Rogers Hornsby in 1932

Rogers Hornsby’s will to excellence and his combativeness on the field won him a loyal following in the stands. Sportswriters, too, admired Hornsby because he answered questions in the same straightforward manner he took on a Walter Johnson fastball.

However, his irascibility didn’t endear him with major league owners and front-office men. When one adds his propensity for gambling and controversy, it’s little wonder the Chicago Cubs cast him adrift in the summer of 1932, although the Cubs were in third place and still entertained hopes of a pennant.

Given all these shortcomings, Hornsby didn’t attract much attention on the free market. The Pirates, though, were one team that was very much interested in obtaining Hornsby’s services for a stretch drive of their own.

Not the Pittsburgh Pirates, but the Hampton, Iowa, Pirates, a crack semi-professional team that was enjoying its most successful season since coming into existence in 1923.

John Clinton Marschall had organized the team in the summer of that year when he returned home from classes at the University of Iowa. Nicknamed “Smoke” for his pitching arm, Marschall was unable to break into the Hawkeyes’ starting lineup. A friend of his suggested that he take up track and field. Marschall did, and he soon became an accomplished javelin thrower. 

Yet he couldn’t long ignore baseball’s siren call. He played center field for the Pirates and surrounded himself with athletes of similar educational background. High school classmates and accomplished area amateurs supplemented the lineup.

For the first few years the Pirates played teams within a 50-mile radius. They also played host to barnstorming teams such as the House of David, Kansas City Monarchs, and Gilkerson’s United Giants.

Convinced that baseball would retain its popularity even in the midst of a nationwide slump, Marschall in 1931 refurbished the old bleachers at the fairgrounds and added a 135,000-watt lighting system to enable the Pirates to play night baseball.

The gamble worked.

The Pirates were soon attracting as many as 6,000 fans to games with top-notch opponents. The attendance figures were buoyed by promotions such as ladies night, deep discounts on season tickets, and a carnival-like atmosphere, with circus entertainers, motorcycle exhibitions, and boxing matches scheduled on the same day as baseball games.

Marschall and the Pirates slowly began to expand their circle, scheduling games all over Iowa, not to mention South Dakota and Nebraska.

The Pirates also were making the transition to a strictly professional team. In place of amateurs, Marschall was able to attract players from the American Association and Three I League. He had also secured the services of two Iowa natives, Art Reinhart and Wattie Holm, who helped the Cardinals to a world championship in 1926.

Reinhart, a native of nearby Ackley, pitched one game for the Cardinals in 1919. The lanky left hander kicked around in the minors for five years before returning to the Cardinals in 1925. In his first full year Reinhart strung together an 11-5 record and a 3.05 earned run average, which placed him among the league leaders in that category.

During the Cardinals’ stretch run in 1926, Reinhart picked up a victory in a crucial doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates in September at Sportsman’s Park. Reinhart disappointed in the World Series. He was loser to the Yankees in the fourth game, walking four and surrendering four runs in the fifth inning without getting an out.

Reinhart was denied a chance to redeem himself. He was one of the pitchers warming up in the bullpen in the late innings of the decisive seventh game. Hornsby opted for the veteran Pete Alexander, who finished the game out to earn the underdog Cardinals the world championship.

Holm, a native of Peterson, also attended the University of Iowa. He was promptly signed by the Cardinals and was sent down to Syracuse. An outfielder, he played from 1924 to 1928 with the Cardinals. A career .278 batting average, he was a good contact hitter who struck out only 86 times in 1,500 at-bats. Holm, too, contributed to the Cardinals’ title with a Series home run.

Both players might have been able to find major league employment had times been flush, but the Depression had forced teams to tighten their belts. Attendance was sagging and teams were forced to cut salaries and ax players.

Marschall also inked Bud Knox, the former Pittsburgh Pirates catcher, and Lynn King, a Drake University alum who would step up to the major leagues a few years later.

