Society for American Baseball Research
We will be gathering at Iron Works BBQ located at 100 Red River in downtown Austin on Thursday, September 20 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.
A near capacity crowd of 14 members and guests gathered on Thursday, August 23 at Iron Works BBQ in downtown Austin for barbeque and baseball talk. The preliminary agenda for the Chapter’s 2013 Winter Meeting, the Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg dilemma, the current state of the major league divisional races and the 2012 wild card playoff format were among the topics discussed.
Bill Gilbert presented an entertaining quiz for which contestants were asked to name the all-time pitching wins leader for each current franchise. Jan Larson came out on top with 16 of 30. While points could only be scored for naming each all-time leader, Bill also had a list of the top three for each franchise. Rob Radmer was deemed the unofficial (and unintentional) winner of naming the most runners-up.
The next monthly meeting will again be held at Iron Works on Thursday, September 20.
A group of Hornsby Chapter members traveled to Houston last weekend and watched the Astros win their first extra-inning game of the season.
After the Astros were walk-off winners for the first time all season the night before (4-3 over the Milwaukee Brewers), our group watched the Astros win 6-5 over the Brewers in a hard-fought 10 innings on Saturday, Aug. 11. Most of the group also attended the Sunday afternoon game, but the Astros lost 5-3 .
Most of us shared a rental van to travel to and from Houston, and Cy Morong entertained us with questions from a baseball trivia book that he had won at a chapter trivia contest. As often happens on road trips, we also took our fair number of detours into funny and odd conversations. For example, we discussed an All Animal Team (baseball players with names or nicknames of animals) and came up with a bunch, including Mike Trout, Kevin Bass, John Jay, Jim “Catfish” Hunter and numerous others.
Cy Morong also impressed us with an impromptu rendition of all World Series winners, in reverse order, from 2011 to 1903, in a matter of minutes.
In addition, during the weekend, Jan Larson, Ira Siegel, Cy Morong and Gilbert Martinez met with Marsha Franty of the Larry Dierker Chapter to brainstorm about the SABR Convention when it comes to Houston in 2014. She asked about our convention experiences through the years and sought our input on what Houston can offer during its convention.
Pictured in the photo above, (back row from left), are Tom Thayer, Steve Braccini, Ira Siegel, Cy Morong; (middle row from left) Dung Le (Tom’s spouse), Annette Rothwell Braccini, Gilbert D. Martinez, Jan Larson and Connie Larson; and (front row) Scott Barzilla (Dierker Chapter member). Much thanks to Pat Hareski, a friend of the Larsons, for taking the photo.
This is the second year that a group of Hornsby Chapter members have traveled together for baseball (Click here to read about chapter members enjoying the “owner’s experience” at Whataburger Field, home of the Corpus Christi Hooks, in 2011). Once again, we had a good time and hope to plan more of these in the future. Stay tuned!
We will be gathering at Iron Works BBQ located at 100 Red River in downtown Austin on Thursday, August 23 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.
The Hornsby Chapter will be venturing to Houston on Saturday, August 11 and Sunday August 12 to take in a pair of games between the Astros and the Milwaukee Brewers. Game time on Saturday is 6:05 p.m. and Sunday is 1:05 p.m.
Those interested in attending are responsible for making their own hotel reservations. The Hilton Americas hotel at 1600 Lamar Street is within walking distance of Minute Maid Park and is the suggested hotel but there are a lot of hotels in downtown Houston so attendees may choose to stay elsewhere if so inclined.
Orders for field level tickets for both games are due by 12:00 noon on Saturday, August 4. Please email Jan Larson at jan.a.larson@gmail.com with questions or to place a ticket order.
The Rogers Hornsby Chapter continued to remain active throughout the year – extending its consecutive monthly meeting streak, hosting winter meetings and SABR Day celebrations, organizing baseball trips for members and honoring the chapter founder with a lifetime achievement award.
The chapter met for the 66th consecutive month in May 2012, a streak dating to December 2006.
Chapter members honored the Hornsby Chapter founder and longtime SABR member Bill Gilbert with the inaugural Rajah Award for his significant contributions to the chapter.
