On this day 39 years ago Ted Turner named himself manager, hoping to break the Braves’ 16-game losing streak. He failed, but the players, and fans, loved him for it.
“If you knew Ted Turner like we do, you’d understand what he’s doing,” Phil Niekro said. “I respect him for it, and I think everybody else on the club does. He doesn’t like to lose.”
“I think it was a good idea,” infielder Rod Gilbreath said. “He loosened everybody up when he told us about it in the clubhouse.”
“Everyone on the team loves the guy,” Barry Bonnell said.