Rogers Hornsby

Career Batting Stats G AB H R HR RBI SB AVG SLG OBP OPS OPS+ 2259 8173 2930 1579 301 1584 135 .358 .577 .434 1.010 140.0

Quotes From Rogers Hornsby

Teams Rogers Hornsby Managed

Rogers Hornsby in Minor League Baseball

Where does Rogers Hornsby rank among baseball greats?

Best Season: 1924
Hornsby went hitless in just 24 games as he batted .424 to win another batting title. That season, the only pitcher to hold him hitless three times was Boston's Johnny Cooney, a crafty left-hander. In 1922, at the age of 26, Hornsby played nearly every day, batted .401, slugged 42 homers (rarified air that only Babe Ruth had reached to that point), and collected 250 hits (never going more than two games without a hit). He ran off a 33-game hitting streak, banged out 102 extra-base hits and 450 total bases to go along with 152 RBI and 140 runs scored. It remains one of the most productive offensive seasons in baseball history.

Factoids
On opening day of the 1924 season, Rogers Hornsby went two-for-five against Vic Aldridge of the Chicago Cubs. With one game on his ledger for the season, Hornsby was hitting .400. He actually improved on that mark the rest of the way, huitting .424 to win the batting title!

The Rajah at His Best
Here's a breakdown of how well Hornsby hit against each team in the National League during the 1924 season when he hit .424:

vs. Braves (36-for-75, .480)
vs. Giants (34-for-78, .436)
vs. Phillies (35-for-82, .427)
vs. Dodgers (39-for-92, .424)
vs. Reds (30-for-73, .411)
vs. Pirates (24-for-61, .393)
vs. Cubs (29-for-75, .387)

Hornsby's personal-low mark against the Cubs would have still earned him the National League batting title.

Most Consecutive Games with an Extra-Base Hit
14 - Paul Waner, PIT NL, 6/3/1927-6/19/1927
14 - Chipper Jones, ATL NL, 6/26/2006-7/16/2006
12 - Tip O'Neill, STL AA, 8/24/1887-9/5/1887
12 - Rogers Hornsby, BOS NL, 5/27/1928(G1)-6/9/1928(G1)
11 - Rogers Hornsby, STL NL, 8/20/1924(G1)-8/27/1924
11 - Hank Greenberg, DET AL, 9/4/1940-9/14/1940
11 - Bob Bailey, MON NL, 6/22/1970(G2)-7/12/1970
11 - Jesse Barfield, TOR AL, 8/17/1985-8/27/1985
11 - Bobby Abreu, PHI NL, 5/7/2005-5/18/2005
11 - Alex Rodriguez, NY AL, 9/29/2006-4/11/2007

Description
Hornsby had few vices, but gambling was one of them. In 1927 two separate bookies approached the commissioner's office to complain that Hornsby owed them several thousands of dollars for bets he'd placed on horses who had lost. Hornsby's first stsint as Browns' manager was probably ended becasue of his gambling problem.

Where He Played
Second base, though he came up as a shortstop.

As a Manager
Though he is often lumped with Ted Williams as a manager because he had a hard time relating to players and posted a poor record, Hornsby was not a bad manager. His lifetime percentage of .463 as manager includes several games at the helm of the measly Browns. When he had a good team Hornsby did well, winning pennants with the Cards and the Cubs. He could be a devil at times, however, and many of his players hated him. Once. while managing the minor leagues, Hornsby went into the shower and urinated on a pitcher who had been hit hard in the game that day.

Born
Rogers Hornsby was born on April 27, 1896, in Winters, TX.

Died
January 5, 1963, Chicago, IL

Batted:  Right
Threw:  Right

Major League Debut
9 10,

Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1915
Sam Rice
Rogers Hornsby
Joe Judge
George Sisler
Dave Bancroft
Dazzy Vance
Charlie Jamieson
George Kelly
Baby Doll Jacobson

Nicknames
Rajah

Uniform Numbers
#9 (1932), #4 (1933 Cardinals, 1936-1937), #16 (1933 Browns), #11 (1934-1935)

Similar Players
If Frank Thomas at his peak could play a decent second base and win the batting title almost every year, that would be Hornsby... Jeff Kent has some similarities, but is not nearly the hitter Hornsby was... Roberto Alomar played for several different teams, just like Hornsby, but he wasn't in Hornsby's class offensively.

Related Players
Frankie Frisch, John McGraw

Hall of Fame Voting Year Election Votes Pct 1936 BBWAA 105 46.5% 1938 BBWAA 46 17.6% 1939 BBWAA 176 64.2% 1942 BBWAA 182 78.1%

Post-Season Appearances
1926 World Series
1929 World Series

Post-Season Notes
Hornsby had modest success in the post-season, hitting .245 in 12 World Series games, with just three extra-base hits... Hornsby led the Cardinals to their first World Series title in 1926 as their player/manager. Playing second base, Hornsby hit .317 with 11 homers and 93 RBI. It was a dramatic dropoff from his 1925 output (.403/39/143), but he guided the club through a tight pennant race and a thrilling seven-game Series win over Babe Ruth and the Yankees.

Awards and Honors
1922 NL Triple Crown
1925 NL MVP
1925 NL Triple Crown
1929 NL MVP

Feats
Hornsby won the National League Triple Crown in 1925 and 1929... Hornsby collected at least one extra-base hit in 11 straight games in August of 1924 with the Cardinals. In 1928, from May 27 (first game of DH) through June 9 (first game of DH), he collected an extra-base hit in 12 consecutive games. During that streak, he clubbed eight homers and nine doubles.

Notes
For a five-year stretch, Hornsby was a hitting machine. From 1921 to 1925 he batted .402 with a .690 slugging percentage and a .474 OBP. He averaged 216 hits, 123 runs, 41 doubles, 13 triples, 29 home runs, and 120 RBI per season during that span.

Hitting Streaks
33 games (1922)

Transactions
December 20, 1926: Traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the New York Giants for Frankie Frisch and Jimmy Ring; January 10, 1928: Traded by the New York Giants to the Boston Braves for Shanty Hogan and Jimmy Welsh; November 7, 1928: Traded by the Boston Braves to the Chicago Cubs for Socks Seibold, Percy Jones, Lou Legett, Freddie Maguire, Bruce Cunningham, and $200000 cash.

Hornsby is the greatest player in baseball history who moved around as much as he did. Perhaps only Rickey Henderson can be considered the greatest at his position despite having bounced around to so many teams.

Replaced
A Chattanooga, Ohio, native named Christian Frederick Albert John Henry David Betzel (really) was the Cardinals' starting third sacker in 1915. In 1916, Hornsby took his spot as Betzel (thankfully known as Bruno), moved to second. In 1920, Hornsby finally settled in at second base, replacing the popular Milt Stock. Finally able to relax and play at one position, Hornsby responded with his first batting title.

Replaced By
Hornsby inserted himself into the lineup as late as the age of 41 when he was a player/manager. His last full-time playing job was as the Cubs second baseman in 1931, when he hit .331 in 100 games, with 16 homers and 90 RBI. The next season, despite having the ability to be a productive everyday player, Hornsby concentrated on managing, leading the team to the NL flag, with his replacement, Billy Herman, at second.

Best Strength as a Player
Hitting the baseball.

Largest Weakness as a Player
The debate as to whether Hornsby was a good fielder, or simply average, or worse, may never be settled among baseball historians. But the statistical record shows that Hornsby posted average fielding marks and had below-average range at second base.

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