MVP Profile: Rogers Hornsby, 1929

Second Baseman, Chicago Cubs

Age:  33 (April 27)

1^st season with Cubs

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 5’11” Weight: 175 

Prior to 1929:

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, the first season in which he won the Triple Crown with league-leading totals of 152 RBIs and a .401 average. 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 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. In 1925 he replaced manager Branch Rickey (who stayed on as general manager) following a 13-25 start. The Cardinals went 64-51 the rest of the way while player/manager Hornsby won his second Triple Crown by leading the NL with 39 home runs, 143 RBIs, and a .403 average. He also topped the circuit in OBP (.489), slugging (.756), and total bases (381). Remaining as player/manager in 1926, “the Rajah” (short for “Rajah of Swat” in contrast to contemporary 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 counteroffer 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 Cubs.

1929 Season Summary

Appeared in 156 games

2B – 156

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 712 [4]

At Bats – 602 [13]

Runs – 156 [1]

Hits – 229 [3]

Doubles – 47 [2, tied with Chick Hafey]

Triples – 8

Home Runs – 39 [3, tied with Hack Wilson]

RBI – 149 [3]

Bases on Balls – 87 [4]

Int. BB – 5 [7, tied with seven others]

Strikeouts – 65 [2]

Stolen Bases – 2

Caught Stealing – 0

Average - .380 [3]

OBP - .459 [2]

Slugging Pct. - .679 [1]

Total Bases – 409 [1]

GDP – N/A

Hit by Pitches – 1

Sac Hits – 22 [5, tied with four others]

Sac Flies – N/A

League-leading runs scored were +4 ahead of runner-up Lefty O’Doul

League-leading slugging pct was +.022 ahead of runner-up Chuck Klein

League-leading total bases were +4 ahead of runner-up Chuck Klein

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 18, HR - 16, RBI - 66, AVG - .354., SLG - .616, OBP – .453

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Most hits, game – 4 on six occasions

Longest hitting streak – 18 games

HR at home – 23

HR on road – 16

Most home runs, game – 1 on 39 occasions

Multi-HR games – 0

Most RBIs, game – 4 vs. Pittsburgh 4/17, vs. Phila. Phillies 6/15 – 10 innings, vs. St. Louis Cards 9/2, vs. Bos. Braves 9/8

Pinch-hitting – No appearances

Fielding

Chances – 856

Put Outs – 286

Assists – 547

Errors – 23

DP – 106

Pct. - .973

Postseason: 5 G (World Series vs. Phila. A’s)

PA – 22, AB – 21, R – 4, H – 5, 2B – 1, 3B – 1, HR – 0, RBI – 1, BB – 1, IBB – 0, SO – 8, SB – 0, CS – 0, AVG - .238, OBP - .273, SLG - .381, TB – 8, GDP – N/A, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF – N/A

Awards & Honors:

NL MVP: League Award 

Top 5 in NL MVP Voting:

Rogers Hornsby, ChiC.: 60 points - 75% share

Lefty O’Doul, PhilaP: 54 points – 68% share

Bill Terry, NYG: 48 points – 60% share

Burleigh Grimes, Pitt.: 35 points – 44% share

Lloyd Waner, Pitt.: 30 points – 38% share

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Cubs went 98-54 to win the NL pennant by 10.5 games over the Pittsburgh Pirates while leading the league in runs scored (982), doubles (310, tied with the Cardinals), RBIs (933), walks drawn (589), and batter strikeouts (567). With their strong group of righthanded hitters (including Hornsby), the Cubs went 35-23 from August 1 to season’s end to easily outdistance the Pirates. Lost World Series to the Philadelphia Athletics, 4 games to 1, highlighted by little-used veteran Philadelphia RHP Howard Ehmke’s 13-strikeout win in Game 1 and Philadelphia’s 10-run seventh inning rally in Game 4 that overcame an 8-0 Cub lead, to take command of the Series.

Aftermath of ‘29:

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 Hornsby 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.

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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.