What Might Have Been

Bob Horner

What Might Have Been

While reading this summary of the 1980 Bill James Baseball Abstract, I came across this section:

Now, we all know about Michael Jack Schmidt and his home run hitting prowess. But what happened to Bob Horner?

Horner is actually one of those sad baseball history stories. These are the stats that James saw when he wrote that paragraph:

I mean, Bob Horner looked like a can’t-miss young prospect. He was only 22 in 1980, had hit 56 home runs over the space of two years, and was playing in a ballpark known for being friendly to home runs to boot. It looked for certain that, if anybody would challenge Maris, it would be Horner — and with the potential of playing for as many as 20 more seasons, he might also touch on Ruth and Aaron career numbers.

So what happened?

The owners happened.

It started in early 1980. The Braves started out slow that season, and Horner got the blame.

That’s right. Horner, who went straight to the major leagues after Arizona State and played extremely well, was threatened with a demotion to the minor leagues because of his slump.

He was 2 for 34, sure — but he had played the grand total of 10 games. Braves owner Ted Turner was a little bit quick on the trigger, in my opinion.

And, in fact, this almost caused disaster:

From The Atlanta Journal, April 22, 1980, page 1D

Horner did everything he could to fight this, including immediately asking for a trade:

From The Montgomery Advertiser, April 23, 1980, page 19

This fight wound up dragging on for weeks. See, if you read Horner’s Wikipedia page, you’ll be under the impression that Horner was injured during this period. He wasn’t. He was upset about being demoted — and it looked like calling Turner’s bluff would work.

45 years later, reading these details are still pretty surprising:

From The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 4, 1980, pages F1 and F8

When all was said and done, Horner didn’t play a single game in the minors. The press, meanwhile, completely turned against the club — and there were very clear rumblings of a player's strike.

From The Atlanta Journal, May 11, 1980, page 7-D

And then Horner and Matthews suddenly returned — and, no surprise, the Braves won:

From The Atlanta Journal, May 12, 1980, page 1D

Horner wound up with 35 home runs in 1980, which, sadly, wound up being his career high.

The 1981 strike limited him to 15 home runs. Horner tallied 32 dingers in 1982 as the Braves won their division, but managed to play in only 104 games in 1983, collecting only 20 home runs.

And then came 1984.

Horner, who apparently starred in a Pizza Hut commercial that year (sadly, I haven’t been able to find it), was razzed by the press in columns like this one:

From The Atlanta Constitution, May 31, 1984, page 1-D

Horner wound up injured after the May 30th game, though, and didn’t come back all season.

Bob hit 27 home runs in both 1985 and 1986, during what were theoretically his peak seasons. However, his free agency hopes were dashed by collusion among the owners. In 1987, at the young age of 29, he decided to play in Japan.

From USA Today, April 16, 1987, page 9

Despite the closer fences, Horner was never able to fully overcome his injury issues. He managed 31 home runs in 355 plate appearances that season, and the Yakult Swallows finished a distant 4th:

Horner finished 5th in the NPB home run race that year, behind the likes of Rick Lancellotti, Randy Bass, Carlos Ponce, and Tatsunori Hara.

Bob was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1988, but didn’t have much of a year. He hit 3 more home runs in 247 plate appearances before hanging up the spikes for good.

He was only 30 years old.

Now, the biggest question I have is how in the world a guy with potential like that could wind up with that kind of career.

Horner really looks like a can’t miss young prospect when you look at his first three seasons. You’d think that a full 162 game season from a kid like this would get you at least 45 home runs. He was only 23 years old going into 1981.

I think part of the blame goes with Ted Turner and his ridiculous personnel management. Part must go to the 1981 strike, which hurt a lot of players. And part probably goes to the collusion that prevented Horner from finding a landing spot in free agency.

Makes me wonder how many careers have been ruined by ridiculous owners.