Rogers Hornsby

Many of our Hornsby Bend Family remember their parents telling the stories of the little Rogers Hornsby, age two, dragging a baseball bat behind him at Hornsby Bend, encouraging just about anyone to throw him a ball.   And, learn baseball he did.


Rogers played his rookie year with his beloved St. Louis Cardinals in 1915 and had an unremarkable year.  When he returned in 1916, he began a torrid pace unequalled in the Twentieth Century.  He is considered the greatest right-handed batter of all time--he hit .400 or better three times and his 1924 average of .424 still shines as a mark even Ty Cobb never matched.  That record was never broken in the Twentieth Century.  His lifetime batting average of .358 is second only to Cobb's .363.  


But Rogers, or "Rajah--the Sultan of Swat" as he was nicknamed, also was a major league manager with two World Series notches in his belt.   Rogers stayed in baseball his entire life managing five different teams and had the highest season average for three of those franchises--the Cardinals, Cubs, and Braves.  Even his last days in 1963 were marked by his coaching the kids of Chicago on effective batting techniques and to love America's pastime.   He was named to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1942.

Some in the Hornsby Bend Family say Rogers truly had the genes of his pioneer forebears.  He was brutally frank in his conversations.  He refused to talk "off the record" for everything he said was "on the record."  Others say he was "cursed" with honesty and totally dedicated to bringing out the very best in his game and the games of those whom he coached.  He tolerated no meddling from the front office, no sloppiness from his team mates or players as a coach, and he often clashed with the Baseball Commissioner.


He lived Baseball every minute of every day and allowed few lengthy intrusions into his baseball life other than a passion for horse racing.  He never smoked or drank alcohol and avoided movies and newspapers for fear they would degrade his remarkable eye sight.  He was first in bed at night and the first on the field the next morning.


Rogers passed away in 1963 of a heart attack after a cataract operation.  He is buried in the Hornsby Bend Family Cemetery along side his father, Aaron Edward Hornsby and his mother, Mary Dallas Rogers Hornsby.


For more information on Rogers please visit his official website at www.rogershornsby.com or the Rogers Hornsby National Baseball Hall of Fame webpage at http://baseballhall.org/hof/hornsby-rogers.


(Graphite pencil drawing by artist Jim Ryder, Pensacola, Florida www.eportraitart.com reprinted with permission of the artist)