Rogers Hornsby
Encyclopedia
Rogers Hornsby, Sr. nicknamed "The Rajah", was an American baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 infielder
Infielder
An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field.-Standard arrangement of positions:In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles...

, manager
Manager (baseball)
In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...

, and coach
Coach (baseball)
In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, or head coach, who determines the lineup and decides how to substitute players during the game...

 who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 (MLB). He played for the St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...

 (1915–1926, 1933), New York Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....

 (1927), Boston Braves
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....

 (1928), Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...

 (1929–1932), and St. Louis Browns
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...

 (1933–1937). Hornsby had 2,930 hits
Hit (baseball)
In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....

, 301 home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...

s, and a .358 batting average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...

 during his career; he was named the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...

 (NL)'s Most Valuable Player (MVP) twice, and was a member of one World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...

 championship team.

Born and raised in Texas, Hornsby played for several semi-professional and minor league teams. In 1915, he began his major league career with the St. Louis Cardinals and remained with the team for 12 seasons; in this time, Hornsby won his first MVP Award and the Cardinals won the 1926 World Series
1926 World Series
The 1926 World Series was the championship series of the 1926 Major League Baseball season, featuring the St. Louis Cardinals against the New York Yankees...

. After that season, he spent one season at the New York Giants and another with the Boston Braves before being traded to the Chicago Cubs. He played with the Cubs for four years and won his second MVP Award before the team released him in 1932. Hornsby re-signed with the Cardinals in 1933, but was released partway through the season and was picked up by the St. Louis Browns. He remained there until his final season in 1937. From 1925 to 1937, Hornsby intermittently managed the teams for which he played. After retiring as a player, he managed the Browns in 1952 and the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....

 from 1952 to 1953.

Sportswriters consider Hornsby to be one of the best hitters of all time. His career batting average of .358 is second only to Ty Cobb
Ty Cobb
Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb , nicknamed "The Georgia Peach," was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. He was born in Narrows, Georgia...

 in MLB history. He also won two Triple Crowns and batted .400 or more three times during his career. He is the only player to hit 40 home runs and bat .400 in the same year (1922). His batting average for the 1924 season was .424, a mark that no player has matched since. He was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in the United States and beyond, the display of...

 in 1942.

Hornsby married three times during his life, in 1918, 1924, and 1957, and had two children, one from each of his first two marriages. Known as someone difficult to get along with, he was not well-liked by fellow players. He never smoked, drank, or went to the movies, but frequently gambled on horse races during his career.

Early life

Hornsby was born in Winters, Texas
Winters, Texas
Winters is a city in Runnels County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,880 at the 2000 census. A July 1, 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 2,569.-Geography:...

, the last of Ed and Mary (Rogers) Hornsby's six children. When Hornsby was two years old, his father died of unknown causes. Four years later, the surviving Hornsbys moved to Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...

, so Hornsby's brothers could get jobs in the meat packing industry
Meat packing industry
The meat packing industry handles the slaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock...

 to support the family.

Hornsby started playing baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 at a very young age; he once said, "I can't remember anything that happened before I had a baseball in my hand." He took a job with the Swift and Company meat industry plant as a messenger boy when he was 10 years old, and he also served as a substitute infielder on its baseball team. By the age of 15, Hornsby was already playing for several semi-professional teams. He also played baseball for North Side High School until 10th grade, when he dropped out to take a full-time job at Swift and Company. While he was in high school, Hornsby also played on the football team, alongside future College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...

r Bo McMillin
Bo McMillin
Alvin Nugent "Bo" McMillin was an American football player and coach, who served at both the collegiate and professional levels. He played college football at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where was a three-time All-American at quarterback, and led the Centre Praying Colonels to a...

.

Minor league career

In 1914, Hornsby's older brother Everett, a minor league baseball player for many years, arranged for Rogers to get a tryout with the Texas League
Texas League
The Texas League is a minor league baseball league which operates in the South Central United States. It is classified a Double-A league. The league was founded in 1888 and ran through 1892...

's Dallas Steers. He made the team, but did not play in any games for the Steers; he was released after only two weeks. Following his dismissal, he signed with the Hugo Scouts of the Class D Texas-Oklahoma League
Texas-Oklahoma League
The Texas-Oklahoma League refers the name of two Minor league baseball Class-D circuits that operated between and . The first began in 1911 and finished in 1914, while the second did not even last that long, being active only in 1921 and 1922....

 as their shortstop
Shortstop
Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. Shortstop is often regarded as the most dynamic defensive position in baseball, because there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the...

 for $75 per month ($ today). The Scouts went out of business a third of the way through the season, and Hornsby's contract was sold to the Denison Champions
Denison Railroaders
The Denison Railroaders were a baseball team based in Denison, Texas, USA that played from 1914 to 1917. They were known as the Denison Champions in 1914. They played in the Texas-Oklahoma League in 1914, but they joined the Western Association in 1915. Multiple major league baseball players played...

 of the same league for $125 ($ today). With both teams in 1914, Hornsby batted
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...

 .232 and committed 45 errors
Error (baseball)
In baseball statistics, an error is the act, in the judgment of the official scorer, of a fielder misplaying a ball in a manner that allows a batter or baserunner to reach one or more additional bases, when such an advance would have been prevented given ordinary effort by the fielder.The term ...

 in 113 games.

The Denison team changed its name to the Denison Railroaders and joined the Western Association
Western Association
The Western Association was the name of five different leagues in American minor league baseball during the 19th and 20th centuries.The oldest league, originally established as the Northwestern League in 1883, was refounded as the Western Association on October 28, 1887...

 in 1915. They raised Hornsby's salary to $90 per month ($ today). Hornsby's average improved that season to .277 in 119 games, but he made 58 errors. Nonetheless, his contributions helped the Railroaders win the Western Association pennant
Pennant (sports)
A pennant is a commemorative flag typically used to show support for a particular athletic team. Pennants have been historically used in all types of athletic levels: high school, collegiate, professional etc. Traditionally, pennants were made of felt and fashioned in the official colors of a...

