View source for Sam Horn

{{Short description|American baseball player (born 1963)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Sam Horn
|image=BigSamHorn.jpg
|image_size=
|caption=
|position=[[Designated hitter]] / [[First baseman]]
|bats=Left
|throws=Left
|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1963|11|2}}
|birth_place=[[Dallas|Dallas, Texas]], U.S.
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=July 25
|debutyear=1987
|debutteam=Boston Red Sox
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=September 20
|finalyear=1995
|finalteam=Texas Rangers
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]
|stat1value=.240
|stat2label=[[Home Runs]]
|stat2value=62
|stat3label=[[Run batted in|Runs batted in]]
|stat3value=179
|teams=
* [[Boston Red Sox]] ({{mlby|1987}}–{{mlby|1989}})
* [[Baltimore Orioles]] ({{mlby|1990}}–{{mlby|1992}})
* [[Cleveland Indians]] ({{mlby|1993}})
* [[Texas Rangers (baseball)|Texas Rangers]] ({{mlby|1995}})
}}
'''Samuel Lee Horn''' (born November 2, 1963) is an American former professional [[baseball]] player who spent parts of eight seasons in [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB) and was an anchor for [[New England Sports Network]], the flagship station of [[Boston]] sports teams.

==Early years==
Horn grew up in [[San Diego]] and went to [[Samuel F.B. Morse High School]] with [[Mark McLemore]], where they were coached by [[Bob Mendoza]], a [[San Diego Hall of Champions]] Coaching Legend inductee.<ref>[http://www.calcoachesassociation.net/fukushimahistory.html Cal Coach, "A History of Excellence: Cal Coaches Awards Through the Years"]</ref>

==Professional career==
Horn was the 1982 first round draft pick (16th Pick) of the [[Boston Red Sox]].  In 1987, after batting .321, with 30 [[home run]]s, 82 [[runs batted in]] (RBI’s) and a league leading .649 slugging percentage for the Triple-A level [[Pawtucket Red Sox]], 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 Baseball|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]].  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 [[Professional baseball in Taiwan|Taiwan professional baseball]]  history (USD $216,000 for the 1997 season) until surpassed by [[Chin-Feng Chen]] in 2006.

On April 6, 1992, he scored the first ever run at [[Camden Yards]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Official Major League Baseball Fact Book|year=2002|publisher=The Sporting News|isbn=978-0-89204-670-6|pages=350}}</ref>

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]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KCA/KCA199107170.shtml|title=Baltimore Orioles at Kansas City Royals Box Score, July 17, 1991}}</ref> after which teammate and former [[Cy Young Award]] winner [[Mike Flanagan (baseball)|Mike Flanagan]] famously told assembled media- including baseball historian [[Tim Kurkjian]]- that, “from now on, six [strikeouts] will 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.”<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sbnation.com/2013/6/21/4450534/five-strikeouts-platinum-sombrero-sam-horn-nickname|title=Should we call five strikeouts a Shoppach?|date=21 June 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/6894031/mlb-cy-young-winner-mike-flanagan-1951-2011|title=Kurkjian: "Flanny" a person and pitcher I'll miss|date=25 August 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.masnsports.com/orioles-buzz/2014/05/matthew-taylor-for-horn-plenty-of-memories-in-kansas-city.html|title=Home }}</ref> Baseball writer [[Paul Dickson (writer)|Paul Dickson]] has included the “Horn” in every version of [[The Dickson Baseball Dictionary]] since.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sbnation.com/2013/6/21/4450534/five-strikeouts-platinum-sombrero-sam-horn-nickname|title=Should we call five strikeouts a Shoppach?|date=21 June 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Dickson Baseball Dictionary|year=2011|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|isbn=978-0-393-34008-2}}</ref>

==New England Sports Network==
Horn worked for [[New England Sports Network]], 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]]) and management (e.g. [[John W. Henry|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''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.whatisyourpregame.com|title=Pre-Game Insights {{!}} Routine {{!}} Interviews - What is Your Pre Game|website=What is your Pre-Game|language=en-US|access-date=2017-11-29}}</ref> on [[NBC Sports Boston]]. Guests included [[Jackie Bradley Jr.|Jackie Bradley Jr]], [[Sam Kennedy (baseball executive)|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==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{baseballstats|br=h/hornsa01|brm=horn--001sam}}

* [https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/sam-horn/ Sam Horn] at [[Society for American Baseball Research|SABR]] (Baseball BioProject)
{{1982 MLB Draft}}
{{Boston Red Sox first-round draft picks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Horn, Sam}}
[[Category:1963 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American expatriate baseball players in Canada]]
[[Category:American expatriate baseball players in Taiwan]]
[[Category:African-American baseball players]]
[[Category:Baltimore Orioles players]]
[[Category:Baseball players from San Diego]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Dallas]]
[[Category:Boston Red Sox players]]
[[Category:Calgary Cannons players]]
[[Category:Charlotte Knights players]]
[[Category:Cleveland Indians players]]
[[Category:Columbus Clippers players]]
[[Category:Elmira Pioneers players]]
[[Category:Hagerstown Suns players]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball first basemen]]
[[Category:Nashua Pride players]]
[[Category:New Britain Red Sox players]]
[[Category:Oklahoma City 89ers players]]
[[Category:Pawtucket Red Sox players]]
[[Category:Rochester Red Wings players]]
[[Category:Taipei Gida players]]
[[Category:Tennessee Tomahawks players]]
[[Category:Texas Rangers players]]
[[Category:Winston-Salem Spirits players]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American sportsmen]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American sportsmen]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]