Second Baseman, St. Louis Cardinals
Age: 29 (April 27)
10th
season with Cardinals
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 5’11” Weight: 175
Prior to 1925:
A Texas native,
Hornsby grew up in Fort Worth where he played youth baseball with a local team
in his neighborhood. At 15 he joined an adult team in the Fort Worth City
League. He would occasionally hire out to play for other area teams. In 1909
Hornsby entered North Side High School where he played football in addition to
baseball. Tall and skinny, at this point he was more adept as a fielder than as
a hitter. Following a short, failed trial with the Dallas Steers of the Texas
League in 1914, Hornsby caught on with a team in Hugo, Oklahoma that was part
of the Class D Texas-Oklahoma League. He played shortstop at $75 per month
until the club folded after 51 games. The Denison Champions of the same circuit
purchased his contract. He remained with Denison, now in the Class D Western
Association, in 1915 where he batted .277. Despite committing 58 errors at
shortstop, he received a late-season call-up to the Cardinals where he hit .246
in 18 games and remained error-prone in the field. After an offseason of
building himself up working on his uncle’s farm, Hornsby made the Cardinals in
1916, the cocky 20-year-old impressing with his exuberant attitude and hustle.
Choking up on the bat and standing deep in the batter’s box, he began hitting
effectively to all fields. He split time in the field between shortstop and
third base. For the year he batted .313 with 17 doubles, 15 triples, 6 home
runs, and 65 RBIs. Playing exclusively at shortstop in 1917, Hornsby topped the
NL with 17 triples, a .484 slugging percentage, and 253 total bases, to go
along with 8 home runs, 66 RBIs, a .327 batting average, and a .385 on-base
percentage. The Cards were a last-place club in 1918 and Hornsby’s performance
dropped off to .281 with 19 doubles, 11 triples, 5 home runs, and 60 RBIs.
Still primarily playing at shortstop, he committed 46 errors in the
war-shortened 115-game season. Hornsby followed up with a better season in
1919, hitting .318 with 9 triples, 8 home runs, and 71 RBIs while splitting
time at third base, shortstop, and second base. His defense remained the
weakest part of his game. He was the full-time second baseman in 1920, leading
the league in hits (218), doubles (44), RBIs (94), batting (.370), OBP (.431),
slugging (.559), and total bases (329). He also led all NL second basemen by
committing 34 errors, but his offensive production more than made up for it.
1920 marked the beginning of a stretch of six consecutive batting titles for
Hornsby (.397 in 1921, .401 in 1922, .384 in 1923, .424 in 1924, and .403 in
1925). In 1921 and ’22 he also led the circuit in runs scored (131 and 141, respectively),
hits (235 and 250), doubles (44 and 46), RBIs (126 and 152), and total bases
(378 and 450). Hitting more for power as well as average, Hornsby led the NL
with 42 home runs in 1922. Off the field, his first marriage ended in divorce amid
a flurry of legal actions. In addition he feuded with Cardinals management and was
fined $500 and suspended for five games during the 1923 season. A fanatic for
conditioning, he consumed red meat in copious amounts and also abstained from drinking and tobacco,
refusing to attend movies because he feared they would damage his eyesight.
Following the 1924 season he was rewarded with a three-year, $100,000 contract
which made him one of the four highest paid players in the National and
American Leagues.
1925 Season Summary
Appeared in 138
games
2B – 136, PH –
2
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 606 [16]
At Bats – 504
Runs – 133 [2]
Hits – 203 [4]
Doubles – 41 [4,
tied with Dick Burrus]
Triples – 10
[12, tied with Glenn Wright, Dick Cox & Howard Freigau]
Home Runs – 39 [1]
RBI – 143 [1]
Bases on Balls
– 83 [2]
Int. BB – N/A
Strikeouts – 39
[15, tied with Jack Fournier]
Stolen Bases – 5
Caught Stealing
– 3
Average - .403
[1]
OBP - .489 [1]
Slugging Pct. -
.756 [1]
Total Bases – 381
[1]
GDP – N/A
Hit by Pitches
– 2
Sac Hits – 16 [7,
tied with Howard Freigau]
Sac Flies – N/A
League-leading home
runs were +15 ahead of runner-up Gabby Hartnett
League-leading
RBIs were +13 ahead of runner-up Jack Fournier
League-leading batting
average was +.036 ahead of runner-up Jim Bottomley
League-leading OBP
was +.043 ahead of runner-up Jack Fournier
League-leading
slugging percentage was +.158 ahead of runner-up Kiki Cuyler
League-leading
total bases were +12 ahead of runner-up Kiki Cuyler
Midseason
snapshot: HR - 22, RBI - 75, AVG - .425., SLG - .799
---
Most hits, game
– 4 on five occasions
Longest hitting
streak – 14 games
HR at home – 24
HR on road – 15
Most home runs,
game – 2 (in 5 AB) vs. Chi. Cubs 5/3, (in 5 AB) vs. NY Giants 6/4, (in 5 AB)
vs. Pittsburgh 6/24, (in 4 AB) vs. Phila. Phillies 8/9
Multi-HR games
– 4
Most RBIs, game
– 4 on five occasions
Pinch-hitting –
0 of 2 (.000) with 1 RBI & 1 BB
Fielding
Chances – 737
Put Outs – 287
Assists – 416
Errors – 34
DP – 95
Pct. - .954
Awards & Honors:
NL MVP: League
Award
Top 5 in NL MVP
Voting:
Rogers Hornsby,
StLC.: 73 pts. - 91% share
Kiki Cuyler,
Pitt.: 61 pts. – 76% share
George Kelly,
NYG: 52 pts. – 65% share
Glenn Wright,
Pitt.: 43 pts. – 54% share
Dazzy Vance, Brook.:
42 pts. – 53% share
---
Cardinals went 77-76
to finish fourth in the NL, 18 games behind the pennant-winning Pittsburgh
Pirates. Mired at 13-25 when Branch Rickey was removed as manager (staying on
as general manager) and replaced by Hornsby, the Cardinals went 64-51 the rest
of the way, boosted by the player/manager’s Triple Crown-winning performance.
