Rogers Hornsby

By: Charles C. Alexander

Narrated by: Ian Esmo

In the 1920s Rogers Hornsby was the National League's foremost star, its biggest since Honus Wagner, and its principal answer to the American League's Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb. He was a seven-time National League batting champion, and his 1924 average remains the major-league high for this century. From his Texas childhood until his death in 1962, Hornsby lived his entire life in the world of baseball, building a legend through his remarkable involvement in every phase of the sport. His career as a player, manager, and instructor was spectacular in its unpredictability, and the story of his life chronicles the golden age of baseball.©1995 Charles C. Alexander (P)1998 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"The absorbing biography of...the man once heralded as 'baseball's greatest right-handed hitter.'" (Sports Illustrated)
"The long-overdue study of one of baseball's most important and most enigmatic figures....Anyone seriously interested in the history of baseball...will want to add this soundly researched and very readable volume to his library." (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Don’t Be a Humpty Dumpy Listen to Rogers Hornsby

Rogers Hornsby is a legend in the game of Baseball, what I learned from the book was that Baseball was his life. This is a good listen, I love hearing about the 20’s teams that shaped Baseball into the National Pastime. This book also details some of his personal life, but I feel like Charles C. Alexander stuck with the facts and did not turn this into a gossip. At the same time he addresses some general negative feelings people had about Hornsby it is not a puff piece. I have been on a run of ol’ time Baseball books on Audible and this was another great entry, it is nice to hear about teams other than the Yankees too.

A great story on one of the best hall of fame ballplayers.

A phenomenal book on Rajah. Having the honor of being a friend of his grandson Brad means even more as I have always turned to him with additional questions on his grandpa.

Job Well Done

Where does Rogers Hornsby rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It is up there for sports biographies. I learned a lot about Hornsby and was amazed to find out he was a total jerk.

What other book might you compare Rogers Hornsby to and why?

This is comparable to other well written books about Walter Johnson, Ty Cobb, or Honus Wagner.

Which character – as performed by Ian Esmo – was your favorite?

I thought the narrator did a great job being Hornsby.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, but was unable to.

Any additional comments?

Not sure why some people scorched this book in their reviews. It was a solid job.

Good Listen

Lots of good information. The narrator is really good too! I recommend this book especially if like old timers.

Revealing and tragic.

The author keeps you captivated by a story of an often forgotten Hall of Famer who seemed to give more than he got.

A lifetime of baseball!

A great understanding of the man! Clarified the myth vs the man! Much of what baseball is today is because of Hornsby!

A great hitter ! A tragic erratic life!

His career went from mediocrity to a 6 year run of sheer excellence to about 7 years of complex, erratic behavior, followed by a post career as an almost forgotten man. Would love to have known more about his views on the integration of baseball.

Unexpectedly Poor

This work is nothing more than a multiple hour narrative of Hornsby's wiki page. The audio performance is dated, stale, and woefully over-inflected. I was irked that I wasted a credit on it.

Insufferable narration

Is this being read by IGOR? Stilted, almost robotic sounding narration ruins an otherwise interesting biography.