Rickey: The Life and Legend of an American Original

by Howard Bryant

A decade after being traded from the Yankees, Rickey was back in New York—almost. Phillips had been forewarned that Rickey was cut from a different cloth, which he discovered when it was time to finalize the deal. “We were done negotiating with his representatives, but then they say, ‘You have to talk to Rickey. He gets involved with every negotiation.’ So I call him. He never called me Steve. He used to call me ‘GM.’ He’d say, ‘Hey, GM,’ because he doesn’t ever remember names. “We start talking and Rickey says, ‘What are you going to give me when I break the records?’ “‘The records?’ “‘All-time walks and all-time runs scored.’ “‘We’ll do it up right. A special ceremony on the field. We have something made, in crystal, to commemorate the record.’ “‘Whose crystal?’ “‘A crystal. It will be from Tiffany’s.’ “He says, ‘Who’s Tiffany?’ I say, ‘It’s glass, with your name etched . . .’ “‘What the hell I want with glass?’