Rogers Hornsby

Professional career

Rogers Hornsby got his start in baseball thanks to his older brother Everett, a longtime minor leaguer, who set up a tryout with the Dallas Steers of the Texas League in 1914. Hornsby made the roster but was let go after two weeks without ever playing a game. He then joined the Hugo Scouts of the Class D Texas–Oklahoma League as a shortstop, earning $75 a month.

That team folded about a third of the way through the season, and his contract was sold to the Denison Champions for $125. Over 113 games in 1914, Hornsby hit .232 and made 45 errors. The next year, Denison renamed itself the Railroaders and moved to the Western Association, bumping his salary to $90 a month.

His batting average rose to .277 in 119 games, though he committed 58 errors. Still, the Railroaders won the league pennant, and a Sporting News writer listed Hornsby among a dozen Western Association players with major league potential. During a spring exhibition series in 1915, St. Louis Cardinals manager Miller Huggins noticed him and sent scout Bob Connery to look for minor league talent. That September, the Cardinals bought Hornsby’s contract from Denison, despite his only pro experience being in Class D. He debuted on September 10, replacing Art Butler at shortstop in a 7–1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.

Three days later he started a game, and the next day he collected his first hit off Brooklyn’s Rube Marquard. Hornsby finished 1915 batting .246 in 57 at-bats, with the Cardinals in sixth place. At 19, he was the fourth-youngest player in the National League.

Later baseball career

After his release from the Browns, Hornsby could not retire because he had lost much money gambling. He signed as a player-coach with the Baltimore Orioles of the International League in 1938, then left to play for and manage the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Southern Association for the rest of the season. He returned to manage the Orioles in 1939 but did not return after the season. Halfway through 1940, he signed to manage the Oklahoma City Indians of the Texas League, leading them from last place to the playoffs, where they lost to the Houston Buffaloes in four games.

He began 1941 managing the Indians again but resigned mid-season. In November, he became general and field manager of the Fort Worth Cats, also of the Texas League. Fort Worth finished third and made the playoffs in 1942 but were eliminated in the first round by the Shreveport Sports. The league suspended operations for World War II in 1943.

In February 1944, Hornsby signed as a player-manager with the Azules de Veracruz of the Mexican League. He won two games as a pinch hitter, including a bases-loaded double for three runs. His tenure ended after nine days due to financial differences with owner Jorge Pasquel; Hornsby stated he was willing to keep agreements but found he would have to pay his own road expenses. He returned to Fort Worth, Texas.

He spent 1945 out of baseball for the first time in 31 years. Rumors circulated that Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis had informally blackballed him for gambling. After Landis died in November 1944, Hornsby waited for a full-time major-league job. He did radio commentary for WTMV in East St. Louis, Illinois, served as a spring-training hitting instructor for the Chicago White Sox in 1946 and the Cleveland Indians in 1947, and became a TV announcer for Chicago Cubs games in 1949.

Legacy

Rogers Hornsby is widely regarded as one of the finest hitters baseball has ever seen. His career batting average of .358 trails only Ty Cobb’s .366 and Oscar Charleston’s .364. He claimed seven batting titles, a mark matched or bettered by just five players: Cobb, Tony Gwynn, Honus Wagner, Rod Carew, and Stan Musial.

Hornsby still holds the National League record for leading the league in slugging percentage nine times. During the 1920s, he outperformed every other National Leaguer in home runs, runs batted in, and batting average, making him one of only four players—alongside Wagner, Ted Williams, and Albert Pujols—to achieve a decade “triple crown.” He finished his career with 301 home runs, the first player to reach 300 while primarily playing in the National League. His 264 homers as a second baseman stood as a major league record until Joe Morgan broke it in 1984. Hornsby was remarkably consistent regardless of venue: his lifetime home average was .359, his road average .358.

Ted Williams called him the greatest hitter for both power and average, and Frankie Frisch said, “He’s the only guy I know who could hit .350 in the dark.” Hornsby holds second place on the unofficial list for consecutive games with two or more hits, with 13 games, trailing only Count Campau. He is the second right-handed batter ever to hit over .400 three times, and the Los Angeles Times has called him the greatest right-handed hitter in history. From 1920 through 1925, he led the National League in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and total bases each season.

Personal life

Hornsby married Sarah Elizabeth Martin on September 23, 1918, in Philadelphia. They had a son, Rogers Hornsby Jr., on November 15, 1920. Rogers Jr. died in a plane crash on December 23, 1949, near Savannah, Georgia. During 1922, Hornsby began seeing Jeanette Pennington Hine, who was married to an automobile-supply salesman.

Hornsby divorced Sarah on June 12, 1923, and Hine divorced her spouse that year; the two married on February 28, 1924. Sarah took custody of Rogers Jr. Hornsby and Jeanette had a son, Billy, on June 2, 1925. Billy played minor league baseball but never reached the majors. Hornsby and Jeanette became estranged in December 1944.

He began seeing Bernadette Harris, whom he called his "personal good friend and secretary," in 1945; they lived together after 1948. Harris died by suicide on September 7, 1953, attributed to depression. They remained together until Hornsby's death from a heart attack in 1963. He was buried in Hornsby Bend Cemetery near Austin, Texas.

Did You Know?

• He took a job with Swift and Company as a messenger boy at age 10 and played as a substitute infielder on its baseball team.
• While in high school, Hornsby played on the football team alongside future College Football Hall of Famer Bo McMillin.