Ted Turner, the media tycoon who died Wednesday, had a novel enterprise sense that led him to (amongst different issues) create America’s first 24-hour cable information channel, set up the idea of a “superstation” and pocket many billions of {dollars}.
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It additionally led him to the dugout of the Atlanta Braves, the place, on May 11, 1977, Turner — who owned the crew — determined to change into its supervisor.
And whereas that transfer was ridiculed throughout baseball on the time, one other resolution Turner made — way more consequential however no much less revolutionary — put his franchise on a trajectory to change into one of the most well-liked within the sport. For three many years, his Braves would seem in residing rooms coast-to-coast as he broadcast their video games nationally on the Turner Broadcasting System, or TBS.
John Thorn, the official historian for Major League Baseball, informed NBC News that Turner’s transfer introduced new life to a franchise that had already relocated two instances and got here at a time when homeowners had been reluctant to broadcast too lots of their groups’ video games.
“Baseball owners, beginning in the 1920s, had been reluctant to air their games on radio. Next, they viewed TV as a threat, limiting the number of games broadcast until the 1951 playoffs were televised nationally,” Thorn mentioned. “Ted Turner not only shared all of Atlanta’s 162 games, thus addressing his station’s need for programming, but also revived the dormant Braves to become America’s franchise.”
The Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966 and, except for Henry Aaron’s effort to interrupt Babe Ruth’s dwelling run report, gave followers little motive to cheer within the franchise’s early days available in the market. But as TBS — and the Braves — reached extra and extra Americans, the crew’s on-field efficiency began to show round.
Boosted by future Hall of Fame pitchers Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and John Smoltz and hitters Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones, the Braves turned the National League’s premier crew in the course of the Nineties, reaching the World Series in 1991, 1992, 1996 and 1999 and successful it in 1995. And followers all through the South and throughout the nation may catch them each evening because of the distinctive relationship between the crew and Turner’s community.
It was that dynamic that each the Braves and MLB highlighted in statements marking Turner’s passing.
“Ted Turner was a visionary whose impact on the media landscape transformed how fans experience sports,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred mentioned, including, “Through his leadership, the Atlanta Braves reached millions of households nationwide on TBS, helping build a legacy of sustained excellence that included the franchise’s first championship in Atlanta with the 1995 Braves.”
The Braves, in a separate assertion, praised Turner’s “visionary leadership and innovative approach to broadcast television” that “transformed the Braves into ‘America’s Team.'”
The crew additionally described Turner as “one of a kind — a brilliant businessman, consummate showman and passionate fan of his beloved Braves.”
Never was that showmanship extra obvious than when Turner made a alternative he could also be extra remembered for in some corners than for his positioning of the Braves as a nationwide leisure juggernaut — when he actually took over his crew for a day in 1977.
Turner’s resolution, nonetheless enjoyable in a “What would you do if you owned a baseball team for a day?” sense, was met with rapid pushback from Major League Baseball, which allowed him to handle the Braves for less than a single game — a 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates — earlier than it prohibited him from managing shifting ahead.
“Here’s something people don’t know: Ted wore my shoes that day,” Cito Gaston, a Braves left fielder who scored a run within the game, informed NBC News. “He didn’t have a pair of cleats or whatever to wear, so he wore my shoes, but I never got them back, either, so he kept them. But Ted was a great man.”
Hall of Fame pitcher Goose Gossage, who earned the save for Pittsburgh within the game Turner managed, mentioned, “He was truly an out-and-out character.”
At the time, Turner’s resolution was met with derision across the majors.
“I’m not surprised to hear it,” former Brave-turned-Texas Ranger Ken Henderson informed The Atlanta Constitution’s Alan Greenberg and Kelly Dude on the time. “It’s the Ed Sullivan Show over there, a big circus.”
Said Bob Lurie, then the proprietor of the San Francisco Giants: “I think it’s the most unusual decision I ever heard of. It doesn’t make much sense. I don’t think it’s right, but that’s his business.”
