Rogers Hornsby won seven batting titles, hit .358 in his 23-year Major League career and remains the all-time batting average leader both among right handed hitters and in the National League. He managed the 1926 St. Louis Cardinals to franchise's first World Series title only to be traded two months later in a salary dispute. Hornsby's career and personal life were marked by conflict, antagonism, lawsuits, acrimony and bitterness. But the man could hit. This week we return to our series, Texans in the Hall to discuss the life and time of the enigmatic Rogers Hornsby.
Also this week, our favorite albums from the first quarter 2025.
Craig - Lonely People With Power, by Deafheaven (Roadrunner)
Rex - Year of the Four Emperors by Ex Deo (Reigning Phoenix Music)
Episodes referenced this week: No. 172, "They Were Two People Desperate to Stay in the Game w/ Bob LeMoine." (https://tinyurl.com/hooks172)
Errata: Two of the top 13 career batting average leaders were right handed hitters. Hornsby hit .424 in 1924, not .427. Alienation of affections is a gender-neutral offense.
Sources:
Alexander, Charles C., "Rogers Hornsby: A Biography" (Henry Holt & Co. 1995).
Fimrite, Ron, "The Raging Rajah Rogers Hornsby, One of This Century's Best Ballplayers, Was Also One of its Biggest Boors," Sports Illustrated (October 2, 1995) (accessed online April 2025).
Rogers III, C. Paul , "Rogers Hornsby," www.sabr.org, accessed March, April 2025.
"Rogers Hornsby" at www.baseball-reference.com, accessed March, April 2025.
Dozens of contemporary newspapers articles from around the country.
Hooks & Runs will return with its next episode on June 5.
You can support Hooks & Runs by purchasing books, including books featured in this episode (if any were), through our store at Bookshop.org. Here's the link.
https://bookshop.org/shop/hooksandruns
Hooks & Runs - https://hooksandruns.buzzsprout.com/
Email: hooksandruns@protonmail.com
Craig on Bluesky (@craigest.bsky.social)
Rex (Krazy Karl's Music Emporium) on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/people/Krazy-Karlz-Music-Emporium/100063801500293/
Hosts Emeriti:
Andrew Eckhoff on Tik Tok
Eric on Facebook
Music: "Warrior of Light" by ikolics (via Premium Beat)
This podcast and this episode are copyright Craig Estlinbaum, 2025.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.