Author: Jan Larson

Ten chapter members gabbed about the season that just was, the end-of-year awards, the upcoming clash between players and owners, the free agent market and the new collective bargaining agreement at the November meeting on Saturday.

We discussed how many of us weren’t surprised by Shohei Ohtani’s selection as the AL MVP but were surprised that the vote was unanimous. There was some discussion about Corbin Burnes edging out Zack Wheeler and Max Scherzer for the NL Cy Young Award, despite having the fewest innings pitched among the finalists.

While we enjoyed Mexican food at Serranos for lunch in Southwest Austin, some said they were looking forward to seeing how the negotiations between MLB owners and players will go, while others did not find that appetizing in the least.

Based on attendance, we had brief discussions of our favorite teams, among them (in alphabetical order): Angels, Astros, Dodgers, Mets, Orioles and Yankees.

We also talked about the Astros re-signing Justin Verlander and pondered where Carlos Correa might end up.

Among the teams and baseball-related attire were a sharp Seattle Pilots No. 56 Jim Bouton jersey worn by Jerry Miller. Thrilled by the recent signing of Noah Syndergaard, Don Dingee wore an Angels shirt. Jim Baker wore an Astros shirt, while Jan Larson, true to form, wore the cap from the most recent World Series champion, Atlanta Braves. Just two months removed from the induction ceremony at the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Ira Siegel wore a “Class of 2020” shirt. Ryan Pollack wore a FanGraphs t-shirt featuring details from a modern baseball scorebook. I wore a Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters cap in honor of Ohtani, who played for the Fighters for five years in Japan before joining the Los Angeles Angels in 2018.

Joe Gallagher brought a bag of vintage baseball cards to give away over lunch. Lots of great cards to admire, including cards of Felipe Alou, Curt Flood, and an Astros 1970 Rookie Stars card featuring John Mayberry and Bob Watkins, among others.

This was the 180th consecutive month with a meeting, a streak that dates to December 2006.

If you haven’t already, save Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022, on your calendar. We’re planning our 16th Annual Bill Gilbert Winter Meeting at Texas State University. More details to come.

The December meeting will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 18, at County Line Bar-B-Q on the Lake in Northwest Austin.

The Rogers Hornsby Chapter will once again have an in-person lunch meeting on Sunday, November 21 starting at 1:00 p.m. at Serranos-Mopac at 5030 Highway 290 West, Austin, TX 78735 (near intersection of MoPac & 290).  Since we need a headcount in order to reserve tables, please RSVP to Jan Larson at jan.a.larson@gmail.com if you plan to attend.

We will once again hold our Hornsby Chapter monthly meeting via Zoom on Saturday, September 25 starting at 1:00 p.m. CDT.

We will be hearing a report from two chapter members, Monte Cely and Ira Siegel, who made the trek to Cooperstown for the Hall of Fame induction ceremony.  There will also be the usual trivia quiz.

You may register for the meeting at the link below:

https://txstate.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAodeqorjIvGdygtgQ-h9sYmRKVQEmsl-Rv

The Hornsby Chapter will celebrate real baseball by attending the AAA game between the Round Rock Express and the Sugar Land Skeeters on Saturday, August 7 with the first pitch at 7:05 p.m.

Chapter communications coordinator Monte Cely along with his lovely wife, Linda, have graciously agreed to hold an “open house” for attendees from 4-6 p.m. at their home located less than five minutes west of the Dell Diamond (directions will be provided to attendees).  Monte and Linda will be serving up baseball fare and soft drinks.  This will allow time for anyone so choosing to make a stop at the Salt Lick at the southwest corner of the Dell Diamond parking lot to imbibe on their favorite libation before the game.

Chapter director Jan Larson (this author) will also provide up to 20 reduced price tickets ($12.50) for those attending.  Tickets are available only as follows:

1.  Your SABR dues must be paid.  That is, you must be a current member of SABR.
2. You must be a member of the Rogers Hornsby chapter on the sabr.org website.  That is, the Rogers Hornsby chapter must be one of your “groups.”
3. Limit two tickets per member.

