RIP Bob Horner

[mpcincal]

Atlanta Braves great Bob Horner dies at 68

1978 Rookie of the Year after coming to the majors straight off the Arizona State campus.

Had an interesting career. Big dispute in 1980 when the Braves tried to send him down to Triple-A. Later did a stint in Japan. One of several to hit four homers in a game. Despite being on the DL and in an arm cast, went down from the broadcast booth to the dugout to back his boys when the Braves and Padres had their donnybrook in 1984.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

1978 was the first season I started to follow baseball in earnest and Horner was on my radar from the get-go.

He was damn younger than I thought he was, but the WWE photo posted above shows it was doubtful he'd ever draw full Social Security.

 

[poindexter]

Am I missing something, or is that Dusty Rhodes?

 

[mpcincal]

Am I missing something, or is that Dusty Rhodes?

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

It's actually jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson.

 

[Songbird]

He was part of my daily 4:35 routine.

 

[tapintoamerica]

Horner had 163 RBI in 1978 — 100 in 60 games in the Western Athletic Conference and 63 in the National League.
He struck out 17 times at Arizona State that year.

 

[gingerbread]

Bobby used to babysit me along with his then-girlfriend Chris, who lived across the street from us. My sister was the flower girl in their wedding. They were married for 40+ years.
I think we went to every single ASU baseball game during the years when he played. Because of him, I fell in love with the game.

 

[dixiehack]

Beautiful story @gingerbread

How rare was it for college players to break through and become MLB stars then? Even into the 90s I can remember there being a bit of bias against college players because teams regarded them as too old to further develop.

 

[WolvEagle]

On one of Horner's Topps baseball cards, it listed him as having double-digit home runs, but 7 RBI, for the previous season. Oops.

 

[mateen]

Beautiful story @gingerbread

How rare was it for college players to break through and become MLB stars then? Even into the 90s I can remember there being a bit of bias against college players because teams regarded them as too old to further develop.

By Horner's era it wasn't exactly rare, but it was certainly much less common. In the 1973 CWS game in which Dave Winfield famously struck out 15 but ran out of gas and Minnesota ended up losing, USC's lineup included Fred Lynn, Rich Dauer, and Roy Smalley.

 

[ChrisLong]

By Horner's era it wasn't exactly rare, but it was certainly much less common. In the 1973 CWS game in which Dave Winfield famously struck out 15 but ran out of gas and Minnesota ended up losing, USC's lineup included Fred Lynn, Rich Dauer, and Roy Smalley.

It was 8-0 in the ninth ahead of the Trojans' rally.

 

[mateen]

Oh how I wish there was footage of that game. Dauer said Winfield was throwing harder in that game than anyone he ever faced in the majors.

 

[ChrisLong]

I covered USC baseball for the Daily Trojan back then. But, unfortunately, the NCAA Tournament came in June and the semester ended in the middle of May. The USC-Minnesota game was a semifinal. In eight innings, Winfield allowed one infield single and struck out 15. It was 7-0 when the Trojans scored eight in the ninth inning. They beat Arizona State in the finals, their fourth of five championships in a row.

 

[justgladtobehere]

By Horner's era it wasn't exactly rare, but it was certainly much less common. In the 1973 CWS game in which Dave Winfield famously struck out 15 but ran out of gas and Minnesota ended up losing, USC's lineup included Fred Lynn, Rich Dauer, and Roy Smalley.

I wonder how much the draft played in their choice to go to college.

 

[qtlaw]

I wonder how much the draft played in their choice to go to college.

Have you seen the USC cheerleaders??

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

 

[TigerVols]

Only 11 players had done that at that time. Since then 10 more have.