Nine chapter members gathered on Tuesday, Dec. 17, to review the baseball season, discuss the hot stove deals and anticipate next month’s winter meeting.
Topics of discussion included Jan Larson’s successful prognostication of the chapter’s MLB Cy Young Awards, organized by Monte Cely, who presented Jan (pictured above) with a major award (baseball-shaped ceramic container filled with baseball-wrapped chocolates) and a certificate.
Much thanks to Monte’s wife, Linda, who sent a plate of delicious baked goods to help celebrate the holiday season.
Jan Larson brought along his trivia quiz, “You Rank ‘em,” asking participants to rank the league leaders in various batting and pitching categories. Dan Walsh and Eric Robinson tied with 20 total points, with Dan winning on the tie-breaker. For his win, Dan received the highly sought (and highly traveled) Stephen King novel, “Blockade Billy,” which features a catcher blocking home plate in front of a sliding runner (it was pointed out by a few of us that this is a move soon to be made obsolete with MLB’s announcement to ban collisions at home plate).
“Blockade Billy” was won by Jan at a previous chapter meeting and received from Jim Baker. Dan explained that Jim’s recent trivia quiz won him “Blockade Billy” from Dan himself! Dan graciously gave up his award and presented it to Eric Robinson, who gratefully accepted.
To try your hand at Jan’s trivia quiz, click here, or go to the “Contests” tab above.
Mark your calendar for Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014 – the date of the Eighth Annual Winter Meeting of the Rogers Hornsby Chapter of SABR. It is our chapter’s biggest meeting of the year, and you wouldn’t want to miss it! More details to come.
Players for each question are listed alphabetically. Rank them, 1-5, according to their respective finish in each category during the 2013 major league season. Two points for correct leader and one point for each player placed in the correct position, 2-5. (54 pts. max)
(Move the mouse over the blank space to see the answer)
1.
BA. Robinson Cano, Paul Goldschmidt, Joe Mauer, Andrew McCutcheon, Yadier Molina.
Bill Gilbert’s summary of the players that reached the “triple milestones” of .300 BA, 30 HRs and 100 RBI during the 2013 major league season may be found here: Triple Milestones 2013
MIKE CAPPS – Director of Broadcasting for the Round Rock Express – AAA affiliate of the Texas Rangers. Mike will preview the 2014 Express and Rangers’ seasons.
BOB DORRILL – will update us on the 2014 SABR National Convention to be held in Houston
MATT KATA – Manager-Baseball Outreach for the Round Rock Express. Matt will tell us about his experiences as a professional baseball player.
CHUCK KAUFMAN – will tell us about his trip to Cuba and their baseball, socialism-style.
JAN LARSON – will tell us what he did on his summer vacation.
EDDIE ROBINSON and PAUL ROGERS will discuss Eddie’s career as a major league player, coach, GM and scout and their recent collaboration on the book Lucky Me, My 65 Years in Baseball.
Note — copies of this book will be available for purchase.
We’ll also have our usual features:
LUNCH – register upon arrival and sign up for your lunch choices; it’ll be delivered — all for a nominal charge. NOTES – we must have your lunch order by 10am in order to get delivery by noontime; we can only accept cash.
BOOK EXCHANGE – members are encouraged to bring a baseball book to exchange.
MEMORABILIA DISPLAY – there is scheduled time after lunch for memorabilia owners to describe & discuss.
DRESS CODE – wearing your favorite team’s cap, jersey, or sportswear is always encouraged.
Contact any member of the organizing committee if you have any questions or need more info:
The meeting will be on the third floor in the Old Main building on the Texas State University campus. Look for the elevator on the first floor, or use the stairs.
Here’s a photo of Old Main:
Directions to Texas State University-San Marcos
If you’re traveling north from San Antonio, take I-35 and take Exit 206, Aquarena Springs Drive.
If you’re traveling south from Austin, take I-35 and take Exit 206, Aquarena Springs Drive.
Travel west on Aquarena Springs Drive, which turns into University Drive. After crossing the San Marcos River, you will come to a traffic light. Turn right onto Sessom Drive. Just before the first light, turn left on State Street and go up a steep road toward Old Main. Go through a gate (the gate should be up) and continue up the hill. At the top of the hill, make a sharp left turn and drive up to Old Main. Look for parking on this road that winds around the side and back of Old Main.
You can find additional parking at the Pleasant Street Garage, located at the corner of N. LBJ and Pleasant Street. To reach this garage, after you pass through the gate, continue up the hill, then down the hill to the stop sign on Pleasant Street. Turn left; the entrance to the parking garage will be on your left.
You do not need a parking pass to park on campus – however, do not park in spaces not marked as parking spaces or in handicapped parking (unless you have the appropriate tag displayed).
The meeting room is on the third floor in Room 320. There is an elevator on the first floor, or you can take the stairs.
Please note: The exterior of Old Main is being refurbished and there may still be scaffolding around the outside of the building. Exercise caution as you enter. The ongoing construction should not effect the interior of the building.
If you get lost or need help, call Gilbert Martinez (cell phone: 512-963-1263).
Use this link to see a Googe map showing the Texas State campus in relation to I-35:
We will be gathering at Iron Works BBQ located at 100 Red River in downtown Austin on Tuesday, December 17 starting at 6:00 p.m. For the quiz fanatics there will be a quiz based on the recently concluded 2013 major league season.
There is a small parking lot on-site, a larger lot on the south side of Cesar Chavez plus large pay lots across the street to the east. Please RSVP to Jan Larson at jan.a.larson@gmail.com if you plan to attend.
