Potluck with baseball games highlight July meeting

Fourteen chapter members and guests gathered for a potluck meal with a main dish of afternoon baseball games on Saturday, July 27.

Hosted by Ryan Pollack, we enjoyed a sandwich platter with a variety of side dishes and desserts. Many thanks to Ryan for hosting and to Linda Cely and Raeanne Martinez for bringing delicious homemade desserts. Thanks to everyone for their potluck contributions.

The first game of the day featured the Tampa Bay Rays hosted by the Toronto Blue Jays, giving us a chance to watch several rookies with famous names (Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Cavan Biggio). Early on, it seemed that the Rays had the game well in hand, leading 8-2 after five innings. After a vote of attendees, we opted to watch the Los Angeles Dodgers-Washington Nationals game. The Nats took a quick 2-0 lead on Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers. But by the fourth inning, the Dodgers took the lead 4-2 on their way to a 9-3 victory.

Before long, we noticed that the Blue Jays had battled to a 9-5 deficit headed into the bottom of the ninth, so, we switched back to see if the Jays had a comeback in them. Sure enough, they did! Guerrero led the charge with a three-run home run to pull the Jays within one, and then Brandon Drury homered for the second time in two innings to tie the game. It took another three innings, but the Blue Jays prevailed with a solo home run by Teoscar Hernandez (former Astros player!), his second of the game. In fact, this game did not lack for home runs – Biggio hit his seventh of the year in the second inning.

This was the 152nd consecutive month that the chapter has had a meeting, a streak dating to 2006. We often gather for weekend lunches to talk baseball. We sometimes meet at the Dell Diamond to watch the Triple-A Round Rock Express. We also host baseball playoffs and World Series watch parties in October. This meeting is one of the few in which we gather to watch andtalk baseball.

Next meeting will be at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 18, at County Line Bar-B-Q on the Lake (5204 FM 2222).