. At the end of the season, a writer from The Sporting News
The Sporting News
Sporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...

said that Hornsby was one of about a dozen Western Association players to show any major league potential.

1915–1919

Hornsby came to the attention of the St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...

 during an exhibition series between that team and the Railroaders in spring training
Spring training
In Major League Baseball, spring training is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives existing team players practice time prior to competitive play...

 in 1915. Cardinals' manager Miller Huggins
Miller Huggins
Miller James Huggins , nicknamed "Mighty Mite", was a baseball player and manager. He managed the powerhouse New York Yankee teams of the 1920s and won six American League pennants and three World Series championships....

 told his only scout
Scout (sport)
In professional sports, scouts are trained talent evaluators who travel extensively for the purposes of watching athletes play their chosen sports and determining whether their set of skills and talents represent what is needed by the scout's organization...

, Bob Connery, to look for minor league players to fill the roster of their financially-struggling team. In September, the Cardinals purchased Hornsby's contract from Denison and added him to their major league roster, although his only professional baseball experience had been in Class D. Hornsby's first game came on September 10, when he relieved Art Butler
Art Butler
Arthur Edward "Artie" Butler was an infielder in Major League Baseball. He played for the Boston Rustlers, Pittsburgh Pirates, and St. Louis Cardinals.-External links:...

 at shortstop in a 7–1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....

. Three days later he started a game, and he got his first hit
Hit (baseball)
In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....

 the next day against Rube Marquard
Rube Marquard
Richard William "Rube" Marquard was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball in the 1910s and early 1920s...

 of the Brooklyn Robins. Hornsby finished the season with a .246 average in 57 at-bats while the Cardinals finished in sixth place in the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...

 (NL). At only 19 years old, Hornsby was the fourth-youngest player in the NL that year.

The Cardinals picked up Roy Corhan
Roy Corhan
Roy George Corhan was a shortstop in Major League Baseball. He played for the Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Cardinals.-External links:...

 from the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League
Pacific Coast League
The Pacific Coast League is a minor-league baseball league operating in the Western, Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Along with the International League and the Mexican League, it is one of three leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball.The...

 to play at shortstop in 1916, making Hornsby one of three candidates for the position. Hornsby's great performance in spring training, a shoulder injury to Corhan and poor hitting by Butler meant Hornsby was the starting shortstop on Opening Day
Opening Day
Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball and most of the minor leagues, this day falls during the first week of April. For baseball fans, Opening Day serves as a symbol of rebirth; writer Thomas Boswell once penned a book...

. He had both runs batted in
Run batted in
Runs batted in or RBIs is a statistic used in baseball and softball to credit a batter when the outcome of his at-bat results in a run being scored, except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play. The first team to track RBI was the Buffalo Bisons.Common nicknames for an RBI...

 (RBIs) in the Cardinals' 2–1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...

 that day. On May 14, he hit his first major league home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...

 against Jeff Pfeffer
Jeff Pfeffer
Edward Joseph Pfeffer born in Seymour, Illinois was a pitcher for the St. Louis Browns , Brooklyn Dodgers/Robins , St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates . His older brother Francis was known as Big Jeff Pfeffer.He helped the Robins win the 1916 and 1920 National League pennants...

 of Brooklyn. He rotated amongst infield positions before finally settling in at third base
Third baseman
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run...

 for much of the second half of the year. Late in the season, he missed 11 games with a sprained ankle. He finished 1916 with a .313 average, fourth in the NL, and he was one short of the league lead in triples
Triple (baseball)
In baseball, a triple is the act of a batter safely reaching third base after hitting the ball, with neither the benefit of a fielder's misplay nor another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....

 with 15.

Hornsby returned to the shortstop position in 1917 after Corhan returned to San Francisco and Butler was released. After playing nearly every game throughout the first month of the season, Hornsby was called away from the team on May 29 after his brother William was shot and killed in a saloon. Rogers attended the funeral on June 1 and returned to the Cardinals on June 3, finishing the season without missing any more playing time. His batting statistics improved from the previous season; his .327 batting average was second in the league, and he led the league in triples (17), total bases
Total bases
In baseball statistics, total bases refers to the number of bases a player has gained with hits, i.e., the sum of his hits weighted by 1 for a single, 2 for a double, 3 for a triple and 4 for a home run.Only bases attained from hits count toward this total....

 (253), and slugging percentage (.484).

Many baseball players were drafted to fight in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 in 1918, but Hornsby was given deferment status by the government because he was supporting his family. During the offseason, Miller Huggins, unhappy with the Cardinals' management, left the team to manage the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

. He was replaced by Jack Hendricks
Jack Hendricks
John Charles Hendricks was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played parts of two seasons in Major League Baseball as an outfielder, but is best known as the manager of the Cincinnati Reds from 1924 to 1929....

