January 2025 Newsletter
By Gilbert D. Martinez
An Austin-born former Major League pitcher, a longtime broadcaster and his best year yet, the new voice of the Round Rock Express, special memories shaped by baseball, the chapter’s mock Hall of Fame vote and a new way to evaluate catchers filled the 19th Annual Bill Gilbert Winter Meeting on Saturday.
With the start of the 2025 season about three months away, more than 30 chapter members and guests joined the winter meeting in person at Texas State University and on Zoom. We paid tribute to the late Bill Gilbert, who was the driving force in creating the Hornsby Chapter and the Larry Dierker Chapter in Houston.
Ross Ohlendorf
Longtime broadcaster and chapter member Mike Capps (pictured above, right, with Ohlendorf) reunited with former broadcast partner Ross Ohlendorf, who pitched eight years in MLB, from 2008 to 2016, with the Pirates, Yankees, Padres, Nationals, Rangers and Reds, and one year with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.
Cappy covered a range of topics with Ohlendorf, including his time as a dual-sport athlete (basketball and baseball) at St. Stephen’s Episcopal High School in Austin and as a pitcher at Princeton University, where he published a senior thesis that examined the top 100 draft picks from 1989 to 1993 to determine the value of each pick. Essentially, he said, he used win shares to evaluate player performance. In 2009, Tim Kurkjian wrote an article about Ohlendorf and his thesis for ESPN.com.
We also watched video of Ohlendorf’s immaculate inning, when he struck out three Cardinals batters on nine pitches on Sept. 5, 2009. He said he remembered thinking about the possibility of an immaculate inning on the third batter.
Ohlendorf talked about how valuable it was to him to have effective coaching to help him improve throughout his career. He also appreciated talking a lot about pitching with teammate Steve Jackson when they played for the Yankees and Pirates early in their careers. He found this kind of collaboration rare in baseball because of the inherent competition between relievers.
He said he found game preparation often focused on the weaknesses of the opposing hitters, but he felt best prepared when there were discussions about his strengths as a pitcher.
“You get lost in what you do well as a pitcher sometimes,” he said.
Ohlendorf also shared his experience playing for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in his last year of professional ball. In MLB, he said pitching coaches wanted him to throw his best pitches more often, while in Japan, the team and pitching coaches encouraged him to throw more kinds of pitches to keep hitters off balance. For example, if he threw a good split-finger fastball in practice, the team wanted him to throw it during games. But if he didn’t have good command of the pitch, he said he’d find himself in bad counts.
A question from the audience about injuries to pitchers and the increased prevalence of Tommy John surgeries prompted Ohlendorf to reflect on another difference between baseball in America and Japan. He said when there are two outs in an inning in Japan, starting pitchers typically hop out of the dugout to throw additional warmup pitches before the side is retired. He said he thinks this would help pitchers stay warm and may help prevent injury. He also shared that in Japan, pitchers work more on holding runners and being quicker to the plate, probably indicative of the small-ball type of play often seen in Japan as compared to MLB.
Since retirement, Ohlendorf, as a sixth-generation rancher, has gotten more involved with the family business raising Texas Longhorns at the Rocking O Longhorns in Lockhart.
Cappy asked Ohlendorf if he’s considered joining a team’s front office, but with three young children and another on the way, he said, “Not right now,” but he also didn’t rule it out in the future.
Mike Capps’ 2024 broadcast adventure
After 24 years as the voice of the Round Rock Express and a distinguished career in broadcast news before that, Mike Capps decided to take on new challenges in 2024. He joined the Wichita Wind Surge, the Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, broadcasting all of their games in Texas. He also became the voice for the baseball team at the University of Texas–San Antonio.
He credited longtime baseball executive Jay Miller for supporting him throughout his career. Miller, who retired as president of the Wichita Wind Surge last month, brought Cappy onboard at the Express in 2000 and then tapped him for broadcasting duties with the Wind Surge in 2024.
Last year, he said, was “the best year I’ve had in baseball since Jay Miller” brought him to Round Rock in 2000, he said.
