Review: Rogers Hornsby

Rogers Hornsby by Charles C. Alexander
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The other reviewers on the whole have it right, Hornsby comes across as a single-minded jerk, thinking only of baseball. Well, that's not exactly correct. As many reviewers note, he also enjoys betting on the horses. But I also noted another interest that is repeatedly mentioned throughout the book -- Hornsby likes his money. There were three things I found interesting in this biography. One was that Hornsby was aware of his money. I don't know from the book whether you could say he was smart about his money, but the author chose to focus on his subject in part through his financial dealings. Hornsby was an investor, and was willing to use the courts to increase or maintain his wealth. Another interesting aspect of Hornsby's life was his interest in women. He went through multiple wives and there's an episode where his "housekeeper" was holding some of his money in order to hide it from his wife. Given Hornsby's gruff personality, I found his ability with women unexplained. The third thing I found interesting was personal. When Hornsby first bought a house in St. Louis, the author notes his address, and it ends up it was a block from where I lived during a summer internship about 50 years later. Time-shifting brush with greatness?

Overall, I found this an interesting read of a mostly unsympathetic character. I enjoyed the financial aspects of this biography -- it's something you don't see often -- but I suspect I'm in the minority on that. I'd read more by this author, but no more on Hornsby.

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