Braves’ slugger Bob Horner dead at 68

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 amateur draft out of Arizona State and made his big-league 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 of future Hall-of-Fame 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 only Brave 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 — he appeared in 120 games or more in just five of 10 big-league seasons — 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 (1978-86) and one year with the St. Louis Cardinals (1988) after playing 1987 with the Yakult Swallows of the Japan 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.