure does. The hardest thing in the world to do is to actually think, as opposed to merely justify, and not only as to race, although the we have plenty of evidence of that, the present situation being what it is. Something Bertrand Russell once wrote seems undeniable: "most people would rather die than think;in fact, most people do."

This from the local SABR chapter, in case anyone is in the area and would like to pay their respects:

Bobby Bragan’s memorial service will be held on Wednesday, January 27th, at 11:00 AM at the First Methodist Church, 800 W. 5th Street, in Fort Worth 76102

"Branch Rickey made me a better man." - on why he attended Branch Rickey's funeral. RIP.

I was 10 years old when Bobby Bragan was hired to manage my beloved Buccos. The year before, 1955, was the year I truly became aware of the "pull" of major league baseball on a young fans heartstrings. Clemente was a rookie that year, and we had future Pirate greats like Groat and Dale Long on that team.
Bobby was a face and a name; I remember him speaking on TV and radio interviews but I didn't really appreciate the value of a manager.
Like most kids my age, I was focused on the guys playing ball.

1956 saw the Pirates bring up a skinny 2b-man named Mazerowski as well as Billy Virdon and Bobby Skinner. Thank goodness the O'brien twins were benched in favor of Maz and Groat.
Bobby lasted until late in the 57 season when our savior, the beloved Daniel Murtagh took over (Joe L. Brown's smartest move ever, OK second smartest move ever. The first was stealing Clemente from the Dodgers) and quickly (3 years) led us to the greatest World Series win of my lifetime.

Bragan is just a footnote in the managerial list of the Pirates; but even though he was a mediocre manager he was the leader of my boyhood heros.