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Rogers Hornsby (April 27, 1896 in Winters, Texas - January 5, 1963 in Chicago, Illinois), nicknamed "The Rajah", was a second baseman and manager in Major League Baseball who played most of his career in St. Louis (for the St. Louis Browns and the St. Louis Cardinals), with shorter stints for the Chicago Cubs, the Boston Braves, and the New York Giants. His .358 career batting average is the second highest in major league history, trailing only the .366 mark of Ty Cobb, and is the highest of any right-handed hitter or National League player. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1942.
Hornsby is considered by many followers of baseball's history to be one of the game's greatest hitters (and perhaps its greatest right-handed hitter of all time), on a level with Ted Williams, Stan Musial, and other Hall-of-Famers. He holds the modern record for highest batting average in a season, with .424 in 1924, and won baseball's Triple Crown in 1922 and 1925. He won the NL's MVP Award twice, in 1925 and 1929. At his peak ability, from 1920 to 1925, Hornsby led his league in batting average all six years, in RBI four years, and in home runs twice. He is also the only second baseman in major league history to finish his career with 300 or more home runs.
In addition to his success on the field, he was one of baseball's more talented player-managers, guiding his Cardinals to a World Series victory over Babe Ruth's New York Yankees in 1926.
Hornsby was one of the more controversial characters in baseball history. Although he did not drink or smoke, he was a compulsive gambler. He is rumored to have been a member of the Klu Klux Klan for a time. One writer characterized him as "a liturgy of hatred." His chief interest was in winning, and he could be as sarcastic and uncompromising with club owners as he was with his teammates.
External links
- Baseball Hall of Fame (http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/hofer_bios/hornsby_rogers.htm)
- Baseball-Reference.com (http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/hornsro01.shtml) - career statistics and analysis
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