But he said one of the biggest surprises of the year was getting the call from the Iowa Cubs, the Triple-A affiliate, which is one of his favorite minor league venues.
He said he was grateful for his time with the Express, but calling games with other teams was great fun.
“This last year for me and my family was just incredible,” Cappy said. “(Having) friends in baseball – they take care of you.”
He’s looking forward to broadcasting with the Wichita Wind Surge and UTSA in 2025 and is hopeful to return to the Iowa Cubs broadcast booth.
A new broadcast voice in Round Rock: Rylan Kobre
With Mike Capps’ departure, the Round Rock Express turned to Rylan Kobre as the new voice of the Express in the 2024 season. He joined us via Zoom to talk about his first full year in the booth.
He also identified several players in the Rangers’ minor league system that might get some serious playing time with the Express in 2025, unless some of them leap to the big league club. He suggested watching out for hitters with a good, disciplined approach at the plate such as Blaine Crim and Trevor Hauver. He also thought that right-handed pitcher Justin Foscue might start in Round Rock this year.
Kobre also shared that clubhouse renovations are underway at the Dell Diamond to give more room for the larger rosters in Triple-A. He noted that when the stadium was first built, it was designed to accommodate smaller Double-A rosters, so renovations were long overdue. The home clubhouse is beyond the left field side while the area behind right field will have the new visitors’ clubhouse.
Chapter’s mock HOF vote
By Ryan Pollack
In its annual mock election held at the chapter’s winter meeting, the Rogers Hornsby Chapter elected trailblazing international superstar Ichiro Suzuki to the Hall of Fame. Ichiro was named on 38 of the 42 ballots submitted, giving him 90.4% of the vote. Candidates must appear on 75% of ballots to gain election.
Ichiro redefined what it means to be a Japanese player in MLB. Immediately upon arriving in the United States in 2001, he won the AL MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same season, a feat that hadn’t been accomplished since Fred Lynn in 1975. This performance played a key role in the Mariners’ 116-win year and set the tone for what was to come. Throughout his long career, Ichiro showcased a keen batting eye, incredible skill for contact, great baserunning, a strong right arm and a colorful personality. He tallied 3,089 hits and set the single-season hits record with 262. But more than that, he became an international representative for the game of baseball.
Tallying 22 votes each for a vote share of 52.3% were left-handers CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner. Sabathia notched 3,093 strikeouts and won a Cy Young Award in a 19-year MLB career. Wagner boasts a career 2.31 ERA, 422 saves and the highest strikeout rate (33.2%) of any retired pitcher with at least 800 innings pitched.
The other players reaching double-digit vote totals were Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte, Carlos Beltran and Manny Ramirez, each with 17 (40.4%); and Andruw Jones with 14 (33.3%).
See below for the full totals:
|
Player |
Number of votes |
% |
|
Ichiro Suzuki |
38 |
90.4 |
|
Billy Wagner |
22 |
52.3 |
|
CC Sabathia |
22 |
52.3 |
|
Alex Rodriguez |
17 |
40.4 |
|
Andy Pettitte |
17 |
40.4 |
|
Carlos Beltran |
17 |
40.4 |
|
Manny Ramirez |
17 |
40.4 |
|
Andruw Jones |
14 |
33.3 |
|
Bobby Abreu |
8 |
19 |
|
Chase Utley |
8 |
19 |
|
Felix Hernandez |
8 |
19 |
|
Dustin Pedroia |
6 |
14.2 |
|
Omar Vizquel |
5 |
11.9 |
|
Torii Hunter |
5 |
11.9 |
|
Jimmy Rollins |
4 |
9.5 |
|
David Wright |
2 |
4.7 |
|
Francisco Rodriguez |
2 |
4.7 |
|
Mark Buehrle |
2 |
4.7 |
|
Adam Jones |
1 |
2.3 |
|
Ben Zobrist |
1 |
2.3 |
|
Brian McCann |
1 |
2.3 |
|
Hanley Ramirez |
1 |
2.3 |
|
Ian Kinsler |
1 |
2.3 |
|
Troy Tulowitzki |
1 |
2.3 |
The Baseball Writers’ Association of America will announce official results at 5 p.m. (Central) Jan. 21 on MLB Network. If any on the ballot achieve 75 percent of the vote or better, he or they will join Dave Parker and Dick Allen, who were selected by the Veterans Committee in December, at Cooperstown, New York, for the induction ceremony in July.