, who had managed the Indianapolis Indians
Indianapolis Indians
The Indianapolis Indians are a minor league baseball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The team, which plays in the International League, is the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates major-league club. The Indians play at Victory Field, located in downtown Indianapolis...

 to a pennant in the American Association
American Association (20th century)
The American Association was a minor league baseball league at the Triple-A level of baseball in the United States from to and to . Together with the International League, it contested the Junior World Series which determined the championship team in minor league baseball, at least for the...

 the previous year. Hornsby lacked confidence in Hendricks's ability to run the Cardinals, and the two men developed animosity towards each other due to Hornsby's growing ego and fondness for former manager Huggins. Under Hendricks, Hornsby's batting average dipped to .281. He had problems off the field as well; on June 17, Hornsby hit a St. Louis citizen named Frank G. Rowe with his Buick
Buick
Buick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...

 when Rowe stepped out in front of traffic to cross an intersection. Rowe sued Hornsby for $15,000 ($ today), but Hornsby eventually settled for a smaller, undisclosed amount, and the case was dismissed. He was still among the league leaders in triples and slugging percentage in 1918, but after the season ended with the Cardinals in last place, he announced that he would never play under Hendricks again. Partially due to Hornsby's complaints, Hendricks was fired after the season and replaced by Branch Rickey
Branch Rickey
Wesley Branch Rickey was an innovative Major League Baseball executive elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967...

, then-president of the Cardinals.

In 1919, after the Cardinals acquired shortstop Doc Lavan
Doc Lavan
John Leonard "Doc" Lavan was a Major League Baseball shortstop who played 12 seasons with the St. Louis Browns , Philadelphia Athletics , Washington Senators , and St. Louis Cardinals...

, Rickey tried converting Hornsby into a second baseman
Second baseman
Second base, or 2B, is the second of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a base runner in order to score a run for that player's team. A second baseman is the baseball player guarding second base...

 in spring training. Hornsby played third base for most of the year. His batting average was low at the beginning of the season but improved by June. At season's end, his average of .318 was second-highest in the league, and he also finished second in total bases and runs batted in.

1920–1926

In 1920, Rickey moved Hornsby to second base, where he remained for the rest of his career. He started the year with a 14-game hitting streak
Hitting streak
In baseball, a hitting streak refers to the number of consecutive official games in which a player gets at least one base hit.According to the Official Baseball Rules, such a streak is ended when a player has at least 1 plate appearance and no hits...

. On June 4, he had two triples and two RBIs as the Cardinals defeated the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...

 5–1, a game that ended future Hall of Famer Grover Cleveland Alexander
Grover Cleveland Alexander
Grover Cleveland Alexander , nicknamed "Old Pete", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. He played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and St. Louis Cardinals and was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1938.-Career:Alexander was born in Elba, Nebraska, one of thirteen...

's 11-game winning streak. Hornsby finished the season with the first of seven batting titles by hitting .370, and he also led the league in on-base percentage (.431), slugging percentage (.559), hits (218), total bases (329), doubles
Double (baseball)
In baseball, a double is the act of a batter striking the pitched ball and safely reaching second base without being called out by the umpire, without the benefit of a fielder's misplay or another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....

 (44), and RBIs (94).

The rise of the live-ball era
Live-ball era
The live-ball era, also referred to as the lively ball era, is the period in Major League Baseball beginning in , following the dead-ball era. During that year offensive statistics rose dramatically in what would be mistakenly attributed to the introduction of a new "lively" ball...

 led to a spike in hitting productivity throughout the majors, which helped Hornsby to hit with increased power during the 1921 season. He hit .397 in 1921, and his 21 home runs were second in the league, more than twice his total in any previous season. He also led the league in on-base percentage (.458), slugging percentage (.639), runs scored
Run (baseball)
In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...

 (131), RBIs (126), doubles (44), and triples (18). The Cardinals held a special day in Hornsby's honor on September 30 before a home game against the Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...

, and they presented Hornsby with multiple awards before the game, including a baseball autographed by President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 Warren G. Harding
Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States . A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential self-made newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate , as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S. Senator...

. The Cardinals beat the Pirates 12–4 that day as Hornsby hit a home run and had two doubles.

By the 1922 season, Hornsby was considered a big star, having led the league in batting average, hits, doubles, and runs batted in multiple times. As a result, he sought a three-year contract for $25,000 per season. After negotiating with Cardinals management, he settled for a three-year, $18,500 contract ($ today), which made him the highest-paid player in league history to that point. He then became the only player in history to hit over 40 home runs and bat over .400 in the same season. On August 5, Hornsby set a new NL record when he hit his 28th home run of the season off of Jimmy Ring
Jimmy Ring
James Joseph "Jimmy" Ring was a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Cincinnati Reds , Philadelphia Phillies , New York Giants and St. Louis Cardinals . Ring batted and threw right-handed.Ring was used sparingly by the Cincinnati Reds from 1917-18...

 of the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...

. From August 13 through September 19, he had a 33-game hitting streak. He finished the year with a new record of 42 home runs, and he also set NL records in hits (250) and slugging percentage (.722). He won the first of his two Triple Crowns that year, and he led the league in batting average (.401), RBIs (152), on-base percentage (.459), doubles (46), and runs scored (141). His 450 total bases was the highest mark for any NL player during the 20th century. On defense, Hornsby led all second basemen in putout
Putout
In baseball statistics, a putout is given to a defensive player who records an out by one of the following methods:* Tagging a runner with the ball when he is not touching a base...

s, double play
Double play
In baseball, a double play for a team or a fielder is the act of making two outs during the same continuous playing action. In baseball slang, making a double play is referred to as "turning two"....

s, and fielding percentage
Fielding percentage
In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball...

.
On May 8, 1923, Hornsby suffered an injury to his left knee in a game against the Phillies when he turned to make a throw. He returned 10 days later, but the injury lingered, and he was removed from a game against the Pirates on May 26 to be examined by Robert Hyland, the Cardinals' physician. Hyland had Hornsby's knee placed in a cast for two weeks, after which he returned to the Cardinals. During a game in August, Hornsby was on third base late in the game and threw up his hands in disgust in response to a sign flashed by Rickey; he had given the current batter the take sign, and Hornsby felt the batter should have hit the ball. After the game, he and Rickey fought in the clubhouse, but teammates quickly broke it up. Hornsby missed several games late in the year with injuries that the Cardinals (and Hyland) did not believe to be serious; as a result he was fined $500 ($ today) and suspended for the last five games of the year. However, Hornsby still won his fourth consecutive NL batting title with a batting average of .384. He also repeated as the leader in on-base percentage (.459) and slugging percentage (.627).

