Sons of Sam Horn

Sons of Sam Horn (SoSH) is a Boston Red Sox-oriented online baseball forum and related sports zine using the EZBoard bulletin board system. The name derives from little known but well-liked former major leaguer Sam Horn, who played for the Red Sox in the late 80s, and is a wordplay on the notorious 'Son of Sam' serial killer.

SoSH garnered national attention during the 2003-2004 Major League Baseball offseason, where it consistently scooped several mainstream sports media outlets such as ESPN and WEEI radio in reporting the Alex Rodriguez and Nomar Garciaparra trades, the Red Sox in general, and even the rival New York Yankees.

The site is frequented by a number of Red Sox players and personnel, including star pitcher Curt Schilling, who himself is a member (alias gehrig38). Schilling often shares his thoughts and views with SoSH membership in an effort to directly communicate with the team's ardent fan base while bypassing the jaded, embittered, agenda-driven members of the Boston press corps. Red Sox executives and even members of the Boston sports media have recently started using -- or at least reading -- the forum as well; readers welcome the brief but momentous comments of JohnWHenry (John W. Henry, Red Sox principal owner) and other sports figures.

SoSH also has frequent interviews and online chat sessions with prominent figures from the baseball world. Participants have included Red Sox GM Theo Epstein, sabermetric pioneer and Red Sox consultant Bill James, Baseball America editor Jim Callis, WBZ-TV sports director Bob Lobel, Boston Globe writer Gordon Edes, and most recently Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus.

One celebrated thread from the site has even been published in book form. A well-respected member, jacklamabe65 began a thread titled "Win It For" during the 2004 American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees. The thread was started as a plea to the Red Sox to win it for family members, friends, and other long-suffering Red Sox fans. Eventually, the thread grew to over 1000 replies. After trailing in the ALCS, three games to none, the Red Sox launched the greatest comeback in sports history to dispatch their archrivals and went on to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. The book was published by Sports Publishing and can be found online and in bookstores nationwide, with the proceeds going to charity.

SoSH membership is restricted, as the members desire to keep a high quality of discussion on the boards. As a result, the waiting list for hopeful future members is quite extensive. Frequently found on the main boards are statistical analyses of player performance similar to Bill James' sabermetrics. SoSH specializes in tracking Sox minor league prospects through the farm system; an entire forum is devoted to the "Adopt-a-Prospect" system. The site has also helped to spread a number of popular nicknames for Sox players, such as "Big Papi" for David Ortiz, and "The Professional" for Bill Mueller. The nicknames even extend to members of the rival Yankees such as "Captain Intangibles" for Derek Jeter, "Slappy McBluelips" for Alex Rodriguez, "Fruitbat" for Mariano Rivera, "Peanuthead" for Bernie Williams, BALCO #1 and #2 for Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield, and "Shemp" for Hideki Matsui.

Despite the edgy nature of discussion that exists on the board, members maintain close and pervasive relationships with each other that often extend outside the forum. Members frequently coordinate several social gatherings (known as a “SoSH BaSH”), whether at Red Sox games or in large ballrooms and strip clubs with the 2004 World Series trophy present. Even members that live outside of New England will gather in herds.

The Sons of Sam Horn is an example of an online community routinely sharing knowledge and opinions on all things Red Sox, while often beating the mainstream media in the reporting of factual news.

Birth of the band TwistedTesticle is said to have been inspired by SOSH.

External Links

• Sons of Sam Horn (http://www.sonsofsamhorn.com)
• Slate.Com Article on SoSH and Fan Media (http://slate.com/id/2091927)
• Win it For... (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/159670084X/qid=1114447831/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-9521611-1159809?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)