Matthew Taylor: Recalling the majesty of Sam Horn

Fair or foul? Chris Davis' awe-inspiring blast down the right-field line versus the Red Sox on Wednesday night was deemed to be foul and upheld on review. Orioles manager Buck Showalter, who said the team had a camera angle showing the ball was fair, wasn't buying it. Neither was David Price, who tweeted that the ball was "definitely fair." You know you've hit it well when opposing players are discussing your efforts.

Price's full tweet deemed Davis' moon shot "the most majestic ball I've seen hit" and asked MLB Statcast to break down the numbers on it. Statcast obliged Price's request and determined that the ball had a maximum speed of 110 mph, a launch angle of 42 degrees, a projected hang time of 6.4 seconds, and an estimated distance of 402 feet.

The Statcast totals suggest that Davis' hit wasn't long enough to reach the B&O Warehouse on the fly. Jay Gibbons had the longest Eutaw Street home run down the right field line in 2003, and it short-hopped the warehouse at an estimated distance of 420 feet. Meanwhile, Roger Bernadina's Eutaw Street homer for the Nationals in 2013 hugged the foul line and fell well short of the warehouse at 406 feet. As they say in the movie "Major League," "Too high, it's too high."

The Davis homer - er, foul ball - and the discussion surrounding it reminded me of the most majestic ball I've ever seen hit. It, too, was worth talking about even if it didn't put any runs on the board.

Sam Horn clouted a ball at Memorial Stadium in the early '90s that appeared to continue rising as it soared just to the right of the foul pole and into the upper reaches of the ballpark. The last rows of seating in the upper-deck horseshoe were the only thing to stop the ball from going clear out of the stadium. If you look at photos of Memorial Stadium, you can get something of an appreciation for how high and far the ball was hit.

I'm sure there are other men who went through the same phases that I did as a child. It starts with telling classmates that your dad can beat up their dad, progresses to an appreciation for superheroes and ultimately settles closer to reality with an appreciation for the raw power of professional athletes. That progression, combined with witnessing a ball that was walloped like none I've seen before or since, left me forever a Sam Horn fan.

Horn played only one season at Camden Yards. He hit two home runs at home that year. His first Camden Yards homer, a 420-foot shot into the center field bleachers, coincided with the first Eutaw Street home run in ballpark history by the Tigers' Mickey Tettleton. Horn talked about hitting the warehouse after the game.

"When I hit one really good, I'll hit the warehouse," Horn said. "I may not be the first to do it and I don't want to talk too much, but I will be putting in my effort."

Obviously, Horn never hit the warehouse. Regardless, I'll always remember the day he almost hit a ball out of Memorial Stadium, just as some young fan will always remember the night Davis almost hit the warehouse.

How about you? What is the most majestic ball you've ever seen hit?

Matthew Taylor blogs about the Orioles at Roar from 34. Follow him on Twitter: @RoarFrom34. His ruminations about the Birds appear as part of MASNsports.com's season-long initiative of welcoming guest bloggers to our site. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.