Hornsby raised his average to .424 in 1924, which is the sixth-highest batting average in a single season in MLB history, and the live-ball era
Live-ball era
The live-ball era, also referred to as the lively ball era, is the period in Major League Baseball beginning in , following the dead-ball era. During that year offensive statistics rose dramatically in what would be mistakenly attributed to the introduction of a new "lively" ball...

 batting average record. He led the league with 89 walks
Base on balls
A base on balls is credited to a batter and against a pitcher in baseball statistics when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. It is better known as a walk. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball's Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08...

, producing a .507 on-base percentage. His slugging percentage of .696 again led the league, as did his 121 runs scored, 227 hits, and 43 doubles; he hit 25 home runs as well. That year, the NL reintroduced its Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. Although Hornsby was expected to win the award, it went to Dazzy Vance
Dazzy Vance
Charles Arthur "Dazzy" Vance was a star Major League Baseball starting pitcher during the 1920s.-Biography:...

 instead. Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

 voter Jack Ryder left Hornsby's name off his ballot altogether because he believed Hornsby was an MVP on the stat sheet, but was not a team player. In 1962, the Baseball Writers Association of America
Baseball Writers Association of America
The Baseball Writers' Association of America is a professional association for baseball journalists writing for daily newspapers, magazines and qualifying Web sites. The BBWAA was founded on October 14, 1908, to improve working conditions for sportswriters in the early part of the 20th century...

 presented Hornsby with an award retroactively recognizing him as the 1924 MVP.

In 1925, Sam Breadon
Sam Breadon
Samuel Breadon was an American executive who served as the president and majority owner of the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball from 1920 through 1947...

, the owner of the Cardinals, wished to replace Rickey as manager. Hornsby initially declined the job. After discovering that Rickey planned to sell his stock in the Cardinals if he was replaced as field manager, Hornsby agreed to take the job as long as Breadon would help him purchase the stock. Breadon agreed, and Hornsby became the Cardinals' manager. Hornsby finished the year with his second Triple Crown, when he combined a .403 batting average with 39 home runs and 143 RBIs. He bested teammate Jim Bottomley
Jim Bottomley
James Leroy Bottomley was born in Oglesby, Illinois and grew up in Nokomis, Illinois. Nicknamed "Sunny Jim" because of his cheerful disposition, he was a left-handed Major League Baseball player. He also served as player-manager for the St. Louis Browns in 1937.-Career:As a first baseman for the...

 in the batting title race by nearly 40 points. That year, he won the MVP Award, receiving 73 out of 80 possible votes. His .756 slugging percentage set an NL record. The Cardinals finished in fourth place in 1925, finishing one game over .500, though the team won 64 games and lost 51 under Hornsby. During the year, his wife Jeanette had a son, Billy.

Hornsby had an off-year offensively in 1926, as he hit only .317 with 11 home runs. Nonetheless, St. Louis won its first NL pennant. In the 1926 World Series
1926 World Series
The 1926 World Series was the championship series of the 1926 Major League Baseball season, featuring the St. Louis Cardinals against the New York Yankees...

, the Cardinals defeated the Yankees in a seven-game series; Hornsby tagged out Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...

 on a stolen base
Stolen base
In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a baserunner successfully advances to the next base while the pitcher is delivering the ball to home plate...

 attempt, ending the Series and giving St. Louis its first undisputed world championship. During post-season negotiations for a new contract, Hornsby demanded $50,000 per year for three years. Breadon agreed to a one-year contract for $50,000 ($ today). When Hornsby refused to give way, the Cardinals traded him to the New York Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....

 for Frankie Frisch
Frankie Frisch
Francis “Frankie” Frisch , nicknamed the "Fordham Flash" or "The Old Flash", was a German American Major League Baseball player of the early twentieth century....

 and Jimmy Ring
Jimmy Ring
James Joseph "Jimmy" Ring was a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Cincinnati Reds , Philadelphia Phillies , New York Giants and St. Louis Cardinals . Ring batted and threw right-handed.Ring was used sparingly by the Cincinnati Reds from 1917-18...

 on December 20, 1926. The trade was briefly postponed as NL president John Heydler
John Heydler
John Arnold Heydler was an American executive in Major League Baseball.-Biography:Born in La Fargeville, New York, he began working as a printer, eventually being employed at the U.S. Government Printing Office....

 stated that Hornsby could not play for the Giants while he held stock in the Cardinals. Hornsby wanted $105 per share for his stock, a price Breadon was unwilling to pay. In early 1927, Hornsby was able to sell his shares at $105 each, enabling him to officially become a Giant.

New York Giants

Hornsby enjoyed a better season in 1927, as he hit .361 and led the league in runs scored (133), walks (86), and on-base percentage (.448). He managed the Giants for part of the year as well, as manager John McGraw
John McGraw
John McGraw may refer to:* John McGraw , , New York lumber tycoon, and one of the founding trustees of Cornell University* John McGraw , , Governor of Washington state from 1893–1897...

 dealt with health problems. Hornsby's performance helped guide the Giants to a 92–62 win–loss record
Winning percentage
In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. It is defined as wins divided by wins plus losses . Ties count as a ½ loss and a ½ win...

 during the season, which was good enough for third place in the NL. However, Hornsby's gambling problems at the racetrack and distrust of Giants' management annoyed team owner Charles Stoneham
Charles Stoneham
Charles A. Stoneham was the owner of the New York Giants baseball team, New York Giants soccer team, the center of numerous corruption scandals and the instigator of the "Soccer Wars" which destroyed the American Soccer League.-Business ventures:Stoneham began his career as a board boy, updating...