Predictatron trophy presentation
Predictatron impresario Jim Baker presented Ryan Pollack with the trophy for winning the postseason Predictatron contest. The winner of the season-long prediction contest, Brian Rogers, was unable to join us on Saturday and will receive his trophy at a later time. Baker noted that Mike Dillon came within a few games of achieving victories in both the season-long and postseason contests, but the Dodgers’ memorable (or forgettable, depending on one’s perspective) fifth inning comeback in World Series Game 5 sunk not only the Yankees’ chances, but Dillon’s, too. Nonetheless, Baker applauded Dillon’s near achievement.
A whole new Predictatron for chapter members commences soon. Watch for email announcements from Baker in mid-March.
Trivia quiz focusing on famous baseball trades
A chapter winter meeting wouldn’t be the same without a trivia quiz, and winter meeting coordinator Jerry Miller brought a doozy. He challenged us to recall details of players and teams involved with memorable trades throughout baseball history.
Tom Thayer proved to be equal to the task, nabbing 42 out of 49 points on the quiz, winning a book about Nolan Ryan. Cy Morong came in at second with 36 points, winning a biography about Cal Ripken Jr. (co-authored by friend of the chapter Mike Bryan), and Jim Baker took third with 30 points and won a book about Mickey Mantle.
Think you can top these three quiz titans? Take your swing clicking here: baseball trades quiz. Click here for the answers: Famous Baseball Trades January 2025 answers.
A new way of evaluating catchers
Chapter member Tom Thayer gave a presentation that offered a new way to evaluate catchers. Noticing that catchers seem to be devalued by modern-day metrics such as WAR (Wins Above Replacement), he’s working on a way to more accurately assess catchers by incorporating their defensive skills and contributions to improving pitching performance.
He said it’s a work in progress that confirms some of the conventional wisdom concerning catching greats, but it also may encourage baseball historians and statisticians to revisit others.
Click here to see his presentation slides: Catcher Evaluation by Tom Thayer
Members’ presentations focus on baseball memories
Jerry Miller opened the meeting with a brief presentation featuring his 2024 ballpark memories, followed by those of Ira Siegel and Gilbert Martinez. Click here for the presentation slides: Ballpark Memories 2024
Members of the audience including Syd Polk and Dierker Chapter President Joe Thompson also shared their baseball memories of the year.
Chapter members Frank Rechtorovic, Jan Larson, Jerry Miller and Nicole Bryan-Hall brought presentations that tied important baseball memories to baseball history.
