Bob Horner Homers in His First Game With Japanese Team

Bob Horner, former Atlanta Brave infielder making his Japanese professional baseball debut, hit a two-run homer Tuesday, leading the Yakult Swallows to a 5-3 victory over the Hanshin Tigers.

Horner, 29, signed with the Swallows April 14 for an estimated $2 million this season after becoming a free agent with the Braves. He had received no offers from other major league teams.

Before a crowd of 52,000 at Jingu Stadium, he walked, beat out an infield hit, homered and grounded out. He played third base on defense and was taken out in the eighth inning.

Horner told reporters, after his game: “When I hit the ball, I thought it would be a double at least. I am happy that I could hit a home run.

“I would like to have time to study more about Japanese baseball and to make the Swallows place higher in the league,” Horner said.

Yakult is fourth in the Central League.

Horner hit his home run down the right-field line off a fastball by Koji Nakada with two out in the fifth inning.

Horner played nine seasons at Atlanta, where he had a batting average of .278 with 215 home runs and 652 runs batted in. He hit 27 home runs last year for the Braves. He came to Japan a week ago.