Following his return to the United States, Hornsby spent 1945 out of baseball for the first time in over three decades. There were rumors that Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis had informally blackballed him from the majors because of his persistent gambling. However, Hornsby had a long wait to get another major-league job even after Landis died in November 1944. He did some commentary for radio station WTMV, served as a spring-training hitting instructor for the Chicago White Sox in 1946 and the Cleveland Indians in 1947, and became a TV announcer for Chicago Cubs games in 1949.