Samuel Lee Horn (born November 2, 1963) is an American former professional
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...
player who spent parts of eight seasons in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...
(MLB) and was an anchor for
New England Sports Network
New England Sports Network, popularly known as NESN , is an American regional sports cable and satellite television network owned by a joint venture of Fenway Sports Group (which owns a controlling 80% interest, and is the owner of Boston Red ...
, the flagship station of
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...
sports teams.
Early years
Horn grew up in
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
and went to
Samuel F.B. Morse High School with
Mark McLemore, where they were coached by
Bob Mendoza
Robert (Bob) James Mendoza (born in San Diego, California) is a former American baseball player and a San Diego Hall of Champions inductee. After retiring from baseball, he continued his education and went on to teach, coach high school sports, ...
, a
San Diego Hall of Champions Coaching Legend inductee.
Professional career
Horn was the 1982 first round draft pick (16th Pick) of the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eig ...
. In 1987, after batting .321, with 30
home run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run is ...
s, 82
runs batted in
A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...
(RBI’s) and a league leading .649 slugging percentage for the Triple-A level
Pawtucket Red Sox
The Pawtucket Red Sox, known colloquially as the PawSox, were a professional minor league baseball club based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. From 1973 to 2020, the team was a member of the International League and served as the Triple-A affiliate ...
, Horn was called up to the Boston Red Sox mid-season. He continued to find success, hitting .278 with 14 home runs and 34 RBI’s in just 158 at-bats as a rookie with the
major league Red Sox. During his eight-season major league career with Boston, Baltimore, Cleveland, and Texas, Horn hit .240, with a total of 62 home runs, including 23 home runs during the 1991 season as a member of the
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...
. After leaving MLB, Horn played for the
Taipei Gida in 1997 and 1998. He hit the first home run in the
Taiwan Major League and held the record of being the highest paid player in the
Taiwan professional baseball history (USD $216,000 for the 1997 season) until surpassed by
Chin-Feng Chen
Chen Chin-feng (; born 28 October 1977) is a retired baseball outfielder who was the first Taiwan-born player playing in Major League Baseball in 2002. Chen is a Taiwanese aborigine of Siraya tribal ancestry.
Career
In 1999 in the Cal League ...
in 2006.
On April 6, 1992, he scored the first ever run at
Camden Yards.
Horn’s most notable professional baseball “achievement” occurred on July 17, 1991 when he became only the fifth player in MLB history to strike out six times in a game (there have been two more occasions since). This occurred during a 15-inning game with the Kansas City Royals, after which teammate and former
Cy Young Award
The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL). The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Ha ...
winner
Mike Flanagan famously told assembled media- including baseball historian
Tim Kurkjian- that, “from now on, six
trikeoutswill be known as a ‘Horn’. Seven will be a ‘Horn-A-Plenty’. When you make history, you’ve got to put your name on it.” Baseball writer
Paul Dickson Paul Dickson may refer to:
*Paul Dickson (writer) (born 1939), American writer
*Paul Dickson (American football)
Paul Serafin Dickson (February 26, 1937 – June 7, 2011) was an American football defensive tackle in the National Football League ...
has included the “Horn” in every version of
The Dickson Baseball Dictionary since.
New England Sports Network
Horn worked for
New England Sports Network
New England Sports Network, popularly known as NESN , is an American regional sports cable and satellite television network owned by a joint venture of Fenway Sports Group (which owns a controlling 80% interest, and is the owner of Boston Red ...
, providing analysis on Red Sox post-game shows. Horn's catch-phrase was ''ka-pow'', which he exclaims whenever a Sox player hit a home run. The Red Sox fans' message board website called Sons of Sam Horn, which has also been used by Red Sox players (e.g.
Curt Schilling
Curtis Montague Schilling (born November 14, 1966) is an American former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher who is a commentator for conservative media outlet BlazeTV. He helped lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a World Series appearance ...
) and management (e.g.
John Henry), is named after Horn.
In July 2007, he declared his candidacy for President of
Red Sox Nation. On August 15, 2007, a group calling themselves the "Fans of Sam Horn" took out an ad in USA Today, telling his fans to vote for him for President of Red Sox Nation.
What is Your Pre-Game?
In August 2017, Horn debuted his TV show What is Your Pre-Game
on
NBC Sports Boston. Guests included
Jackie Bradley Jr,
Sam Kennedy,
Walter McCarty, and other sports figures and CEOs. Horn's main goal is to show the public how they train, cope with stress, and fuel their bodies for success.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horn, Sam
1963 births
Living people
American expatriate baseball players in Canada
American expatriate baseball players in Taiwan
African-American baseball players
Baltimore Orioles players
Baseball players from San Diego
Baseball players from Dallas
Boston Red Sox players
Calgary Cannons players
Charlotte Knights players
Cleveland Indians players
Columbus Clippers players
Elmira Pioneers players
Hagerstown Suns players
Major League Baseball first basemen
Nashua Pride players
New Britain Red Sox players
Oklahoma City 89ers players
Pawtucket Red Sox players
Rochester Red Wings players
Taipei Gida players
Tennessee Tomahawks players
Texas Rangers players
Winston-Salem Spirits players
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American sportspeople