Frank Rechtorovic, who became a middle school math teacher after a 22-year career in the Army and National Guard, gave a compelling presentation about how his birthday (9-7-61) was the greatest date in baseball — not just because that’s when he was born, but because of the significance of the numbers as they relate to his favorite team, the New York Yankees. Click here to see his presentation: SABR Presentation by Frank Rechtorovic
Jan Larson, one of the Hornsby Chapter directors, gave his presentation via Zoom to recount his lifelong journey to see every major league team play in person, accumulating visits to stadiums across the country and around the world, some of which are no longer standing. He also has plans to see games at future stadiums that may be built in the coming years. Click here to see his presentation: Stadiums by Jan Larson
Jerry Miller, who shared that he has boxes and shelves full of receipts, programs and other baseball memorabilia, took on the task of fully documenting every game he’s attended and the players and feats he witnessed. During the pandemic a few years ago, he wondered exactly how many games he’s seen, and so began his quest to find the answer. Click here to see his presentation slides: Baseball Game Project presentation by Gerald Miller
Nicole Bryan-Hall said she was inspired by her daughter, Bailey Hall, who won the top poster presentation at SABR 52 in Minneapolis in August. In fact, Bailey gave her presentation, which sought to evaluate whether a leadoff walk or leadoff single was more damaging, at last year’s Bill Gilbert Winter Meeting, which then led to her poster creation of her findings for SABR 52. Nicole said she wanted to tell her own story about how baseball has helped shape her life, including her stint as an intern with the St. Louis Cardinals, her love of the Houston Astros and the Chicago Cubs, and her surprise when Bailey, as a child, took to baseball, which led both to the Hornsby Chapter. Click here to see her presentation slides: A LIFE OF BASEBALL MEMORIES by Nicole Bryan-Hall
Other News
Dierker Chapter celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Astrodome all year
By Joe Thompson
President, Larry Dierker Chapter (Houston)
On April 9, 2025, the Astrodome will celebrate its 60th birthday. The Larry Dierker Chapter in Houston will spend the entire year celebrating the birthday of the Dome. Almost every chapter event in 2025 will have either a special guest or a chapter member who will give an Astrodome-related presentation.
I hope to invite former players, managers, executives, journalists and fans who would like to speak to the group about their memories of the Dome. For example, on Jan. 20, the chapter meeting will feature Astrodome expert and historian Mike Acosta.
Each edition of the Houston chapter newsletter for the upcoming year will have at least one article about an event at the Astrodome. I also intend to show at least one video of an Astros game in the Dome at a chapter event this year. The game I have in mind for SABR Day (Saturday, Feb. 1) is the oldest TV broadcast involving the Astros known: Astros vs. Dodgers (Sept. 4, 1965). The broadcasters for the game are Keith Jackson and Jackie Robinson. Here is the link from Rare Sports Films, the company that I purchased the DVD from at SABR 50 in Baltimore (https://raresportsfilms.com/1965-la-astros.html).
I hope to get as many SABR members as I can who want to participate in celebrating the 60th birthday of the Eighth Wonder of the World, the Houston Astrodome.
In closing, if anyone can connect me with a former player or manager who played in the Astrodome, a member of a team’s front office with the Astros during the era of the Dome, if anyone has ideas on a presentation, if someone wants to volunteer to write an article or series of articles for the chapter newsletter, or if someone would like to help put a panel of speakers together one month or a group of speakers throughout the year, please have them reach out to Joe Thompson, Houston SABR chapter president (splendorajoe@gmail.com).
Kudos to baseball authors who visited us in 2024
Aaron Fischman, author of “A Baseball Gaijin: Chasing a Dream to Japan and Back” and guest speaker at our August meeting, and Keith O’Brien, author of “Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball” and guest speaker at our February meeting for SABR Day, have both been named finalists for Spitball Magazine’s 2024 CASEY Award for best baseball book! Congratulations to both!
Hornsby Chapter’s Baseball Memories 2024 year in review
Monte Cely, who leads volunteer efforts in our innovative baseball memories program, recapped the chapter’s activities for the year. To read more about the program and learn how to get involved, click here for the 2024 year in review.
Many thanks and gratitude!
We offer our greatest appreciation for everyone that made the 19th Annual Bill Gilbert Winter Meeting so much fun! Thanks to Ross Ohlendorf and Mike Capps! Thanks to Rylan Kobre! Thanks to all of our presenters: Frank Rechtorovic, Jan Larson, Jerry Miller, Nicole Bryan-Hall and Tom Thayer! Many thanks to Monte and Linda Cely for arranging our lunch with ballpark fare! And a huge thanks to Jerry Miller for coordinating the winter meeting!
Next meeting: SABR Day on Feb. 1 on Zoom
The Texas Rangers social media manager and Texas State graduate Remle Herzberg will join us at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 1, to help us recognize and celebrate SABR Day!
To register for this meeting and to receive the Zoom details, please click this link: https://txstate.zoom.us/meeting/register/1HYu_mO8SBKYf0FhiFH_6g
Hope you can join us!