Society for American Baseball Research
Rogers Hornsby Chapter (Central and South Texas)
Annual Report, June 2020 – May 2021
By Gilbert D. Martinez
Chapter Commissioner
Like much of the world, the Rogers Hornsby Chapter shifted all meetings to online to cope with the impact of COVID-19 from June 2020 to May 2021.
Thanks to video conferencing, the chapter maintained its streak of consecutive months with a meeting to 174 months, a streak dating to December 2006.
Among the brightest highlights were having Oakland Athletics’ utility player and former Houston Astros player Tony Kemp and former major league pitcher Ross Ohlendorf join us for our online winter meeting in January 2021. The winter meeting also featured longtime Round Rock Express broadcaster Mike Capps. It was the 15th Annual Bill Gilbert Winter Meeting.
During the summer of 2020, many of our online discussions were about the pandemic’s impact on Major League Baseball which had its season shortened and delayed. We also talked about professional baseball occurring in other parts of the world such as Japan, South Korea and China.
In November, the chapter bestowed the Rajah Award to Jim Kenton, the creator of the chapter’s BasebALZ reminiscence program, which has continued to offer online programs for Alzheimer’s patients and caregivers throughout the year. In addition, program leaders continue to work with other SABR chapters in hopes of expanding these programs elsewhere. The program is now in its seventh year.
The online format gave our chapter members a chance to meet and interact with SABR members from across the country, making for interesting baseball chatter beyond the usual discussions. Being online also helped us attract a number of guest speakers and book authors that we normally would not have heard from.
Longtime Astros broadcaster Bill Brown joined us in October 2020 to talk about the recent passing of Hall of Fame player Joe Morgan, and his new book, “Sportscasting 101: The road to play-by-play.”
In March 2021, Halsey Hall Chapter member Dan Levitt told us about baseball’s first drug scandal involving Hal Newhouser’s use of Novocaine injections (relatively new at the time for ballplayers) to help pitch during the 1945 World Series in which he won two games, including a complete-game win in the clincher.
In February 2021, former award-winning baseball broadcaster Dan Taylor shared stories from his new book, “Lights, Camera, Fastball: How the Hollywood Stars Changed Baseball,” about the Hollywood Stars in the Pacific Coast League.
On SABR Day, Pee Wee Reese Chapter member Kelly Park shared anecdotes from his book, “Just Like Me: When the Pros Played on the Sandlot,” and stories about his 10-year interviewing and writing project.
A member of the Larry Dierker Chapter in Houston, Scott Barzilla talked about his newly published book, “The Hall of Fame Index Part II,” in December 2020.
During our online meetings, we’ve enjoyed hearing stories from one of the chapter’s newest members, Joe Gallagher, who had a long career in baseball broadcasting. He worked as a producer for the New York Mets television and radio broadcasts and NBC’s Game of the Week in the 1960s.
We also heard from Tim Jackson, general manager of the Round Rock Express – once in August 2020 when the club was affiliated with the Houston Astros, and again in May 2021 after the club reunited with the Texas Rangers as its parent club. Jackson gave the chapter tremendous insight into the tumultuous changes in Minor League Baseball in 2020 and forecasts for what the 2021 Minor League season might bring.
During the year, the chapter lost two active members – Craig Lukshin and Tom Melicki. Both were active in monthly meetings, chapter outings and chapter activities, and have been greatly missed.