Rogers Hornsby - Later Baseball Career

Later Baseball Career

Following his release from the Browns, Hornsby was unable to retire because he had lost so much money gambling over the years. He signed as a player-coach with the Baltimore Orioles of the International League in 1938 before leaving them to play for and manage the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Southern Association for the rest of the season. Hornsby then returned to the Orioles to manage them for 1939, but he did not return to the club following the season. Halfway through 1940, he signed to manage the Oklahoma City Indians of the Texas League. He led them from last place to the Texas League playoffs, where they fell to the Houston Buffaloes in four games. Hornsby began 1941 managing the Indians once again, but he resigned in the middle of the season. In November, he became the general and field manager of the Fort Worth Cats, also of the Texas league. Fort Worth finished in third place and made the playoffs in 1942, but they were eliminated in the first round by the Shreveport Sports.

Hornsby went unsigned by any team in 1943, but he signed as a player-manager with the Vera Cruz Blues of La Liga Mexicana in Mexico in 1944. After hitting a game-winning grand slam for the second win of a series in March, he resigned when the team owner complained that the win would diminish the crowd for the third game of the series. Following his release, he did some commentary for radio station WTMV, assisted the Cleveland Indians in spring training in 1947, and became a TV announcer for Chicago Cubs games in 1949.

Hornsby did not become a manager or coach again until 1950, when he was hired to manage the Texas League's Beaumont Roughnecks. Beaumont won the pennant, but they were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the San Antonio Missions. The next year, in 1951, Hornsby managed the Seattle Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League. Under Hornsby's leadership, the Rainiers won the pennant.

In 1952, Hornsby was again hired to manage the St. Louis Browns, his first major league job in 16 years. The Browns' owner, Bill Veeck, was the son of former Cubs president and general manager William Veeck, Sr. Hornsby was not well received by the players, however. On June 9, he was fired due to a disagreement with Veeck over an incident against the Yankees the day before. During the game, a fan prevented Gil McDougald of the Yankees from catching a fly ball, and the umpire ruled that it was fan interference. Hornsby did not initially argue the call, and a few minutes later Veeck forced him to do it (when it was already too late to do anything about it). This led to Hornsby and the Browns parting ways. The Browns players were so happy about Hornsby's firing that they gave Veeck an engraved trophy to thank him.

A little over a month later, on July 26, Hornsby was hired to replace Luke Sewell as manager of the Cincinnati Reds. After Hornsby completed two mediocre seasons with the club, the Reds announced that he would not return for 1954. He finished his MLB managerial career with a record of 701–812. Following his dismissal, Hornsby worked as a coach for the Chicago Cubs from 1958 to 1960 before becoming a scout and third base coach for the New York Mets in 1962. In 1963, Hornsby died of a heart attack. He was buried in the Hornsby family cemetery in Hornsby Bend, Texas.