At the chapter winter meeting at Texas State University in January 2011, Houston Astros television broadcaster Bill Brown, Round Rock Express radio broadcaster Mike Capps and his radio booth partner Jerry Grote, former catcher with the 1969 “Miracle Mets,” were special guests. Later that month on SABR Day, members gathered for a viewing of “Field of Dreams” and “The Natural.”
Among the highlights of the year, a dozen chapter members and guests enjoyed the “owner’s experience” at Whataburger Field, home of the Corpus Christi Hooks, the AA affiliate of the Houston Astros, in late April and early May 2011. Other chapter activities in the year included an outing to a Round Rock Express game and hosting a watch party for Game 3 of the World Series. The group also attended a showing of the film, “Moneyball,” and discussed it with Brian McNulty, a production manager on several Hollywood films.
Chapter commissioner Gilbert D. Martinez gave a research presentation at SABR 41 in Long Beach, California, in July 2011. The presentation examined the no-decision statistic. More information about the presentation can be found on the chapter website (http://chapters.sabr.org/hornsby) under the research and articles tab.
In 2012, the chapter held their Sixth Annual Winter Meeting, which included presentations by Branch Rickey III, president of the Pacific Coast League; Frank Coffland, a retired minor league umpire; Norman Macht, baseball historian, former SABR board member and author of the multi-volume biography of Connie Mack; and Scott Barzilla, author of “The Hall of Fame Index.”
Another 2012 chapter highlight was the book signing by Macht of his newly published “Connie Mack: The Turbulent & Triumphant Years, 1915-1931,” the second volume of his biography of the great manager.
Hornsby Chapter member Monte Cely completed the last of three years of service as a judge for the SABR Baseball Book Research Award. For more information on these awards, go to the SABR website announcement (http://sabr.org/about/sabr-baseball-research-award).
Fifteen chapter members enjoyed barbeque and baseball talk at the midseason break on Thursday, July 12.
Despite quiz-maker Jim Baker’s best efforts, a few of us eked out a few correct answers in Baker’s “The Perfect Quiz,” which focused on the 22 perfect games in Major League Baseball history.
Bill Gilbert was the only one to reach double-digits in overall score with 10 total points. Ira Siegel was second with seven points. Try your hand in the ‘Contests’ tab above, or by clicking here.
This was the 68th consecutive month that the chapter has met. On the horizon are Mark McGwire’s 70 and Barry Bonds’ 73.
Next meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 23.
We will be gathering at Iron Works BBQ located at 100 Red River in downtown Austin on Thursday, July 12 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.
Sixteen chapter members and guests were treated to several impressive home runs on a pleasant summer evening Saturday, June 16, at the Dell Diamond.
The Oklahoma City RedHawks, the Houston Astros’ Triple-A affiliate, defeated the Round Rock Express, 8-5, in part, because of back-to-back home runs by Mike Hessman and Brad Snyder and another by Landon Powell. The Express made a charge in the ninth, scoring three runs before falling short. Brad Nelson and Julio Borbon contributed with home runs.
Former Detroit Tiger Armando Galarraga, who nearly threw a perfect game in 2010, pitched well enough for the RedHawks and notched his first win with the team. After stints with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Baltimore Orioles, Galarraga signed a minor league contract with the Astros in May.
The next Hornsby Chapter meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, July 12, at Iron Works BBQ in downtown Austin, and comes at the halfway point of the season. Discussions of the first half and predictions for the second half will surely be among the topics of discussion.
The June meeting of the Rogers Hornsby Chapter is set for Saturday, June 16. We will be gathering for pre-game barbeque at the Salt Lick restaurant at 5:30 p.m. followed by the game between the home standing Round Rock Express and the visting Oklahoma City Redhawks. Game time is 7:05 p.m.
Please RSVP to Jan Larson at jan.a.larson@gmail.com by noon on Saturday June 9 (one week in advance of the game) and indicate (1) how many in your party will be partaking in the pre-game meal (for the purposes of making a reservation) and (2) how many game tickets you will require. Tickets are $14 plus a $1 service fee.
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