Immortal No. 27

>In 23 years of big-league baseball, he averaged .358 at bat--an average topped only by Ty Cobb's .367 (for 24 years).

>His lifetime record of 1,582 runs-batted-in is exceeded only by Babe Ruth's 2,209.

>For seven years (six of them in a row), he was the batting champion of the National League.

>Thrice he batted over .400; once (in 1924) batted .424, a modern major-league record.

For these thumping accomplishments Rogers Hornsby, greatest right-handed hitter the game has ever known, was last week elected to baseball's Hall of Fame. In a little red-brick shrine at Cooperstown, N.Y., his square-jawed face, in bas-relief on a bronze plaque, will be hung alongside those of 26 other Immortals previously chosen.

"It's a great honor," mumbled Immortal No. 27, receiving the news in a barber's chair at Fort Worth, where he now manages a minor-league ball club. But Rogers Hornsby might well have pondered the caprices of his career. For the very traits that made the Rajah a spectacular player lost him job after job as manager. Aggressive, independent, intolerant of advice, he made no effort to endear himself to his employers.

Hornsby's first managerial job was with the St. Louis Cardinals. Taking over a team that had finished fourth the season before, he whipped it into such shape that it not only won the National League pennant but beat the mighty Yankees in the World Series of 1926. Three months later, Owner Sam Breadon sold his miracle-manager to the New York Giants. Reason: a salary dispute that prompted Breadon to say he would rather go into the ring with Jack Dempsey than argue with Rogers Hornsby.

The Giants apparently intended to groom Hornsby for Manager John McGraw's job. But the Rajah lasted only one season. Reason: while substituting for McGraw on a road trip, he answered one of Owner Charles Stoneham's why-don't-you suggestions by saying: "You look after your stockmarket Stoneham, and I'll tend to the team."

Traded to the Boston Braves, Hornsby was made player-manager in midseason. But at season's end, he was sold to the Chicago Cubs for a reputed $200,000. In his first year as manager he hustled the Cubs into second place. Two years later, Owner Philip Wrigley was willing to chuck his expensive investment, sold Hornsby to the Cardinals. They sold him to the Browns. After five seasons, the Browns let him go.

By that time, big-league club owners were no longer interested in Hornsby. Insiders said it was because he played the horses--a practice frowned on by Tsar Landis. Said the forthright Rajah: "I don't smoke, I don't drink, I don't read much nor go to the movies. I must have some relaxation." Disillusioned and declaring that managers must be "yes-men" to keep a job in the big leagues, the Rajah drifted back to the minors. When immortality came to him last week at 45, he was back where he started--in the Texas League.

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