Rogers Hornsby: A Biography

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Hornsby (1896-1963) was ill-educated and taciturn. After playing sandlot and minor league ball, the Texan went to St. Louis in 1915 to play for the Cardinals. Within years he developed from a weak-hitting, error-prone shortstop to a hard-hitting, power-producing second baseman (topping out at .424 in 1924), at his time perhaps the best player in the game after Babe Ruth. The author delves into Hornsby's professional and personal life: his relationship with managers Miller Huggins, Branch Rickey and John McGraw; his scandalous affair and subsequent 20-year marriage to a ``flapper''; his personal prohibition on drinking and smoking; his reluctance to watch movies because they might impinge on his eyesight; and his obsession with horse racing-although he never learned to read a racing form. Alexander reviews Hornsby's successful tenure as player-manager of the Cardinals; his subsequent stints with the Giants, Braves, Cubs and Browns; and his career as manager and coach. Alexander (Our Game) has written a thorough if uninspired biography about one of baseball's most talented, yet least recognized, players. Photos not seen by PW. (July)

Library Journal

Ready for some more baseball books, since you can't watch the game? Hornsby, whose 1924 batting average of .424 remains the major league record of the century, is here given the once-over by the author of Our Game (LJ 3/1/91).