Aftermath of ‘25:
Remaining as
player/manager in 1926, “the Rajah” (short for “Rajah of Swat” in contrast to
Babe Ruth’s “Sultan of Swat”) guided the Cardinals to their first pennant while
hindered by various injuries. He batted .317 with 11 home runs and 93 RBIs. St.
Louis went on to defeat the Yankees in the World Series. Having received
accolades for his performance as player/manager, Hornsby sought a major raise
and angrily rejected a counter-offer from owner Sam Breadon. The result was
that the Cardinals dealt the cantankerous Hornsby to the New York Giants for
star second baseman Frankie Frisch. Hornsby hit well for his new club in 1927,
batting .361 with 26 home runs and 125 RBIs. He also drew a league-leading 86
walks, which helped him to a NL-high .448 on-base percentage. He also clashed
with manager John McGraw and owner Horace Stoneham. Hornsby enjoyed horse
racing and tended to bet heavily on the horses, which got him called on the
carpet by Commissioner Landis, who he dressed down for his stock market investing. Despite his
solid season with the bat (he was much improved with the glove by this point as
well), Hornsby was traded again, this time to the Boston Braves for 1928. The
Braves were a weak team and Hornsby became player/manager during the season on
his way to winning his seventh NL batting championship at .387, along with 21
home runs and 94 RBIs. In the offseason he was dealt once again, this time to
the Chicago Cubs, who won the NL pennant in 1929. “The Rajah” batted .380 with
39 home runs and 149 RBIs while leading the circuit with 156 runs scored, a
.679 slugging percentage, and 409 total bases. He was once again the NL MVP.
Following surgery to remove bone spurs from his heel in the offseason, Hornsby
had difficulty in 1930, further exacerbated by a broken ankle, and ended up
appearing in only 42 games in which he batted .308 with just eight extra base
hits. He played in 100 games in 1931 and hit .331 with 16 home runs and 90
RBIs. Hornsby was named player/manager of the Cubs for 1932 and clashed with
many of his best players prior to being fired with the club in second place,
just five games off the lead. He had played in 19 games during the season which
ended with the Cubs winning the pennant under the direction of Hornsby’s
successor, Charlie Grimm, a far more genial person (the Cubs lost the World
Series and refused to vote him a share of their World Series money). The 37-year-old Hornsby found himself back with the Cardinals
in 1933, where he appeared in 46 games, primarily as a pinch-hitter, and hit
.325 while dealing with foot and leg injuries prior to being waived at
midseason. Picked up by the AL’s St. Louis Browns he was made manager and
played minimally the rest of the way. Hornsby remained as manager of the Browns
until 1937, playing occasionally until the conclusion of his managerial tenure.
For his major league career, he batted .358 with 2930 hits that included 541
doubles, 169 triples, and 301 home runs. Hornsby further scored 1579 runs and
compiled 1584 RBIs, 135 stolen bases, and drew 1038 walks, ending up with a
.434 OBP. With the Cardinals he batted .359 with 1089 runs scored, 2110 hits,
367 doubles, 143 triples, 193 home runs, 1072 RBIs, 118 stolen bases, 660 walks
drawn, and a .427 OBP. He won seven batting titles, two Triple Crowns, and was
a two-time league MVP. Appearing in 12 World Series games, “the Rajah” hit .245
with 5 RBIs. Hornsby was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1942. He coached
and managed with minor league teams after leaving the Browns and operated a
baseball school in Arkansas. He also became a major league hitting instructor
prior to returning to the Browns as manager in 1952, a stint that lasted only
51 games. Hired to manage the seventh-place Cincinnati Reds a few weeks later,
he became mired in controversy as well as losing in his last managerial
position. Hornsby remained an irascible presence in the baseball world until
his death in 1963 at age 66. Often considered the greatest righthanded hitter
in baseball history, he had difficulty dealing with teammates, managers,
owners, and even the commissioner of baseball. His major league managerial record
was only 701-812, despite the one World Series title-winning year with the
Cardinals.
--
MVP Profiles feature players in the National or
American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award
(1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present)
as Most Valuable Player.
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