. During the offseason he was traded to the Boston Braves
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....

 for Jimmy Welsh
Jimmy Welsh
James Daniel Welsh , was a Major League Baseball player who played outfielder from -. He would play for the Boston Braves, and New York Giants.-External links:...

 and Shanty Hogan
Shanty Hogan
James Francis "Shanty" Hogan was a Major League Baseball catcher from 1925 to 1937. Hogan was listed at 6'1", 240 pounds — an exceptionally large player, especially for his era. Due to this, there are many anecdotes relating to Hogan and food...

.

Boston Braves

With the Braves in 1928, Hornsby was again the league's most productive hitter; he won his seventh batting title with a .387 average, also leadimg the league in on-base percentage (.498), slugging percentage (.632), and walks (107). One month into the season, manager Jack Slattery
Jack Slattery
John Terrence Slattery was a catcher and first baseman for the Boston Americans, Cleveland Naps, Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, and the Washington Senators for parts of four seasons between 1901 and 1909. He was never used regularly, and some of his Major League stops were very short...

 resigned, and the Braves hired Hornsby to be his replacement. The Braves, however, lost 103 games and finished in seventh place out of eight teams in the NL. They were struggling financially as well, and when the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...

 offered $200,000 ($ today) and five players for Hornsby, the Braves found the offer too good to pass up.

Chicago Cubs

Hornsby hit .380 in 1929 for Chicago while recording 39 home runs and leading the league with a .679 slugging percentage and 156 runs scored; the .380 batting average set a Cubs team record. He also collected another MVP Award, and the Cubs won the NL pennant. However, they lost in the 1929 World Series
1929 World Series
In the 1929 World Series, the Philadelphia Athletics beat the Chicago Cubs in five games.The famous "Mack Attack" occurred in 1929, named for manager of the Athletics, Connie Mack, in which the Athletics overcame an eight-run deficit by scoring ten runs in the seventh inning of Game 4...

 to the Philadelphia Athletics in five games, and Hornsby batted just .238 with one RBI. He also set a World Series record for strikeout
Strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout or strike-out occurs when a batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters....

s with eight.

After the first two months of the 1930 season, Hornsby was batting .325 with two home runs. In the first game of a doubleheader against the Cardinals, Hornsby broke his ankle while advancing to third base. He did not return until August 19, and he was used mostly as a pinch-hitter for the rest of the season. When Joe McCarthy was fired with four games remaining in the season Hornsby became the team's manager. Hornsby finished the year with a .308 batting average and two home runs.

On April 24, 1931, Hornsby hit three home runs and drove in eight runs in a 10–6 victory over Pittsburgh. Hornsby played in 44 of the first 48 games, but after a disappointing performance he only played himself about half the time for the rest of the year. In 100 games, he had 90 RBIs, 37 doubles, and a batting average of .331. He also led the league in on-base percentage (.421) for the ninth time in his career. The team finished 84–70, 17 games back of the pennant-winning Cardinals, and four games back of the Giants.

The 1931 season was Hornsby's last as a full-time player. Boil
Boil
A boil, also called a furuncle, is a deep folliculitis, infection of the hair follicle. It is always caused by infection by the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, resulting in a painful swollen area on the skin caused by an accumulation of pus and dead tissue...

s on his feet bothered him during the start of the 1932 season, and he did not play his first game until May 29. Hornsby played right field from May 29 to June 10, appeared in two games as a pinch hitter, played third base from July 14 through July 18, and played one last game as a Cub when he pinch-hit on July 31.

William Veeck, Sr., who was running the team, was unhappy with Hornsby's management of the team. Hornsby maintained strict rules, and Veeck thought his managing style hurt team morale. Veeck believed Hornsby broke a cardinal rule of baseball in one particular incident. Hornsby disagreed with a call made by the umpire. Instead of disputing the call himself, as was the manager's job, Hornsby sent another player to argue with the umpire. That player was ejected from the game. On August 2, although the Cubs were in second place, Hornsby was released, and Charlie Grimm
Charlie Grimm
Charles John Grimm , nicknamed "Jolly Cholly", was a first baseman and manager in Major League Baseball best known for his years with the Chicago Cubs; he was also a sometime radio broadcaster, and a popular goodwill ambassador for baseball...

 replaced him as manager. Hornsby had played 19 games, batting .224 with one home run and seven RBIs. Although the Cubs advanced to the 1932 World Series
1932 World Series
The 1932 World Series was played between the New York Yankees and the Chicago Cubs , with the Yankees holding home field advantage. The Yankees swept the Cubs, four games to none...

, the players voted not to give Hornsby any of the World Series money.

St. Louis Cardinals and Browns

Hornsby did not play for the rest of 1932, but the Cardinals signed him as a player on October 24 for the 1933 season. He played regularly at second base from April 25 through May 5, but he was used mostly as a pinch hitter
Pinch hitter
In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead ; the manager may use any player that has not yet entered the game as a substitute...

 with the Cardinals. On July 22, he had his final NL hit in a 9–5 loss to the Braves. Through July 23, Hornsby was batting .325 with two home runs and 21 RBIs. However, the Cardinals chose to place him on waivers.

Hornsby was claimed by the last place St. Louis Browns of the American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...