Buzzie Bavasi, then the final supervisor of the San Diego Padres, was seemingly in shock.
“I don’t believe it. I don’t believe it. I don’t believe it,” Bavasi mentioned. “If this has really occurred, it’s got to be one of the most ridiculous things I’ve seen in baseball.”
Turner hopped into the dugout after the Braves dropped 16 video games in a row. His reasoning on the time was to search out out for himself why the crew was struggling.
“I have found out all I can from the stands,” Turner mentioned of the choice, based on a narrative in The Atlanta Journal the day after he managed. “Now I want to learn first hand what is going on, what is wrong. It can’t hurt us. Not now. Not the way we’re going.”
Turner gave supervisor Dave Bristol a 10-day sabbatical, signed a managerial contract of his personal and led the crew throughout a Wednesday evening game in opposition to the Pirates. Gaston had damaged into the large leagues in 1967 with Atlanta, and he returned to the crew in 1975, the 12 months earlier than Turner bought the crew. He shortly discovered the brand new proprietor to be one who handled gamers effectively. Gaston mentioned Turner organized jobs and helped pay for dwelling down funds for any Braves gamers who lived in Atlanta in the course of the offseason.
Turner was additionally a aggressive “go-getter,” he mentioned. Gaston recalled as soon as watching Turner problem longtime pitcher Tug McGraw to a contest to see who may roll a baseball to dwelling plate, utilizing solely their noses, the quickest. One began at third base, the opposite at first base, earlier than they crawled down the baseline towards dwelling.
Turner gained.
“His face was bloody because he wasn’t rubbing it with his nose; he rolled with everything he could to beat Tug there,” Gaston mentioned.
Still, even an understanding of Turner’s eccentricities didn’t put together the Braves to study the morning of their game in opposition to Pittsburgh that the crew’s proprietor was now the supervisor.
“We found out about it once we got to the ballpark, and we were a little bit in shock, because we never heard of that before, never seen that before,” Gaston mentioned. “You know, Ted was great to us, so we didn’t have no problem with that.”
Turner leaned on assistant coaches for steering in the course of the game. If a hard-hit ball by Darrel Chaney hadn’t hopped the fence for a ground-rule double that prevented a Braves runner from scoring, Atlanta may need gained.
The morning after the game, National League President Chub Feeney informed Turner to not handle any extra video games till the contract was reviewed. Turner was “disappointed,” Gaston recalled.
Feeney and MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn finally informed Turner that anyone who owned inventory in a crew wasn’t allowed to handle it, which irked the mogul.
“If I’m smart enough to buy the team, I ought to be smart enough to manage it,” Turner informed reporters afterward. “This is like a game to me. This is just a big Little League team.”
As Turner’s day within the dugout proved, he reduce a unique profile from most homeowners. Contract negotiations between gamers and groups may very well be brutal, however Gossage, who performed for 22 years, recalled one free-agency negotiation with Turner as “pretty pleasant.” MLB is lacking such colourful personalities, Gossage mentioned.
“The way he talked and the way he just went about his business was really fun interacting with him,” he mentioned.
Despite MLB’s protest in opposition to homeowners’ appearing as managers, Turner wasn’t performed discovering his means onto the sphere. Just one 12 months after his temporary managerial stint, he served because the third-base umpire as a stunt throughout a 1978 exhibition between the Braves and their minor-league affiliate the Richmond Braves. According to an account from the time, he spent the game “standing behind third base with a giant chaw of tobacco ballooning in his cheek.”
Twelve years after Turner’s memorable night as a manager, Gaston became a manager himself in 1989 with Toronto. By 1992, he led the Blue Jays to the first of two straight World Series titles — by beating Atlanta.
“When we beat him in the World Series, he wrote me — I have it on my wall here,” Gaston mentioned. “He wrote me a nice letter and congratulated me, even though we beat his club. He’s an amazing guy.”