The daily monitor. (Mount Clemens, Mich.) 1940-1942, 1942-01-20
'Rajah' Paced
National Loop
for ! Years
Fl. Worth Monoser
Stored for Cords,
Hit Record .424
BY JUDSON BAILEY

II sss sNSSS
BY JUDSON BAILEY
NEW YORK, Jan. 2o-R-
The fabulous baseball career Of
Rogers Hornsby, the greatest
righthanded hitter of all time,
carried him into the Hall Of
Fame today.
The "Rajah," who performed
for five different clubs and man.
aged four of them in a 23-year
span in the majors, who batted
over 400 in three seasons and
twice was named the most val
liable player in the National
League, who earned perhaps
half a million dollars from base
ball and lost most of it, receiv-
ed 1872 votes out of 233 cast by
baseball writer's.
COOPERSTOWN SHRINE
AS a result a bronze plaque,
bearing his dimple-cheeked like
ness, will soon be placed along
side those of baSeball's other i'm
mortals-Cobb, Wagner, Ruth h,
Matthewson and the resin the
little shrine at Cooperstown, N.
Y
Hornsby, who will be as in
April, now is the general man.
ager and bench pilot of Fl.
Worth in the Texas League. He
is a jovial, grey-haired minor
league executive. But in days
that a vast majority of the base
ball fans can still remember he
was a bright comet shooting an
unpredictable course across
sports horizon.
He broke into the National
League with the St. Louis Card
inals in 1915 as a shortstop.
Later he played every position
in the infield, tried the out
field, and moved to the New
York Giants, to the Boston
Braves, to the Chicago Cubs, to
the Cardinals again and finally
to the st. Louis Browns. He
managed the Cards, Braves,
Cubs and Browns, reaching a
salary peak of $4,000 a year
with the Cubs.
LED FOR SEVEN YEARS
He led the National League In
batting for seven years, six of
them in succession for the Card
inals from 1920 to Is, inclusive.
He batted .401 in 1922, in 1924
reached .424, the modern record
for both major leagues, and In
1925 followed up with .403.
He also led the league in 1928
with 1897 for the Braves and
was voted the most valuable
player in 1925 with the Cards
and 1929 while with the Cubs.
Hornsby had no faults on the
playing field, but the magnates
found some with him off the
diamond.
In 1925 at the height of his
career as a player and manager
the Cardinals let him 60 because
he could not be brought to sal
airy terms by President S am
Breadon. He was traded to the
New York Giants for Frank
Frisch and served one season
as captain under John McGraw
then was traded to Boston as
manager of the Braves. His sal
airy, then about $50, 900, was too
much for the club to carry and
he was passed along to the Cubs
in the biggest trade in history
Chicago giving 100000 in cash
and five players.
HORSE BETTING PASSION
Hornsby's passion for betting
on horse races was probably his
biggest stumbling block with the
club owners, however. He was
in bad with Commissioner Kene-
saw M. Lands about this at one
time or another and in 1927
was sued for 100000 which
Cincinnati betting commission
er claimed was due him. Horns
by contended this was a gambl-
ing debt and not admissible at
law and a circuit court jury
found in his favor.
The Cubs let him 60 uncere-
moniously in 1892 and the
Browns dismissed him for act
ions off the ball field" in 1897.
Since then no major league club