We all remember the hype, and the fact that for some time this was THE card to pull out of a pack because of the splash Horner made in his first season, just weeks after being drafted #1 overall by the Atlanta Braves in June of 1978.
An All-American out of Arizona State where he set NCAA records for home runs, Horner never broke stride after making his debut 10 days after being picked in the draft.
Over the final 89 games of the season, all he’d do is club 23 homers while batting .266, with 63 runs batted in and 50 runs scored, eventually getting picked for the National League Rookie of the Year Award, though I feel Ozzie Smith should have won it based on his full-season (he got shafted).
Horner would go on to hit over 30 homers in three of the next four seasons, the only time missing the mark due to the 1981 strike, while also topping 20 homers in three of the next four after that.
However, his career was essentially ruined due to the baseball owners colluding in 1986, purposely NOT offering any high-dollar contracts to him and others (Jack Morris, etc), eventually leading to Horner signing with the Yakult Swallows of the Japanese League where he’d hit 31 homers in only 93 games.
He’d make it back to the Majors the following season, now with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1988, but after getting injured after only 60 games, though batting a not-so-terrible .257, he’d call it a career at only 30 years of age.
Think about this: Horner hit 218 home runs with 685 RBIs and 560 runs scored in only 10 abbreviated seasons, in only 3777 at-bats, and a very decent .277 career average.
His last full season, 1986, at only 28 years of age, he hit .273 with 27 homers and 89 RBIs, yet had his career screwed because of collusion.
Years later he’d win a $7 Million settlement with baseball owners due to the nefarious act, but man, this guy could have easily hit 400+ homers with some other gaudy numbers had he been given his rightful chance to keep playing, even with his nagging injuries that held him to one season of 500+ at-bats, ironically that 1986 season.
