Bob Horner, a former No.1 overall pick who went straight to ?the big leagues and once hit four home runs in a game, died Tuesday at the age of 68.
A Kansas native, Horner was drafted first overall by the Atlanta Braves in ?the 1978 draft out of Arizona State and ?made his ?MLB debut about a week later, on June ?16, at the age of 20 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Horner homered that day off future Hall of Famer?Bert Blyleven.
Horner hit .266 ?in 89 games with 23 home runs and 63 RBIs that ?year and was named the National League Rookie of the Year, beating out ?shortstop Ozzie Smith.
On July ?6, 1986, Horner blasted four home runs at Atlanta Fulton-County Stadium during the Braves¡¯ 11-8 ?loss to the ?Montreal Expos. Horner is one of 21 ?players to accomplish that feat and the only Braves player ?to do ?so other than Joe Adcock, who hit four against the Brooklyn Dodgers on July 31, 1954, while with the Milwaukee Braves.
Plagued by injuries throughout his career ¡ª?he appeared ?in 120 games or more in just five of 10 MLB seasons ¡ª Horner, who played most of his career at third base, still managed to hit 218 home runs and slug .499. ?He ?was an All-Star in 1982, when he hit 32 ?home runs with 97 RBIs to help lead the Braves ?to the National League West division title.
Horner spent nine seasons with the Braves (1978 to 1986) and one year with the St. Louis Cardinals (1988) after spending 1987 with the Yakult ?Swallows in NPB¡¯s Central League, where he hit 31 home runs and batted .327 in 93 games.
Horner¡¯s passing comes weeks after the loss of former Braves manager Bobby Cox, Horner¡¯s first manager, and former owner Ted Turner.
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