It’s time for the 2nd Annual Rogers Hornsby Chapter Playoff Watch Party and Cookout! We’ll watch Game 2 of the ALCS and Game 1 of the NLCS on Saturday, Oct. 16.
The times for the games have not been announced, but one game will probably start in mid-afternoon and the other will be in the evening. A follow-up email will be sent out once start times are announced.
This will serve as the monthly meeting for the chapter.
For those who were able to attend last year, you may remember the fun time we had at Gilbert’s house. We saw the Dodgers close out the Cardinals in a three-game sweep and would’ve watched the second game, but it was snowed out in Colorado!
Gilbert will grill hamburgers and veggie burgers. You can bring a side dish, or dessert, or beverages. Please email me directly with what you plan to bring so we have a variety.
Please RSVP directly to Gilbert and he will send you his home address and home phone.
Questions? Dietary needs the cook should know about? Email Gilbert off list at gmartinez46@austin.rr.com.
Seven chapter members gathered at Third Base in Austin for dinner and to discuss the pennant races as well as favorites for the MVP and Cy Young awards. No formal votes were taken, but the consensus was that Joey Votto of Reds and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers are the likely favorites for MVP. There was some discussion of the changing SABR demographics, "reversion to mean," fielding independent pitching (FIP) and batting average on balls in play (BABIP).
We also discussed some items related to the Winter Meeting scheduled for January 2011 and tentative plans for a League Championship Series watching party next month to be hosted by Gilbert and Raeanne Martinez.
2:15 – 3:00pm – Norman Macht Interviews Bobby Thomson
3:00 – 4:00pm – Major League Veteran and Broadcaster Jerry Grote
BOOK EXCHANGE – members are encouraged to bring a baseball book to exchange
MEMORABILIA – if you’d like to bring a memorabilia item, take a minute to tell about it; wear your favorite team jersey or cap, especially if there’s a story to tell about them
You may contact any member of the organizing committee if you have any questions:
The meeting will be on the third floor in the Old Main building. 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.
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:
The September meeting of the Rogers Hornsby Chapter will be held at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, September 28, at Third Base located at 1717 West 6th Street in Austin. If you plan to attend, please RSVP to Jan Larson at jan.a.larson@gmail.com.
For the 45th consecutive month, 10 members of the Rogers Hornsby Chapter met to discuss baseball, and this time, a little football. Jim Baker shared his newly published book, The Most Memorable Games in Giants History: The Oral History of a Legendary Team (Bloomsbury USA, 2010). That would be the New York (football) Giants. The group also welcomed new member Steve Fall, a New York native who pulls for the Mets and the Braves.
The date for the 5th Annual Winter Meeting at Texas State in San Marcos is set for Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011 — please save the date! If you’re interested in giving a research presentation or have suggestions for guest speakers, please contact Gilbert Martinez, Jan Larson or Monte Cely.
The next Hornsby Chapter meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 28, at Third Base.
The Rogers Hornsby Chapter met for the 44th consecutive month on Saturday, July 24, at the Iowa Cubs-Round Rock Express extra-inning affair.
Sixteen members and guests watched the Cubs’ Carlos Zambrano pitch two scoreless innings out of the bullpen and hit a single in his only at-bat. This was Zambrano’s second minor league "rehabilitation" appearance since his meltdown in the Cubs dugout last month.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, the Express tied up the game at 1-1. The teams exchanged runs in the 10th inning.
Brad Snyder of the Cubs hit a massive two-run home run to straightaway center over the green shed. Members surmised that the shot probably traveled some 450 feet. The Cubs held on to win in 13 innings, 4-2.
The July meeting of the Rogers Hornsby Chapter will bear a striking resemblance to the recent April meeting as we will again be venturing to the Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas to take in the Round Rock Express vs. Iowa Cubs game. The game is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. on Saturday, July 24. As before, we will gather for a pre-game meal at the Salt Lick restaurant near the southwest corner of the Dell Diamond parking lot. Plan to meet at the Salt Lick at 5:30 p.m.
If you plan to attend please indicate (1) the number of people that will attend the pre-game meal (for the purposes of making a reservation at the Salt Lick) and (2) the number of game tickets required ($12 plus $1 convenience charge each). Please send an email with those numbers to Jan Larson at jan.a.larson@gmail.com no later than Sunday, July 18.
Tickets will be purchased on July 18 and the pdf file containing the tickets will be sent to each attendee shortly thereafter.
Heavy afternoon rain and lots of traffic did not deter chapter members from returning to Third Base with the largest turnout for a monthly meeting in more than two years. Fourteen members and guests were treated to a Dan Walsh quiz, College Baseball and the College World Series.
Bill Gilbert, showing no ill effects from his stint on the DL last year, won the trivia quiz with 28 total points. It should also be noted that for the first, and perhaps last time, Gilbert Martinez bested Jim Baker by two points in the quiz.
Tentative plans for the July meeting include dinner at the Salt Lick followed by a Round Rock Express game (versus the Iowa Cubs) on Saturday, July 24. More details to follow.
The Rogers Hornsby Chapter, serving Central and South Texas, was officially recognized as a SABR chapter early in 2006. The Chapter held 12 meetings in 2009 with one meeting in each month, continuing a streak of 37 straight months with a meeting. Nine were dinner meetings, held on a monthly basis at a local sports bar, with an average attendance of ten people. In addition to baseball talk, these meetings allowed members to discuss areas of their research and were also used to plan chapter activities. Members are encouraged to bring guests to these meetings and some new active members have been added as a result.
The third annual winter meeting of the chapter was held in January 2009 on the campus of Texas State University in San Marcos. Thirty five people were in attendance at the meeting which included 3 research presentations by Chapter members and a trivia quiz conducted by Norman Macht. The featured speaker was Larry Dierker, former pitcher, manager and broadcaster with the Houston Astros. Other guests included authors, Talmage Boston and Milton Jamail and Round Rock Express Broadcaster, Mike Capps.
One of the meetings in 2009 was held at Dell Diamond, the home of the Triple-A Round Rock Express. The meeting included a pre-game get together and attendance at the game as a group. The October meeting was held at the home of Gilbert Martinez in connection with an NLDS game on television.
The chapter website ( http://chapters.sabr.org/hornsby/ ) was officially launched in April 2009. Jan Larson spearheaded the effort working with Peter Garver of the SABR office. The site is used to announce chapter meetings/events, make prediction contest results available to chapter members and to make various research papers, book reviews, etc. available to SABR members and the general public.
The site has information about the history of the chapter, chapter meeting summaries and membership information. Trivia quizzes (and correct answers) that have been presented at regular chapter meetings are also available for use by interested parties. There are currently three chapter members with editing rights that maintain the site.
Chapter member Monte Cely served as one of three judges for the Sporting News-SABR Baseball Research Award. This annual award honors outstanding research projects completed during the preceding calendar year (2009). Eligible projects must be the product of original research or analysis, must significantly advance our knowledge of baseball, and must reflect factual accuracy and notable insight.
Fourteen books were submitted for consideration. The three award winners have been announced and will be honored at the 2010 SABR Annual Convention. They are:
"The Rise of Milwaukee Baseball" by Dennis Pajot
"Death at the Ballpark" by Robert Gorman and David Weeks
"Ball, Bat and Bitumen: A History of Coalfield Baseball in the Appalachian South" by L.M. Sutter
The chapter has continued the monthly meetings in 2010. Another very successful Winter Meeting was held in January 2010 with Astro TV broadcaster Bill Brown as the featured speaker. The Winter Meeting is expected to be an annual affair.