Joe Hoerner--1969
Glancing through my tattered copy of
The Complete Handbook of Baseball
from 1973, writer Maury Allen complied
player lists in seven categories: Best
Mustaches, Flakiest, Angriest, Best-
Dressed, Worst-Dressed, Most Popular
and Most Intellectual.
And Atlanta’s Joe Hoerner, edged out
Duke Sims, Doug Radar, Denny McClain,
Fritz Peteson, Steve Blass, Bob Bailey,
Tug McGraw and Ron Blomberg as the
“flakiest” big leaguer.
The story goes that Hoerner, who went
1-3, 6.56 for the Braves in 1972 after
being obtained from the Phillies on June
15th; became impatient while sitting on
the team bus. As the driver stayed in the
hotel lobby, Hoerner apparently slipped
into the driver’s seat. Cheered on by his
Atlanta teammates, the left-hander got
out of the parking lot without a problem
before promptly hitting a tree.
This took me back to my traveling
secretary days with the Cincinnati Reds.
While my primary duties were to
coordinate the team travel and to handle
the player’s complimentary ticket list; as
a former college pitcher I would also
chart pitches for the big league team on
the road.
Well, while in Atlanta during the 1987
season, I had one memorable evening of
travel.
Fulton County Stadium was one of the
“cookie cutter” round stadiums that were
built in the 1970s. In order to drop the
players off at the locker room, the team
bus would go underneath the stadium,
however, because of the buses’ exhaust
fumes; it would be parked outside the
stadium during the game. Then, about
the ninth inning, the driver would return
to the bus and start up the air
conditioning, only returning to the bowels
of the Fulton County Stadium and the
locker room to pick up the players 45
minutes after the game.
That memorable evening, I remember
going up to the plaza level prior to the
beginning of the ninth inning to check to
see if the driver had started the bus in
time to cool it down for our travel party,
as the previous evening the bus was way
too warm. Sure enough, the bus was
running and I returned to my seat behind
home plate to chart the final pitches of
the game with a confidence that we
would have a cool bus that evening.
Well, come 40 minutes after the game, I
begin to look outside the clubhouse
doors for my bus. Nothing. I wound up
going back into the stadium and up on
the plaza level only to be shocked to not
see my bus in its’ parking spot.
Panic set in.
In my junior executive garb of dress
shoes, sport coat and tie; I was ran back
to the clubhouse. I hurriedly grabbed my
trusty travel contact book of numbers
and called the bus company.
Apparently, the driver didn’t see any
players come out of the stadium, so he
went back to the garage. Screaming at
that dispatcher and throwing my book of
travel contacts against the wall, I put on
a pretty good show for the boys, but it
still didn’t produce a bus for us, as the
bus company didn’t have any drivers
available.
At that point, Cincinnati reliever Ted
Power put his arm around me and told
me not to worry and to call for some cabs
for the guys. It was cool thinking by the
former closer that got everyone back to
the hotel.
After reading about Brave’s flaky reliever
of 1972, it has me wondering today if Joe
Hoerner lived in Atlanta in 1987 and if it
was really him who took my bus.
Editor’s Note: Yes, I changed bus
companies in Atlanta the next day, but I
never really screamed at another travel
representative during the remaining year
or so I was the Reds traveling secretary.
It just wasn’t worth it.
Hoerner, a side-arming lefty, went 39-34
with 99 saves over his 14-seasons in the
bigs, for which he never started in any of
his 493 appearances.
For more on Hoerner's life, here is the
link to his bio:
Joe Hoerner SABR Bio Page
(6/20/10)
The Complete Handbook of Baseball
from 1973, writer Maury Allen complied
player lists in seven categories: Best
Mustaches, Flakiest, Angriest, Best-
Dressed, Worst-Dressed, Most Popular
and Most Intellectual.
And Atlanta’s Joe Hoerner, edged out
Duke Sims, Doug Radar, Denny McClain,
Fritz Peteson, Steve Blass, Bob Bailey,
Tug McGraw and Ron Blomberg as the
“flakiest” big leaguer.
The story goes that Hoerner, who went
1-3, 6.56 for the Braves in 1972 after
being obtained from the Phillies on June
15th; became impatient while sitting on
the team bus. As the driver stayed in the
hotel lobby, Hoerner apparently slipped
into the driver’s seat. Cheered on by his
Atlanta teammates, the left-hander got
out of the parking lot without a problem
before promptly hitting a tree.
This took me back to my traveling
secretary days with the Cincinnati Reds.
While my primary duties were to
coordinate the team travel and to handle
the player’s complimentary ticket list; as
a former college pitcher I would also
chart pitches for the big league team on
the road.
Well, while in Atlanta during the 1987
season, I had one memorable evening of
travel.
Fulton County Stadium was one of the
“cookie cutter” round stadiums that were
built in the 1970s. In order to drop the
players off at the locker room, the team
bus would go underneath the stadium,
however, because of the buses’ exhaust
fumes; it would be parked outside the
stadium during the game. Then, about
the ninth inning, the driver would return
to the bus and start up the air
conditioning, only returning to the bowels
of the Fulton County Stadium and the
locker room to pick up the players 45
minutes after the game.
That memorable evening, I remember
going up to the plaza level prior to the
beginning of the ninth inning to check to
see if the driver had started the bus in
time to cool it down for our travel party,
as the previous evening the bus was way
too warm. Sure enough, the bus was
running and I returned to my seat behind
home plate to chart the final pitches of
the game with a confidence that we
would have a cool bus that evening.
Well, come 40 minutes after the game, I
begin to look outside the clubhouse
doors for my bus. Nothing. I wound up
going back into the stadium and up on
the plaza level only to be shocked to not
see my bus in its’ parking spot.
Panic set in.
In my junior executive garb of dress
shoes, sport coat and tie; I was ran back
to the clubhouse. I hurriedly grabbed my
trusty travel contact book of numbers
and called the bus company.
Apparently, the driver didn’t see any
players come out of the stadium, so he
went back to the garage. Screaming at
that dispatcher and throwing my book of
travel contacts against the wall, I put on
a pretty good show for the boys, but it
still didn’t produce a bus for us, as the
bus company didn’t have any drivers
available.
At that point, Cincinnati reliever Ted
Power put his arm around me and told
me not to worry and to call for some cabs
for the guys. It was cool thinking by the
former closer that got everyone back to
the hotel.
After reading about Brave’s flaky reliever
of 1972, it has me wondering today if Joe
Hoerner lived in Atlanta in 1987 and if it
was really him who took my bus.
Editor’s Note: Yes, I changed bus
companies in Atlanta the next day, but I
never really screamed at another travel
representative during the remaining year
or so I was the Reds traveling secretary.
It just wasn’t worth it.
Hoerner, a side-arming lefty, went 39-34
with 99 saves over his 14-seasons in the
bigs, for which he never started in any of
his 493 appearances.
For more on Hoerner's life, here is the
link to his bio:
Joe Hoerner SABR Bio Page
(6/20/10)
