The MMOB Daily Quote - Rogers Hornsby

I've been itching to focus on another baseball great since posting about Tris Speaker earlier this month. Well, because he was born on this date in 1896, today I get my chance to focus on another member of baseball royalty, Rogers Hornsby.

Like Tris, Rogers has one of those great names that is at once unique and recognizable. His nickname "Rajah" is both a tip to his first name and his grand style of play. He broke into the bigs with the Cardinals in 1915 and amassed seven batting titles over 22 years playing for the St. Louis Cardinals (1915-1926, 1933), New York Giants (1927), Boston Braves (1928), Chicago Cubs (1929-1932), and St. Louis Browns (1933-1937). He topped the magic .400 batting average three times during his career. He was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1942, which also has this to say about him in his Baseball Hall of Fame Bio:

Rogers Hornsby's .424 mark in 1924 is a National League record for the 20th century and his career average of .359 is the highest ever in the National League. The Rajah, a two-time MVP and two-time Triple Crown winner, was the player-manager of the Cardinals' first World Championship team in 1926 and was the first National League player to hit 300 home runs.

If you aren't familiar with Rogers here's a short video bio also available at the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Here are some quotes from the Rajah pulled from various Internet sources:

“People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.”

“I don't want to play golf. When I hit a ball, I want someone else to go chase it.”

"Any ballplayer that don't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American. He's a communist."

"I'd rather him (Grover Alexander) pitch a crucial game for me drunk, then anyone I've ever known sober. He was that good."

"I've always played hard. If that's rough and tough, I can't help it. I don't believe there's any such thing as a good loser. I wouldn't sit down and play a game of cards with you right now withing wanting to win. If I hadn't felt that way I wouldn't have got very far in baseball."

"To be a good hitter you've got to do one thing - Get a good ball to hit."

Cheers! - Jason