An email will be sent to the SABR Hornsby Chapter mailing list (it will appear as if the sender is “sabr.chapters) randomly sometime from 12:01 a.m. until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, August 1.  Ticket requests will be processed (1 or 2 per member meeting the above criteria) in order received in response to that email until all 20 have been spoken for.  If you do not get in under the wire for the reduced price tickets, you may still attend by paying the Express’ full price.  Note:  A block of seats has been reserved for our group.

In the event that exactly 19 of the 20 reduced price tickets have been spoken for and a request comes in for two, that person will have the option of either buying one at $12.50 and the second at full price (which I believe is around $34 for a Saturday night game), just buying one at $12.50 or not buying any.  In that case, the next person to request tickets would face the same choices.

Tickets will be emailed from the author’s Express ticket account with tickets.com to the recipients.  You may use electronic tickets (which are downloadable to the “wallet” app on the Apple iPhone) or, if you prefer, you may print the pdf ticket(s).  NOTE:  VERY IMPORTANT!  If anyone indicates that they want tickets and later determine that they can’t go for one reason or another, it is the buyer’s responsibility to find someone to take the ticket.  In other words, if you say you want one or two tickets, you bought ’em.

Be sure to check your membership at SABR.org to ensure that you’re paid up and that the Rogers Hornsby chapter is one of your “groups.”  Otherwise, you will NOT receive the email announcing the ticket availability as it will NOT be sent to the informally used hornsby@googlegroups.com mailing list.

If you have questions, please email this author at jan.a.larson@gmail.com.

We’re going to return to our long-standing tradition of in-person lunch meetings on Saturday, July 17 at 1:00 p.m. at Rudy’s Country Store and BBQ located at 2451 S Capital of Texas Hwy, Austin, TX 78746 which is on the east side of Hwy 360 (Capital of Texas Hwy) and just north of the Barton Creek Square shopping center.  Below is a link to the Google map:

https://goo.gl/maps/QFpsCGHb2NcuE21W7

When you arrive, go through the line and choose whatever you’d like to eat and then join the group on the covered patio.

Once again the Rogers Hornsby Chapter will conduct our monthly meeting via Zoom.  Don’t despair, however, as the chapter is planning for the resumption of in-person meetings in the near future.

If you plan to attend, please be sure to preregister for the meeting using the link below:

You are invited to a Zoom meeting.
When: Jun 12, 2021 01:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://txstate.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIrc-Cqqj0uHNTywdesUtIPM_X_WcNQ50ze

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

After being unavoidably unable to participate in our April meeting, Round Rock Express General Manager, Tim Jackson, will be with us via Zoom for the May monthly meeting to be held on Saturday, May 22 at 1:00 p.m. CDT.  We will also be treated to a trivia quiz by Jerry Miller.

Registration information if you plan to participate:

When: May 22, 2021 01:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://txstate.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIucuCupjIrE9NZ2VAtj14fZiSKKVmJ9Ofb

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Round Rock Express General Manager Tim Jackson returns for another Zoom session to discuss the whirlwind offseason that drastically changed the landscape of minor league baseball as well as the upcoming (delayed) season as the Express once again are affiliated with the Texas Rangers.

The meeting will be held online, as has been the case for the past year, via Zoom starting at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 17.

If you are interested in attending, you may register in advance for the meeting at the following link:

https://txstate.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYsdemvrj0tEtLtvxbCKI5tzHOVg31JNERx

 

The March meeting of the Rogers Hornsby Chapter will feature Halsey Hall (Minneapolis) Chapter member Dan Levitt’s presentation on baseball’s first drug controversy.

This will, once again, be a remote Zoom meeting and will be held at 1:00 p.m. CST on Saturday, March 13.

Please register in advance at the link below if you wish to attend:

https://txstate.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUqdOyopzksGd0f9Sba5kTH6dP4x9-aAzhL

 

The February meeting of the Rogers Hornsby chapter will feature author Dan Taylor discussing his upcoming book “Lights, Camera, Fastball : How the Hollywood Stars Changed Baseball.“

The Zoom meeting will begin at 1:00 p.m. CST on Saturday, February 20.  Please register at the following link if you plan to attend:

https://txstate.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYocu-rrD8vHtBnjKcOtNql2PUkQNVBpzia