Rowland's Office · Nov 28, 2015
Flashback: the #Braves pursue Pete Rose
“Horses. Horses. I need horses,” Ted Turner told all within listening distance last night at the Omni.
So began a Dec. 1, 1978 article from the AP chronicling the Braves’ pursuit of free agent, and avid horse racing fan, Pete Rose. Turner had just learned that Pirates owner John Galbreath’s pitch to Rose included a brood mare.
He wasn’t going to outspend the Braves’ owner. Rose’s agent had told the Mets his client had received offers “far in excess” of $2 million over three years and one “spectacular” offer.
“The spectacular offer, that’s me,” Turner told the AP. “Money is not going to be what decides it.”
It was horses.