 (AL) on July 26 as player-manager. Bill Killefer
Bill Killefer
William Killefer , was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager who had a 48-year career in Major League Baseball. Killefer, who was nicknamed "Reindeer Bill" due to his speed afoot, played as a catcher for the St. Louis Browns, Philadelphia Phillies, and Chicago Cubs...

 had just resigned as Browns manager, and Browns owner Phil Ball
Phil Ball (baseball)
Philip DeCatesby Ball was the owner of the St. Louis Terriers of the Federal League from through and the St. Louis Browns of the American League from through . Ball's estate owned the Browns after his death until , when the team was sold to Donald Lee Barnes.- References :...

 wanted Hornsby as a replacement. Hornsby appeared in 11 games for the Browns. He had three hits, including a home run, in nine at-bats. The Browns finished in last place in the AL. That year, Hornsby began operating a baseball school in Hot Springs, Texas, which he ran on and off between 1933 and 1951 with various associates.
In 1934, Hornsby started only two games, one at third base, and the other in right field
Right fielder
A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound...

. In all of his other appearances, he was a pinch hitter. For the season, he batted .304 with one home run and 11 RBIs. The Browns improved on their previous season, finishing in sixth place out of eight teams in the AL.

Hornsby played in 10 games in the 1935 season, starting in 4. From April 16 through April 21, he started at first base
First baseman
First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...

, and he started at third base on May 22. He finished the year with five hits and a .208 average, while the Browns slipped to seventh place.

Hornsby only appeared in two games with the team during the 1936 season. On May 31, his pinch-hit single in the ninth inning gave the Browns an 11–10 win over the Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...

. In his other appearance on June 9, he played first base in a 5–3 win over the Yankees. The Browns again finished in seventh place.

In 1937, Hornsby played in 20 games. On April 21, in his first game of the year, Hornsby hit the final home run of his career in a 15–10 victory over the Chicago White Sox
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...

. On July 5, he had the final hit of his career in a 15–4 loss in the second game of a doubleheader
Doubleheader (baseball)
A doubleheader is a set of two baseball games played between the same two teams on the same day in front of the same crowd. In addition, the term is often used unofficially to refer to a pair of games played by a team in a single day, but in front of different crowds and not in immediate...

 with the Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...

.

On July 20, Hornsby appeared in what would be his final game, a 5–4 loss to the Yankees. A day later, Hornsby was fired as manager and released as a player by the Browns, who were in last place at the time of his release. His release was partly due to an incident with Browns owner Donald Barnes. On July 15, Hornsby won $35,000 ($ today) from betting on a horse race. When he tried to use $4,000 of this money to pay off a debt to Barnes, Barnes refused it, since it had come from a bookmaker. Hornsby protested to Barnes, "The money is as good as the money you take from people in the loan-shark business. It's better than taking interest from widows and orphans... "; that made his release five days later an easy decision for Barnes. Hornsby finished the 1937 season with a .321 batting average and 18 hits in 20 games, and was the oldest player in the AL that season.

Later baseball career

Following his release from the Browns, Hornsby was unable to retire because his gambling had lost him much of his money over the years. He signed as a player-coach with the Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles (minor league)
The city of Baltimore, Maryland has been home to two minor league baseball teams called the Baltimore Orioles.-Name history:"Orioles" is a traditional name for baseball clubs in Baltimore . It was used by major league teams from 1882 through 1899 in the American Association/National League and by...

 of the International League
International League
The International League is a minor league baseball league that operates in the eastern United States. Like the Pacific Coast League and the Mexican League, it plays at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball. It was so named because it had teams in both the United States...

 in 1938 before leaving them to play for and manage the Chattanooga Lookouts
Chattanooga Lookouts
The Chattanooga Lookouts are a minor league baseball team based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA. They are named for nearby Lookout Mountain. The team, which plays in the Southern League, has been a Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers major-league club since the 2009 season. The Lookouts...

 of the Southern Association
Southern Association
The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A , Class A1 and Class AA...

 for the rest of the season. Hornsby then returned to the Orioles to manage them for 1939, but he did not return to the club following the season. Halfway through 1940, he signed to manage the Oklahoma City Indians
Oklahoma City Indians
The Oklahoma City Indians were an American minor league baseball franchise representing Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, that played in the Texas League in 1909, 1933-42 and from 1946-57, and in the Western League from 1918-32...

 of the Texas League
Texas League
The Texas League is a minor league baseball league which operates in the South Central United States. It is classified a Double-A league. The league was founded in 1888 and ran through 1892...

. He led them from last place to the Texas League playoffs, where they fell to the Houston Buffaloes
Houston Buffaloes
The Houston Buffaloes or Buffs were an American minor league baseball team that was founded in 1888, played in the Texas League in the years 1888-90, 1892, 1895-99, and 1907-1958 ; in the South Texas League in the years 1903-06; and in the American Association from 1959-61...

 in four games. Hornsby began 1941 managing the Indians once again, but he resigned in the middle of the season. In November, he became the general and field manager of the Fort Worth Cats
Fort Worth Cats
The Fort Worth Cats are a professional baseball team based in Fort Worth, Texas, in the United States. The Cats are a member of the South Division of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. Since the 2002 season the Cats...

, also of the Texas league. Fort Worth finished in third place and made the playoffs in 1942, but they were eliminated in the first round by the Shreveport Sports
Shreveport Sports
The Shreveport-Bossier Captains are a professional baseball team based in Shreveport, Louisiana, in the United States. The Captains are a member of the South Division of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball...

.

Hornsby went unsigned by any team in 1943, but he signed as a player-manager with the Vera Cruz Blues of La Liga Mexicana in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 in 1944. After hitting a game-winning grand slam
Grand slam (baseball)
In the sport of baseball, a grand slam is a home run hit with all three bases occupied by baserunners , thereby scoring four runs—the most possible in one play. According to The Dickson Baseball Dictionary, the term originated in the card game of contract bridge, in which a grand slam involves...

 for the second win of a series in March, he resigned when the team owner complained that the win would diminish the crowd for the third game of the series. Following his release, he did some commentary for radio station WTMV, assisted the Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...

 in spring training in 1947, and became a TV announcer for Chicago Cubs games in 1949.

