Third baseman refused to budge

The year was 1980. The Braves opened the season 1-9. Third baseman Bob Horner was called into manager Bobby Cox’s office.

“We were about to leave on a road trip and Bobby told me I needed to go see Ted Turner,’’ said Horner. “So I got in my car and drove downtown to meet with Ted.’’

At the time, Turner had just created CNN but was still very involved in the Braves’ day-to-day matters. He informed Horner he was optioning him to Triple-A Richmond.

“I said to myself, ‘There is no major league team in Richmond,’’’ said Horner, who was off to a 2-for34 start at the plate with six errors. “We sat there and chatted. Well, it was a little more than chatting. He said the team was basically off to a bad start and I was going down to the minors and I said, ‘Why?’

“He said I had all my options left and no one else did and he wanted to bring up a player. So the sword fell on me. I told Ted, ‘If you can look me eye to eye and tell me that I am the 26th best player on this team, I will go down. But if you can’t convince me of that, forget it.’ He tried some other explanation but I told him I wasn’t going and went home.’’

The demotion was huge news throughout the majors. The previous year in his first full season in the majors, Horner had hit .314 with 33 homers and 98 RBIs. He said while the Braves continued to play, he remained at home with his wife.

He even demanded a trade, telling the media almost 36 years ago: “There is no reason for this. I’ve gone through hell for two years over here ... They’ve done everything wrong that could be done. They’re testing the limit of human endurance. How much of this do they expect me to take?’’

After 10 days, the phone finally rang and Horner was asked to rejoin the club. He would hit 35 homers, driving in 89 runs and batting .268 in 124 games while the Braves went 81-80, their first winning record since 1974.

“I actually heard them reinstating me first on television when I was watching the game and Pete Van Wieren came on and announced it,’’ Horner said. “I then got the call and met them on the road. The way I looked at it was I got a 10-day vacation, all expenses paid.’’