Eight chapter members went retro in their storytelling over barbeque in downtown Austin on Nov. 19, swapping stories about Joe DiMaggio, the annual baseball awards and game forfeitures in the last 40 years.
We also welcomed new member Keith Ordean, who ventured from Canyon Lake to join us. He grew up in Ohio and often roots for the Cincinnati Reds (though he admits to disliking the Dusty-Baker-as-manager era).
Eric Robinson, who grew up in Fort Worth, sported a sharp cap of the Fort Worth Cats of the Texas League.
As we shared memorable games we experienced either in person or by radio, Tom Wancho recalled listening to the “10-cent beer night” game between the Texas Rangers and the Cleveland Indians at Cleveland Stadium in 1974. The Indians had the go-ahead run on third in the bottom of the ninth inning just before inebriated fans rushed the field and attacked Rangers players, leading to the Cleveland forfeit.
This discussion caused Jim Baker to recall other memorable game forfeitures in the 1970s, and he asked, Have there been any others since then?
Gilbert Martinez, relying on his expert memory (also know as a smart phone), found a Retrosheet page that lists details of forfeited games that go back to the 19th century. Click here for the weblink to that page.
To answer Jim’s question, we found that the most recent and only forfeited game in Major League Baseball since the 1970s was a game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995. See the above weblink for more details of what must have been a wild night at Dodger Stadium.
This meeting marked the 84th consecutive month in which the Hornsby Chapter has met. More details about the December meeting will soon be forthcoming.
We will be gathering at Iron Works BBQ located at 100 Red River in downtown Austin on Tuesday, November 19 starting at 6:00 p.m.
There is a small parking lot on-site, a larger lot on the south side of Cesar Chavez plus large pay lots across the street to the east. Please RSVP to Jan Larson at jan.a.larson@gmail.com if you plan to attend.
(Move the mouse over the blank space to see the answer)
1.
What future Houston Colt .45 and Astros player pitched a perfect game in the 1956 World Series?
Don Larsen
2.
Who was the former Astros player that hit a home run in the 14th inning to beat the Astros in Game 3 of the 2005 World Series?
Geoff Blum
3.
What former Astros player drove in the decisive run in Game 7 of the 1975 World Series?
Joe Morgan
4.
What former Astros player was the MVP of the 1986 World Series?
Ray Knight
5.
What former Astros player batted .750 (9 for 12) in the 1990 World Series?
Billy Hatcher
6.
What former Astros player drove in the winning run in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series?
Luis Gonzalez
7.
What future Astros manager drove in the winning run in Game 7 of the 1946 World Series?
Gary Walker
8.
What Astros pitcher was charged with two of the losses for the Astros in the 2005 World Series?
Brad Lidge
9.
Who were the two former Astros that were co-MVPs in the 2001 World Series?
Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson
10.
Who is the pitcher that was traded (with others) by Houston to Seattle for Randy Johnson, and who started the decisive Game 4 of the 2005 World Series against the Astros?
Freddie Garcia
11.
Who were the Astros’ four starting pitchers in the 2005 World Series?
Rogers Clemens
Andy Pettitte
Roy Oswalt
Brandon Backe
12.
What former Astros pitcher holds the record for most postseason wins?
Andy Pettitte
Bonus
Name the one player from the 2013 Astros roster with previous World Series experience.
Ten Hornsby Chapter members and guests gathered today to celebrate Norman Macht and bid him a fond farewell before his departure to San Diego later this month.
Many in the SABR community know Norman for his past involvement as a SABR board member and as a baseball historian and author of the definitive biography of Connie Mack. In the Hornsby Chapter, we have been fortunate to have had him as an active member of our chapter since 2006. He was especially involved with our annual winter meetings in January, often contributing creative and fun trivia ice-breakers with a flair for the witty.
Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that Norman brought a trivia quiz for this special get-together in his honor. Active members of the Hornsby Chapter will notice a special theme of this quiz – the first and last names of the answers were inspired by the names our members! Look for Martinezes, Montes, and a guys named Larson, Cy, Dillion, Bass, Kaufmann, Baker and others. Click here to try your hand at it.
Jim Baker took top prize (a Juan Gonzalez biography) with 10 points and Bill Gilbert was runner-up, scoring 9 points.
Norman also brought two posters depicting the first pitch at Camden Yards in Baltimore on April 6, 1992. One went to one of our newest members, Ryan Pollack, a die-hard Orioles fan.
Norman also shared with us that his most memorable interview was with Ferris Fain, a back-to-back American League batting champion in 1951 and 1952 with the Philadelphia Athletics. Norman said he believes Fain has gone unappreciated.
Steve Braccini brought his signed copy of “Rowdy Richard: A Firsthand Account of the National League Baseball Wars of the 1930s and the Men Who Fought Them,” co-authored by Norman and Dick “Rowdy Richard” Bartell. Steve already had Bartell’s signature and asked Norman for his. Norman kindly obliged.
I know I speak for everyone in the chapter when I say how much we’re going to miss Norman. I’ve noted that we’ll miss Norman’s big bat in our lineup, but after seeing his author’s bio that described his aspirations to be a big league pitcher, perhaps I should be talking about how we’ll miss his big arm in our rotation.
Bat or arm, we’ll certainly miss all of Norman’s contributions to the Hornsby Chapter.
Pictured above are (front) Bill and Evelyn Gilbert, Norman Macht, Raeanne Martinez and Annette Braccini; (back) Ryan Pollack, Jim Baker, Jan Larson, Gilbert Martinez and Steve Braccini.
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