Rogers Hornsby Biography

1896-1963

American baseball player

Rogers Hornsby wanted to play baseball so badly that when he was sixteen he donned a wig, pretended to be a woman, and barnstormed through his native Texas with the Boston Bloomer Girls. As an adult, he cared for nothing except baseball. Often overlooked when baseball's greatest players are ranked, Hornsby was arguably the best right-handed batter in the game's history, retiring with the second-highest lifetime batting average, surpassed only by his contemporary, Detroit's Ty Cobb. With few other interests, the gruff, profane, outspoken Hornsby was an early model of an athlete completely dedicated to his sport.