Hornsby did not become a manager or coach again until 1950, when he was hired to manage the Texas League's Beaumont Roughnecks
Beaumont Exporters
The Beaumont Exporters were a franchise in American minor league baseball that played in the Texas League from 1920-49 and 1953-55. The city of Beaumont, Texas, was also represented in the Texas League from 1912-17 and 1919 as the Oilers, from 1950-52 as the Roughnecks, and from 1983-86 as the...

. Beaumont won the pennant, but they were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the San Antonio Missions
San Antonio Missions
The San Antonio Missions are a minor league baseball team based in San Antonio, Texas. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres major-league club. The Missions play in Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium, located in San Antonio...

. The next year, in 1951, Hornsby managed the Seattle Rainiers
Seattle Rainiers
The Seattle Rainiers, originally named the Seattle Indians and also known as the Seattle Angels, were a minor league baseball team in Seattle, Washington, that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903-06 and 1919-68...

 of the Pacific Coast League
Pacific Coast League
The Pacific Coast League is a minor-league baseball league operating in the Western, Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Along with the International League and the Mexican League, it is one of three leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball.The...

. Under Hornsby's leadership, the Rainiers won the pennant.

In 1952, Hornsby was again hired to manage the St. Louis Browns, his first major league job in 16 years. The Browns' owner, Bill Veeck
Bill Veeck
William Louis Veeck, Jr. , also known as "Sport Shirt Bill", was a native of Chicago, Illinois, and a franchise owner and promoter in Major League Baseball. He was best known for his publicity stunts to raise attendance. Veeck was at various times the owner of the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis...

, was the son of former Cubs president and general manager William Veeck, Sr. Hornsby was not well received by the players, however. On June 9, he was fired due to a disagreement with Veeck over an incident against the Yankees the day before. During the game, a fan prevented Gil McDougald
Gil McDougald
Gilbert James McDougald was an American infielder who spent all ten seasons of his Major League Baseball career with the New York Yankees from 1951 to 1960. He was a member of eight American League pennant winners and five World Series Champions. He was also the AL Rookie of the Year in 1951 and...

 of the Yankees from catching a fly ball, and the umpire ruled that it was fan interference. Hornsby did not initially argue the call, and a few minutes later Veeck forced him to do it (when it was already too late to do anything about it). This led to Hornsby and the Browns parting ways. The Browns players were so happy about Hornsby's firing that they gave Veeck an engraved trophy to thank him.

A little over a month later, on July 26, Hornsby was hired to replace Luke Sewell
Luke Sewell
James Luther Sewell was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Cleveland Indians , Washington Senators , Chicago White Sox and the St. Louis Browns . Sewell batted and threw right-handed...

 as manager of the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....

. After Hornsby completed two mediocre seasons with the club, the Reds announced that he would not return for 1954. He finished his MLB managerial career with a record of 701–812. Following his dismissal, Hornsby worked as a coach for the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...

 from 1958 to 1960 before becoming a scout and third base coach for the New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...

 in 1962. In 1963, Hornsby died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...

. He was buried in the Hornsby family cemetery in Hornsby Bend, Texas.

Legacy

Baseball experts and sportswriters have considered Hornsby to be one of the greatest hitters of all time. His lifetime batting average of .358 is only exceeded by Ty Cobb
Ty Cobb
Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb , nicknamed "The Georgia Peach," was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. He was born in Narrows, Georgia...

's career mark of .367. He won seven batting titles in total, a feat tied or exceeded by only five players (Cobb (11), Tony Gwynn
Tony Gwynn
Anthony Keith "Tony" Gwynn, Sr. , nicknamed Mr. Padre and Captain Video, is a former Major League Baseball right fielder. He is statistically one of the best and most consistent hitters in baseball history. He played his entire 20-year baseball career for the San Diego Padres...

 (8), Honus Wagner
Honus Wagner
-Louisville Colonels:Recognizing his talent, Barrow recommended Wagner to the Louisville Colonels. After some hesitation about his awkward figure, Wagner was signed by the Colonels, where he hit .338 in 61 games....

 (8), Rod Carew
Rod Carew
Rodney Cline "Rod" Carew is a former Major League Baseball first baseman, second baseman and coach. He played from 1967 to 1985 for the Minnesota Twins and the California Angels and was elected to the All-Star game every season except his last. In 1991, Carew was inducted into the National...

 (7), and Stan Musial
Stan Musial
Stanley Frank "Stan" Musial is a retired professional baseball player who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals . Nicknamed "Stan the Man", Musial was a record 24-time All-Star selection , and is widely considered to be one of the greatest hitters in baseball...

 (7)). Hornsby led the National League in slugging percentage nine times, a record that still stands. He also hit more home runs, drove in more runs, and had a higher batting average than any other National League player during the 1920s, which makes him one of four players in baseball history (along with Honus Wagner, Ted Williams
Ted Williams
Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox...

, and Albert Pujols
Albert Pujols
José Alberto Pujols Alcántara , better known as Albert Pujols , is a Dominican-American professional baseball player, who is currently a free agent...

