ATLANTA — Bob Horner died at age 68, the Atlanta Braves announced on Tuesday. The team confirmed his death in a statement but did not disclose a cause.

Horner was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1978 MLB draft, selected by the Braves on June 6. He made his major league debut just 10 days later on June 16, 1978, skipping the minor leagues entirely—a rarity in professional baseball. In his first game, he hit a home run off Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven.

He went on to win the National League Rookie of the Year award in 1978, batting .266 with 23 home runs in 89 games. Horner was named an NL All-Star in 1982 and finished among the league’s top 10 in home runs in six of his nine seasons with Atlanta. From 1978 to 1986, he hit .278 with an average of 36 home runs per 162 games and posted three 30-homer seasons, including a career-high 35 in 1980.

On July 6, 1986, Horner became the first Atlanta Braves player to hit four home runs in a single game, accomplishing the feat against the Montreal Expos. He received MVP votes in 1979, 1980, and 1983.

After the 1986 season, Horner became a free agent at age 28 but received no offers from MLB teams. Public records later confirmed that team owners had colluded to suppress salaries, and Horner was ultimately awarded more than $7 million as part of a settlement with the MLB Players Association. He signed with the Yakult Swallows in Japan for the 1987 season, where he batted .327 with 31 home runs in 93 games.

Horner returned to Major League Baseball in 1988 with the St. Louis Cardinals but played only 60 games due to a shoulder injury. He attempted a comeback during spring training with the Baltimore Orioles in 1989, but it did not materialize. He retired with 1,047 career hits and 218 home runs, 215 of them with the Braves—the eighth most in franchise history.

Before his professional career, Horner played college baseball at Arizona State University, where he set records for career home runs (58) and single-season home runs (25). He was named MVP of the 1977 College World Series and became the first recipient of the Golden Spikes Award in 1978. In 2006, he was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame as part of its inaugural class.

“Bob Horner built a career out of being first,” the Braves wrote in their statement.

Horner is survived by his wife, Chris, and two sons, Tyler and Trent.