Former All-Star and Rookie of the Year Bob Horner He passed away at the age of 68. The Braves announced the news on Tuesday afternoon while sending their condolences to his family and friends.
Horner was born in Kansas but grew up in Arizona. A 15th round pick by the A’s out of high school, he instead chose to attend Arizona State University. The righty Horner had an illustrious college career, clubbing 56 home runs over three seasons with the Sun Devils.
At the time it was the all-time NCAA record and remains the record for any ASU hitter to this day. Horner led them to a national title in 1977 and a runner-up finish in his junior season. He was one of five players – on the sidelines Will Clark, Robin Ventura, Dave Winfield again Brooks Kieschnick – was inducted into the first class of the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.
The Braves held the first pick in the 1978 draft, which was held in mid-June. They selected Horner and quickly added him to the MLB roster. That bold decision paid off, as he slugged 23 homers (including a single). Bert Blyleven in his major league debut) and drove in 63 runs in 89 games. He narrowly missed out on the future Hall of Fame Ozi Smith for the NL Rookie of the Year award.
Horner opened the following season as Atlanta’s third baseman, his first of seven straight years in that role. He’s always been a power hitter, hitting 30 homers in his first MLB campaign. Horner earned a ninth-place finish in MVP voting after a career-high 35 long balls in 1980. He made the ’82 All-Star Game in his third 30-plus homer season, and also helped the Braves to the NL West title.
In parts of nine seasons in Atlanta, Horner hit .278/.339/.508 with 215 home runs. He moved to first base for the ’86 campaign, where he hit .273 with 27 homers. That includes the best single game performance in history. Horner had a four-homer game against Montreal on July 6, 1986. It is one of the 21st hits in major league history and remains the Brave’s only four-homer game. Unfortunately, it was one of three times his team lost the game, as the Expos won 11-8.
Horner reached free agency after the 1986 season. MLB owners at the time were colluding to lower player salaries. (Various arbitrators would rule in favor of the Players Association in that case, resulting in an eventual $280MM settlement for violations of the collective bargaining agreement.) Horner rejected what he considered a lowball offer from the Braves in ’87.
When no other MLB teams made a strong offer, he signed a $2MM contract with the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. Horner hit .327 with 31 homers in 93 games. He would return to the Majors the following season on a one-year contract with the Cardinals. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, he turned down a $3MM offer from Yakult to sign with the St. Louis Cardinals. Louis for only $950K.
Horner had a career-worst season at age 30 in 1988. He signed with the Orioles but announced his retirement in Spring Training of ’89, citing a left shoulder injury that did not fully recover from surgery. He spent his days after playing in the Dallas area with family. Horner finished his MLB career with a slash line of .277/.340/.499. He hit 218 homers, surpassed 1000 hits, and drove in 685 runs.
He is one of the best players in college baseball history and had one season of superstardom in Japan during a unique, fascinating career. Horner’s tragic death comes not long after the baseball world lost two other important figures in Braves history, Ted Turner and Bobby Cox. MLB Trade Rumors joins others in the game in sending condolences to his family, friends, former teammates and loved ones.
