Category: Chapter News

Chapter celebrates 10 years of consecutive meetings

Thirteen members and guests celebrated 10 years of chapter monthly meetings at Stiles Switch BBQ in north Austin on Sunday, Nov. 13.

The Hornsby Chapter has had at least one meeting each month since December 2006, extending its consecutive monthly meeting streak to 120 months.

At Saturday’s meeting, we discussed a wide range of topics, including the dramatic end of the World Series, the offseason trade market and whether bullpen use in the postseason will change how managers utilize their relief pitchers in the coming season.

We also offered our condolences to Cleveland fan Tom Wancho. Last time most of us saw him was at the World Series Game 4 watch party at Jim Baker’s house in Cedar Park when the Tribe took a 3-1 lead in the World Series. Alas, winning three is no guarantee to win the clincher.

In addition, Jim Baker, Predictatron coordinator, presented Jan Larson with an official Rogers Hornsby Chapter certificate for winning the 2016 Predictatron contest. Baker also presented Bill Gilbert with a certificate for his 2008 win, Raeanne Martinez for her back-to-back wins in 2014 and 2015, and Gilbert Martinez for his win in 2010.

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Please mark your calendars for the 11th Annual Rogers Hornsby Chapter Winter Meeting, which is set for Saturday, Jan. 14, 2017, on the campus of Texas State University in San Marcos. Hope to see you there!

Meanwhile, our next monthly meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17, at Serranos in the Southpark Meadows shopping center (corner of I-35 and Slaughter Lane) in south Austin.

Watch Party summary

Thirteen Hornsby Chapter members and guests gathered at the home of Jim Baker to watch Game Four of the 2016 World Series and enjoy a pot luck dinner featuring Jim’s world (well, at least locally if not regionally) famous meatball sandwiches.

Among the group of mostly Cleveland Indians supporters, at least for this game, was long suffering Indians fan and Cleveland native, Tom Wancho, who enjoyed the Tribe’s 7-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs.  The win pushed the Indians’ lead in the Series to three games to one.  The streak of sixty eight seasons of heartbreak and futility for Clevelanders can be ended with one more victory.  Will it happen?   Only time will tell.

The November chapter meeting will once again feature a weekend lunch an an Austin area establishment.  Watch this space for details.

Mexican Baseball Fiesta wrap-up

On the evening of Saturday, September 24, fourteen Hornsby Chapter members and guests enjoyed pre-game BBQ at the Salt Lick restaurant followed by Game One of the “Mexican Baseball Fiesta” at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas.  The “Fiesta” featured the Águilas de Mexicali (Mexicali Eagles) versus the Naranjeros de Hermosillo (Hermasillo Orange Growers) of the Mexican Pacific League in a two game “fall training” series.  One of the coaches for the Naranjeros is Mario Mendoza; he of the (in)famous “Mendoza Line.”

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Although the skies were threatening prior to game time, nary a drop of rain fell and by the time the tarp was removed from the field, lines added, players warmed up and ground rules covered in what is apparently not atypical in the Mexican league, the first pitch of the game, scheduled for 6:00 p.m. actually took place at 7:30.

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With some of the “color” typical in Mexican League games, including a mascot hamming it up on the field and continuously playing music (piped in for this game as opposed to the live performances in regular season games) the Naranjeros left the field at the end of the game with a 3-0 win.

The next Hornsby Chapter get-together is scheduled for Saturday, October 29 at the home of Jim Baker where we will enjoy and critique Game Four of the 2016 World Series.  More information will be forthcoming.

August Lunch Meeting Wrap-Up

Eleven Hornsby Chapter members got together for a Saturday afternoon lunch meeting at the Macaroni Grill in the Arboretum in Austin. Jim Baker provided a very challenging quiz (some contestants were shut out) on the subject of Italian Major Leaguers. Tom Thayer, however, came through with a monster performance and took home the top prize.

Other topics discussed included Gilbert and Raeanne Martinez’s recent trip to Japan and Okinawa, the Yankees’ release of Alex Rodriguez and call up of young players, the chapter’s involvement in the BasebALZ project.

Our next meeting is scheduled for Saturday, September 24 at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock when we take in the Hermosillo vs. Mexicali game.  We have reserved a block of tickets.  Click here for more details.  Note:  For college football fans, the Texas Longhorns do not play that day.

September Baseball

Two of the top clubs in the Mexican Winter League will be at Dell Diamond on Saturday evening September 24 for a “pre-season” exhibition ball game.  This is part of a U.S. “Fall training” tour that the teams will be making prior to their season opening in mid-October.

 

The two teams, Naranjeros (Orange growers) de Hermosillo (Sonora) and Aguilas (Eagles) de Mexicali (Baja Calif. North) are successful franchises in the Liga Mexicana del Pacifico, the Mexican winter league.  In fact, they have been the two most recent Mexican hosts of the Caribbean World Series (Mexicali in 2009 and Hermosillo in 2013).  Naranjeros were the first Mexican club to win the Caribbean Series (in 1976) and have won the Series as recently as 2014.  Hermosillo has captured 16 Mexican Winter League titles.

 

We will plan for this event to be our chapter’s September monthly meeting.  Jan Larson has arranged for a block of tickets that are available to chapter members for $10 each.  These tickets are available to you on a first-come, first-served basis.  We can take orders up to September 10, or until this block of tickets is sold out.  All ticket commitments as of that date are final, payable to Jan.  Contact Jan at jan.a.larson@gmail.com to reserve your seat(s).

 

We’ll see y’all at Dell Diamond for some exciting beisbol latinomericano.

July Chapter Meeting Wrap-up

by Monte Cely

Seven members met at Ryan Pollack’s house on Sunday afternoon, July 31, for the 116th consecutive monthly meeting of the Rogers Hornsby SABR Chapter.  The main topic of discussion centered around trade activity as the non-waiver deadline approaches.  We also discussed how changes in the game over the last few decades have affected our enjoyment of viewing a ball game.  Ichiro Suzuki’s nearing 3000 MLB hits was also a topic of note, although we were disappointed that he has not gotten more ABs this weekend.

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Plans for the August meeting are currently TBD.  Watch this space for further news.

June Meeting Included BBQ and Baseball

by Jan Larson
The June meeting of the Rogers Hornsby Chapter consisted of a trip to the Dell Diamond for the Round Rock vs. Colorado Springs game that followed a pre-game BBQ dinner at the nearby Salt Lick restaurant.  A total of eighteen Hornsby chapter members and guests attended one or both.

An announced crowd of over 10,000 fans were disappointed as the home standing Express fell to the Sky Sox by the score of 8-5.  Despite the loss a good time was had by all.

Plans are pending for the July meeting.  Watch this space for more information.