Even those who took note of Marschall’s ability to sign major league-level talent, however, raised an eyebrow when the Mason City Globe-Gazette on August 24, 1932, announced that Hornsby and the Hampton Pirates were nearing agreement on a contract.

The Globe-Gazette had picked up the story from the United Press International. The story came their way by a Carroll daily newspaper reporter who prefaced his report with the following proviso: “It may be just another one of those things.

Nonetheless, the rumor spread as quickly as a prairie fire in Hornsby’s native state. When Hornsby was contacted by the press, he disavowed any such arrangement. Marschall was not with the club in Carroll when the story broke. His whereabouts were unknown, but he was expected to rejoin the club at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the following day.

When a reporter hooked up with him the following day, Marschall expressed optimism that a deal could be struck.

“Reinhart and Hornsby used to be buddies on the St. Louis Cardinals,” he told the Globe-Gazette. “Reinhart has been in negotiations with Hornsby to play with us. I am not prepared, however, to make an announcement yet.”

The prospect of a player of Hornsby’s stature toiling for a semi-professional team might sound ludicrous. However, there were incentives.

Hornsby was deep in debt. According to one biographer, Charles Alexander, Hornsby was embroiled in a dispute with the Internal Revenue Service concerning a tax deduction. If disallowed, Hornsby and his wife would owe the federal government several thousand dollars.

Hornsby, always a profligate spender, also owed baseball acquaintances several hundred dollars when his horse racing selections finished up the track.

The top prize in the Council Bluffs tournament was $1,600. A piece of the purse, coupled with the $300 to $400 per game that Marschall pledged to pay, would have alleviated Hornsby’s financial suffering.

When weighed against a month or two of inactivity, the opportunity to play with the Pirates didn’t seem to be a bad scenario. He would be reunited with two World Series pals and play against top-notch competition, just a step below the major leagues.

Remember it was Hornsby who said, “It don’t make no difference where I go or what happens, so long as I can play the full nine.” On another occasion he stated, “Baseball is my life. It’s the only thing I know and care about.”

The score books, in the possession of Marschall’s son, John, don’t contain an entry for Hornsby. There was no incentive for Marschall to keep the matter secret. The news that Hornsby would play in the tournament would have swelled attendance figures.

The Council Bluffs Daily Nonpariel, which covered the tournament, would have certainly recognized Hornsby. But there is no mention of him in a newspaper box score.

There are other factors that conspired to make the deal fall through. The Pirates had two African Americans in their starting lineup. Hilton, who reportedly played for the Monarchs, played second base. Simms, one time a member of the Gilkerson’s United Giants, patrolled center field. 

Hornsby, according to Alexander, was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, although it was doubtful he was active in the organization. Still, the presence of two African Americans on the same field, on the same team, may have led Hornsby to reconsider.

Swede Risberg was a member of the Sioux City Stockyards, who were entered in the tournament. Since his banishment from baseball for his role in the Black Sox scandal, Risberg had traveled from town to town, finding employment with semi-professional teams when he could. He had applied for reinstatement several times, but his pleas were turned down by Commissioner Landis.

Landis, if he caught wind of Hornsby’s participation in a tournament with Risberg, would likely have severely reprimanded Hornsby. It’s likely, said Alexander, that Landis would have prevented Hornsby from ever playing major league baseball again. It’s a pity the deal was never consummated.

Hampton was considered a dark horse, but upset the Cuban Giants en route to a title game with the House of David. In a delicious bit of irony, Grover Cleveland Alexander reprised his role in the World Series five years earlier. After his team scored the go-ahead run in extra innings, Alexander closed out the Pirates to secure a title for the House of David.

Hornsby’s experience with the Pirates provided him with a template for his baseball days after his major league career was over. He found out that a washed-up major leaguer could still make another large payday when he helped a Denver semi-professional team to a tournament title in 1937.

DUANE WINN is the editor of the Brooklyn (Iowa) Chronicle. He also is pursuing a master’s degree in journalism and mass communications at Drake University in Des Moines.