Rogers Hornsby
Rogers Hornsby (1896-1963) is considered one of the greatest right-handed hitters ever in baseball, attaining a career batting average of .358 that is behind only the .366 of Ty Cobb. Hornsby racked up 2,930 hits and 301 home runs during his long career, which also included managing several teams.
Among many achievements, Hornsby led the St. Louis Cardinals to a World Series championship as its player-manager in 1926. He was also the batting coach for Ted Williams during his first minor league season in professional baseball, for the Minnesota Millers in 1938, giving Williams advice that he took to heart.[1]
Hornsby never smoke or drank.
Hornsby played in two World Series (for the Cardinals in 1926 and the Cubs in 1929), and underperformed perhaps because he liked to wait for a good pitch to hit, and it is common to pitch around the best hitters in big games.[2]
Praised by Ted Williams
Ted Williams praised Hornsby, saying he:
| “ | treated me like a son, couldn’t have been nicer. And he gave me the greatest single piece of advice on hitting that I ever got: Wait for a good pitch to hit.[3] | ” |
Quotes
| “ | 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.[2] | ” |