Rogers Hornsby Quotes

Baseball Almanac is pleased to present an unprecedented collection of baseball related quotations spoken by Rogers Hornsby and about Rogers Hornsby.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"I don't like to sound egotistical, but every time I stepped up to the plate with a bat in my hands, I couldn't help but feel sorry for the pitcher." - Rogers Hornsby

Rogers Hornsby Quotes

Quotes From & About Rogers Hornsby

"80% of big league ballplayers go out to the race track today. Sneak around in sunglasses. Other 20% ain't that holy. Just can't find anybody who'll give 'em free tickets." Source: The Saturdary Evening Post (June 15, 1963)

"Any ballplayer that don't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American. He's a communist." Source: The Saturdary Evening Post (June 12, 1963)

"(Ty) Cobb is all wet. He talks about a game which had no night play, a game in which the pitcher had everything his own way. He could apply saliva, tobacco juice, mud, talcum poweder, or a file to the ball. He could load it with phonograph needles, raise the seams and do anything else he wished with it. And a ball remained in play until it was ready to break apart. Now the advantage is all with the hitters." Source: The Sporting News (May 7, 1952)

"I always tried to hit the ball back through the box because that is the largest unprotected area." Source: Baseball Digest (October 1953)

"I'd rather him (Grover Alexander) pitch a crucial game for me drunk, then anyone I've ever known sober. He was that good."

"I don't like to sound egotistical, but every time I stepped up to the plate with a bat in my hands, I couldn't help but feel sorry for the pitcher."

"I don't want to play golf. When I hit a ball, I want someone else to go chase it."

"I hustled (on how he was able to hit .424) on everything I hit."

"It don't make no difference where I go or what happens, so long as I can play the full nine." Source: Sport Magazine's All-Time All Stars

"I've always played hard. If that's rough and tough, I can't help it. I don't believe there's any such thing as a good loser. I wouldn't sit down and play a game of cards with you right now withing wanting to win. If I hadn't felt that way I wouldn't have got very far in baseball."

"I've cheated, or someone on my team has cheated, in almost every single game I've been in."

"I've never been a yes man."

"I've posed with some real major leaguers, not bush leaguers like he (Roger Maris) is. He couldn't carry my bat. He didn't hit in two years what I hit in one." Source: Spring Training Press Conference (March 22, 1962)

"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."

"Players who stand flat footed and swing with their arms are golfers, not hitters."

"The big trouble is not really who isn't in the Hall of Fame, but who is. It was established for a select few."

"The first rule of baseball is to get a good ball to hit."

"The home run became glorified with Babe Ruth. Starting with him, batters have been thinking in terms of how far they could hit the ball, not how often."

"There is no longer any misunderstanding between us (Branch Rickey). I want to have the best year in baseball I have ever had and I want the Cardinals to have the best year it has ever had."

"To be a good hitter you've got to do one thing - Get a good ball to hit."

"Are you crying? Are you crying? Are you crying? There's no crying, there's no crying in baseball! Rogers Hornsby was my manager, and he called me a talking pile of pigs! And that was when my parents drove all the way down from Michigan to see me play the game! And did I cry? NO! NO!" - Jimmy Dugan in A League of Their Own

"But I'll tell you one guy nobody liked and that was our manager Rogers Hornsby. Now there was a real p-r-i-c-k. With Hornsby, except for his Racing Forms, there was no newspapers, no movies, no beer, nothing. Women and horses, that was his downfall." - Browns pitcher Les Tietje

"He was a real hard-nosed guy. He ran the clubhouse like a Gestapo camp. You couldn't smoke, drink a soft drink, eat a sandwich. Couldn't read a paper. When you walked in the clubhouse you put your uniform on and got ready to play. What was it! No more kidding around, no joking, no laughing. He was dedicated to the game and made sure you were too. A very serious person." - Author Anthony J. Connor in Voices from Cooperstown (1982)

"He was frank to the point of being cruel and as subtle as a belch." - Sportswriter Lee Allen

"If consistency is a jewel, then Mr. (Rogers) Hornsby is a whole rope of pearls." - Sportswriter Joe Williams

"I will concede (Rogers) Hornsby is a most valuable Player to himself." - Sportswriter (and MVP voter) Jack Ryder

"Son (to a rookie pitcher), when you pitch a strike, Mr. (Rogers) Hornsby will let you know it." - Umpire Bill Klem

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baseball almanac fast facts

Rogers Hornsby hit his first home run on May 14, 1916, off Jeff Pfeffer. Eight years later he batted .424 and until 2001 Hornsby held the National League record for highest career slugging average and highest single season slugging average.

Did you know that Ted Williams ranked Rogers Hornsby fourth on his all-time greatest hitters chart? Do you know who he thought was even better? Review his list for complete details.

Rogers Hornsby once stated that he never drank, smoke, went to the movies, or read because he wanted to protect his "hitter's eyes!" Learn this & more by clicking his name for a career biography.