How Ted Turner's candidness lives on in Strider, Braves

This story was excerpted from Mark Bowman’s Braves Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

One of the more enjoyable benefits of writing “The Franchise: A Curated History of the Braves” was delving into old newspaper articles to learn more about key figures like Ted Turner and Bob Horner.

As some of you might know or remember, Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes might have been the only duo that butted heads more than Turner and Horner did during the late 1970s and early 1980s in Atlanta.

With Horner passing away this week, two weeks after the deaths of Turner and Bobby Cox, I’m reminded of the incredible candidness of the former owner.

After winning the 1978 NL Rookie of the Year Award, Horner threatened to sit out the 1979 season if his contract demands weren’t met. This led to many contentious conversations between then-Atlanta general manager Bill Lucas and Horner’s agent Bucky Woy.

Some Braves front office employees heard a heated telephone conversation between the two on May 1, 1979. Phil Niekro earned his 200th win in Pittsburgh that night. After watching the game and calling Niekro to offer congratulations, Lucas suffered a massive brain hemorrhage and died four days later.

When asked about Horner’s contract talks later that summer, Turner didn’t hide his feelings for Woy.

“I don’t want Bucky coming around my organization and killing anybody else,” Turner told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “In my opinion, Bucky Woy is guilty of manslaughter.”

Gems like this one from Turner make you yearn for the days when players, coaches, executives and owners weren’t so guarded with their responses. Too often, we get the company line.

With that being said, I do appreciate the brutal honesty we get from Chris Sale and Spencer Strider. I’ve said many times that Chipper Jones is the only player I’ve covered who has been more entertaining and insightful than Sale during postgame interviews.

As for Strider, I love his intensity. However, he was too hard on himself after helping the Braves claim a 7-6 win over the Red Sox on Tuesday night. Yeah, he gave up two home runs before throwing his sixth pitch of the night. But he also retired 15 of the next 18 batters he faced.

“I wasn't competitive enough,” Strider said. “I didn't throw enough strikes and I didn't execute well enough.”

But he did. His 63.2% (55 of 87) strike rate was similar to the 64.8 (59 of 91) rate he produced when he limited the Dodgers to one hit over six scoreless innings on May 9.

Yeah, he didn’t want to end his night with a five-pitch walk in the sixth. But, when you get punched in the mouth with two homers to begin a game and then hold an opponent scoreless over the next four innings, you’ve been highly competitive.

So, there was plenty to like about Strider’s outing and there’s plenty to like about his strive for perfection. But candidly, this was an instance where his candidness was wrong.

Expected stats like weighted on-base average (xwOBA) tell you how lucky/unlucky a pitcher has been and provide an indication of how that pitcher will likely fare going forward. Going back to that Dodgers start on May 9, Strider leads all Braves starters with a .239 xwOBA.

Strider is back. This includes the intensity he brings to the mound and to his postgame interviews. And that is a good thing.

As for Ha-Seong Kim, it’s safe to say Braves fans are hoping he shows up soon. The shortstop entered Friday 4-for-42 with one of those hits being a key squeeze bunt that resulted in a single in a win over the Nationals on May 22.

Kim has played just 12 games thus far and was absent for Spring Training after missing significant time the past two seasons. Yeah, there’s a need to remain patient. But there’s also a need for the shortstop to show some promise as he collects the $20 million salary he gained with a one-year deal in December 2025.

While the Braves will understandably remain patient for at least a few more weeks, many fans have given their unfiltered thoughts, much like Turner did way back in the day.