Horn arrived in Kansas City with heavy heart after visiting his mom in California.
“I didn’t want to leave her but there was nothing I could do,” he said. “The Orioles had told me, ‘If you want to make the team, you have to come now. I was sad, but I remember my mom looking up and mumbling, ‘Go back, baby.’ I told her I loved her and that I was going to play and put forth my best effort on every pitch.” But no one predicted the rampage to come. In the second inning, with two on base, Horn poled a fastball off KC ace Brett Saberhagen, the Cy Young winner, deep into the waterfalls at Royals Stadium. In the eighth, with the Orioles down 6-3, Horn tagged a curveball off reliever Steve Farr into the bullpen to tie the game.
His seven RBIs set a club record for opening day. “[Horn] has spoiled us,” manager Frank Robinson said. “I’ll tell you, he’s so big and strong, and you expect him to hit them that way. If he doesn’t drive in five or six runs every game, we’re going to tell him to hit the road.” The next day, Horn got two more hits, eliciting praise from Royals star George Brett. “If the season ended today,” Brett said, “Horn would win the Triple Crown.” Of course, that didn’t happen. Horn played three years with the Orioles, hit 42 home runs and knocked in 125. He hung around the majors for another few seasons, played briefly in Taiwan and then retired.
Sam Horn a proud father of three (Briona, Jamale and Kyla) has settled in Providence R.I. and works for Merecedes-Benz of Burlington. He still plays in charity games and hopes one day to return to broadcasting.
He remains a cult hero around Boston where, as a player, he was known as “The Fenway Fridge.” A Website set up in his honor, sonsofsamhorn.com, continues to flourish. “God bless, I’m doing pretty good,” said Horn. “I weigh 285 now and your health is everything once you get to this age. I work out five days a week and I love to hit a golf ball nice and hard. Baltimore was a nice time in my life and I wouldn’t change a thing, especially that game in KC. I know that on one special opening day, in one special year (1990), I was the best player in baseball.”