) to win a "decade" triple crown. He hit a career total of 301 home runs and was the first National League player to hit 300. His 264 home runs as a second baseman was a major league record for that position until Joe Morgan
Joe Morgan
Joe Leonard Morgan is a former Major League Baseball second baseman who played for the Houston Astros, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, and Oakland Athletics from 1963 to 1984. He won two World Series championships with the Reds in 1975 and 1976 and was also named the...

 surpassed him in 1984. Hornsby was also a very consistent hitter whether he was playing at home or on the road. His lifetime home batting average was .359, and his lifetime away batting average was .358. Ted Williams said that Hornsby was the greatest hitter for power and average in baseball, and Frankie Frisch
Frankie Frisch
Francis “Frankie” Frisch , nicknamed the "Fordham Flash" or "The Old Flash", was a German American Major League Baseball player of the early twentieth century....

 said of him, "He's the only guy I know who could hit .350 in the dark." Hornsby also holds second place on the unofficial major league record list of "consecutive games with two or more hits" with 13 games, first place honors going to Count Campau
Count Campau
Charles Colombus "Count" Campau was an American Major League Baseball player from Detroit, Michigan. After attending the University of Notre Dame, he played parts of three seasons in the major leagues.-Career:...

's 15-game streak. Hornsby is the only right-handed batter in history to hit over .400 three times and is considered, according to the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

, to be the greatest right-handed hitter in history. He led the National League in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and total bases every year from 1920 to 1925.
Hornsby was also renowned for his speed, and was considered to be the fastest player in the National League in his prime. He did not try to steal very often but used his speed to take extra bases. Between 1916 and 1927 Hornsby had 30 inside-the-park home run
Inside-the-park home run
In baseball parlance, an inside-the-park home run, "leg home run", or "quadruple", is a play where a batter hits a home run without hitting the ball out of play.-Discussion:...

s, and he led the league with 17 triples in 1917 and 18 triples in 1921; he had 20 triples in 1920.

However, Hornsby was often hard to get along with. He usually left a team because he annoyed the team's owner. Most of the players he managed did not like him due to his insistence that others follow his lifestyle, although some (like Woody English
Woody English
Elwood George "Woody" English was an American shortstop who played in Major League Baseball for twelve seasons with the Chicago Cubs and the Brooklyn Dodgers.- Early life :...

 and Clint Courtney
Clint Courtney
Clinton Dawdson Courtney was an American catcher in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Yankees , St. Louis Browns , Baltimore Orioles , Chicago White Sox , Washington Senators and Kansas City Athletics . Courtney batted left-handed and threw right-handed...

) did. Hornsby never played cards, but he did bet frequently on horse races, and he lost more than he won. His gambling was often a factor in his dismissal from a team. By most contemporary accounts, he was at least as mean and nasty as Cobb, who was known in his time for his aggressive attitude and dirty play. He never went to movies, convinced that it would harm a batter's eyesight, and he never smoked or drank.

Hornsby was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in the United States and beyond, the display of...

 in 1942. In 1999, Hornsby was ranked ninth on The Sporting News
The Sporting News
Sporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...

list of Baseball's Greatest Players. Later that year, he was named to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team
Major League Baseball All-Century Team
In 1999, the Major League Baseball All-Century Team was chosen by popular vote of fans. To select the team, a panel of experts first compiled a list of the 100 greatest Major League Baseball players from the past century...

. In 2001, writer Bill James
Bill James
George William “Bill” James is a baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics...

 ranked him as the 22nd-greatest player and the third-greatest second baseman in baseball history. He is also tied for eighth overall with Stan Musial
Stan Musial
Stanley Frank "Stan" Musial is a retired professional baseball player who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals . Nicknamed "Stan the Man", Musial was a record 24-time All-Star selection , and is widely considered to be one of the greatest hitters in baseball...

 in wins above replacement for position players. Hornsby has also been recognized on the St. Louis Walk of Fame
St. Louis Walk of Fame
The St. Louis Walk of Fame honors well-known people from St. Louis, Missouri, who made contributions to culture of the United States. All inductees were either born in the Greater St. Louis area or spent their formative or creative years there...

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Personal life

On September 23, 1918, Hornsby married Sarah Elizabeth Martin in Philadelphia, whom he had known since he played for the Denison Railroaders. They had a son, Rogers Hornsby, Jr., on November 15, 1920. However, during 1922, he began seeing Jeanette Pennington Hine, who was married to an automobile-supply salesman named John Hine. On June 12, 1923, Hornsby divorced Sarah, and Hine divorced her spouse in 1923 as well; the two were married on February 28, 1924. As a result of the divorce, Sarah took custody of Rogers Jr.

Hornsby and Jeanette had a son, Billy, on June 2, 1925. Billy played baseball for several years in the minor leagues, but never reached the majors. Hornsby and Jeanette became estranged in December 1944, and Hornsby began seeing a woman named Bernadette Harris, whom he called his "personal good friend and secretary", in 1945. They lived together after 1948, until Harris committed suicide by jumping out of a third-story window on September 7, 1953. The suicide was attributed to depression. Following Jeanette's death on June 1, 1956, Hornsby married Marjorie Bernice Frederick Porter on January 27, 1957. They remained together until Hornsby's death in 1963.

Career statistics

Games
Games played
Games played is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated ; the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested.-Baseball:In baseball, the statistic applies also to players who, prior to a game,...

At bat
At bat
In baseball, an at bat or time at bat is used to calculate certain statistics, including batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage. It is a more restricted definition of a plate appearance...

s
Hits
Hit (baseball)
In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....

2B
Double (baseball)
In baseball, a double is the act of a batter striking the pitched ball and safely reaching second base without being called out by the umpire, without the benefit of a fielder's misplay or another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....

3B
Triple (baseball)
In baseball, a triple is the act of a batter safely reaching third base after hitting the ball, with neither the benefit of a fielder's misplay nor another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....

HR
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...

Runs
Run (baseball)
In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...

RBIBB
Base on balls
A base on balls is credited to a batter and against a pitcher in baseball statistics when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. It is better known as a walk. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball's Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08...

SO
Strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout or strike-out occurs when a batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters....

BA
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...

OBPSLG
Totals225981732930541169301157915841038679.358.434.577

See also



External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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