About Jeff Louderback (Red Sox)

Jeff was a member of Red Sox Nation before the term existed. A native of Ohio, he became a Red Sox fan when he was just 7 years old. That was in 1975, when the Big Red Machine faced the upstart Red Sox, who at the time had a roster adorned with guys like Fred Lynn, Jim Rice, Dwight Evans, Carlton Fisk, Luis Tiant, Rico Petrocelli and Bernie Carbo.

He fondly remembers watching his first World Series game. It was Game 6 of the '75 Series, and his dad let him stay up and watch all 12 innings of the classic that ended with Fisk blasting the historic home run. Even though he was just 7, he was hooked. Jeff became an instant Sox fan, despite living in Reds country and has followed the team closely since. He raced home from school when he was 10 in 1978 to watch the infamous one-game playoff between the Red Sox and Yankees and cried when Bucky Dent hit the dinger off Mike Torrez. He had just started his freshman year of college when the ball rolled through Buckner's legs and the Sox lost Game 6 and then Game 7 of the '86 Series.

The Red Sox would again bring tears to Jeff's eyes for different reasons – tears of disappointment after Aaron Boone’s home run in the 2003 ALCS and tears of joy in 2004 after Boston staged the greatest comeback in sports history against the Yankees in the ALCS and then swept the St. Louis Cardinals.

Today, Jeff is the co-founder, editor and Red Sox writer of Sox and Pinstripes (www.soxandpinstripes.com). He is also a freelance writer, author and publicist. Jeff earned a degree in communication from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and worked as a sports writer for a daily newspaper in Ohio, covering high school, college and pro sports, including the Reds and Bengals. He left the world of full-time sports writing and served as a reporter and editor for newspapers and magazines, and a public relations director for organizations, before embarking on his own. He frequently writes about baseball, and authors travel and lifestyle features, personality profiles and sports features for regional and national publications.

A published author, Jeff is also co-authoring a Red Sox-themed travel guidebook incorporating MLB and minor league towns. You can read some of his work at www.jefflouderback.typepad.com (his PR blog), www.jefflouderback.com, www.mediabistro.com/jlouderback and www.writeperceptions.net.