ATLANTA — Bob Horner, the power-hitting third baseman who was the No. 1 draft pick in 1978 and homered in his Atlanta Braves debut after skipping the minor leagues, has died. He was 68.
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The Braves, who said Tuesday they were informed of Horner’s death in Texas by his wife, Chris, announced the news on their X account. The team did not report Horner’s cause of death.
Horner hit 218 home runs in his 10-year career, including nine seasons with the Braves. The total included a four-homer game in 1986. He joined two-time MVP Dale Murphy to form the heart of the Braves lineup through much of the 1980s.
After a standout career at Arizona State that earned him a place in the College Baseball Hall of Fame’s first class, Horner became the first Braves draft pick to skip the minor leagues and play his first professional game in the majors. In his debut, Horner homered off future Hall of Fame pitcher Bert Blyleven of the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 16, 1978.
Horner was selected as the National League Rookie of the Year after hitting .266 with 23 homers in 89 games.
On July 6, 1986, against the Montreal Expos, Horner became the first Braves player to hit four homers in a game. It was the only four-homer game in the majors during the 1980s.
Horner had a compact swing and never had more than 75 strikeouts in a season. He hit .277 for his career and had three seasons with more than 30 homers, including a career-high 35 in 1980. He was an All-Star in 1982, when he hit .261 with 32 homers and drove in 97 runs.
Horner left the Braves after the 1986 season, signing to play one season in Japan before returning to the major leagues to play for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1988. He retired during spring training before the 1989 season.
In their tribute to Horner, the Braves said the third baseman “built a career out of being first” while noting he was the first draft pick in 1978, the first Braves draftee to skip the minor leagues and the franchise’s first player to hit four homers in a game.
At Arizona State, Horner was the MVP of the 1977 College World Series and won the first Golden Spikes Award as the top player in college baseball in 1978 after setting the NCAA career record with 56 homers. The record now is held by Oklahoma State’s Pete Incaviglia, who hit 100 from 1983-85.
In 2006, Horner was inducted into the inaugural class of the College Baseball Hall of Fame.