It’s about time Bob Horner experienced the minor leagues.
The former No. 1 overall draft pick and Brave power-hitting sensation of the 1980s is one of a handful of players who famously bypassed the minor leagues and went straight from college to the majors.
So let’s just say the former Brave is making up for lost time. Horner, now 57, has spent the spring making meet-and-greet stops along the Braves minor league trail, from Rome to Mississippi and last Saturday here, while the Rome Braves spent the weekend playing the Hickory Crawdads.
Horner took a breather from signing autographs and radio interviews in the midst of a doubleheader to stand out on the balcony of his suite at F.P. Fram Field and watch 18-year-olds like Braxton Davidson and Ozzy Albies take their turns at bat.
“I love watching young kids play ball,” Horner said. “The passion in their faces, the desire, the want to get to the next level. It’s so difficult to do that and you want kids to dream. When you lose your dreams, you got nothing.”
Horner’s blond curly locks are gone. He is a little grayer and straighter now. But he still has the piercing blue eyes. He looked the part of a former All-Star third baseman, decked in a dark navy golf shirt, black sport coat, gray slacks and sunglasses.
Horner makes his home in Irving Texas, where he and his wife Chris are hands-on grandparents to three grandchildren, ages 2 to three months. He’s a 4-handicap golfer who can still fuel his competitive nature on the course two or three times a week. And he catches quite a few Braves games on TV.
“As soon as I see the Braves playing anywhere, Chicago or the Yankees or whatever, I flip the game on,” Horner said. “It’s just part of you. You bleed your heart and soul with a team and it just never goes away.”
The contentiousness that defined Horner’s career with the Braves early on — and the public contract disputes with owner Ted Turner — have given way to fonder memories.
“We were both bull-headed and we butted heads,” Horner said of Turner. “At times we probably didn’t like each other, but at the end of the day, I think we respected each other. … I don’t think Ted has ever really gotten the recognition that he deserves for putting together that whole franchise.”
As for Horner’s decision to play the 1987 season in Japan after major league owners colluded against him during his free agent year, Horner said: “The way I look at it is if you don’t fight the fight, the fight never gets fought. Did I want to? Hell, no. I don’t want to be the guy out there with the banner. But sometimes you have to.”
Horner came back to play one final season with St. Louis before retiring at age 31 with chronic shoulder and wrist problems. But his stance was proven right: in 2004, he collected a $7,034,112 settlement from MLB after the collusion court case ran its course, the largest amount among 650 affected players.
He still enjoys running into former Braves teammates like Dale Murphy, Phil Niekro, Glenn Hubbard and Bruce Benedict. He gave away both of his Adirondack BH5 ash bats from his famous four-homer game — he broke one on a pop-up in the seventh inning — one to Cooperstown and one to the Braves Hall of Fame.
MLB sent him a DVD of the game July 6, 1986, in Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium against Montreal when he hit three home runs off Andy McGaffigan and one off closer Jeff Reardon. He gets a kick out of listening to late broadcaster Pete Van Wieren’s call. Horner’s four home runs actually managed to get the silky smooth professor excited.
“Oh, god yeah. Somebody had to,” Horner said. “There were only about 2,000 people in the stands and we lost the game on top of that, so I’m glad at least Pete got excited.”
It’s all the more reason why he still enjoys soaking up the atmosphere, of 4,000 people gathered for a minor league doubleheader on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
“Sports, as a professional athlete, is like a dream you had,” Horner said. “And you wake up and it’s all over with. Then you’ve got to kind of pinch yourself and say. ‘Did that really happen?’ Because it goes so fast.”
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