Category: Chapter News

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.

by Gilbert Martinez

Nine chapter members gathered in southwest Austin for the monthly meeting, the 114th consecutive month in which the chapter has met.

The group talked about a wide range of baseball topics, including the news of plans for a new stadium in Arlington for the Texas Rangers, the disappointing season for the Houston Astros, and the surprising Philadelphia Phillies. We also talked about whether waiving the four-pitch walk would speed up the game (most of us agreed that it wouldn’t save much time). In a continuation of our online email discussion, we also agreed that advertising on baseball uniforms, though not favored, seems to be inevitable.

On a personal note, I was very grateful to lead the group in a toast to my Tio Arturo Martinez, who died last month. He took me to my first game at old Yankees Stadium 24 years ago. May he rest in peace.

Next meeting will include a Round Rock Express game on Saturday, June 25, and a pre-game dinner at Salt Lick BBQ. More details to come.

Six Hornsby Chapter members met at the County Line by the Lake for a Saturday afternoon lunch and to talk baseball.  A wide range of topics were discussed including the Astros’ slow start, the PED suspension of Marlins’ second baseman Dee Gordon as well as the pros/cons of some of the Sabermetric statistics, in particular WAR.

Jim Baker, the proprietor of the Predictaron, conducted a drawing to determine the membership in the "Raeanne Martinez" and "Michael Bass" divisions for the purposes of the contest.

Watch this space for an announcement on the date/location for the May meeting and mark you calendars for June 25 when we have our first chapter outing of the season to the Dell Diamond for the Express vs. Colorado Springs Sky Sox.

Ten chapter members gathered in southwest Austin on Saturday to discuss a wide range of baseball topics – from the Chisox brouhaha involving Adam LaRoche to Goose Gossage’s recent comments about sabermetrics and bat flipping.

Also, Bill Gilbert gave an update and shared impressive statistics from his grandson, Caleb Gilbert, a freshman right-handed reliever for Louisiana State University.  

The group also discussed the new slide rules implemented last month, spurred in part by Chase Utley’s leg-breaking slide in last year’s National League Division Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets.

Gilbert and Raeanne Martinez shared that they’ll be in St. Petersburg in June for a journalism teaching workshop. Coincidentally, the Rays will host the Houston Astros that weekend, so one can be sure that the Martinezes will catch a game or two.

The chapter is planning an outing to the Dell Diamond in June to see the Round Rock Express; more details to come.

Meanwhile, the next chapter meeting will be at County Line on the Lake (2222 and 360) on Saturday, April 30. More details as we get closer to the date.

Fifteen SABR Rogers Hornsby Chapter members and family met at Hoover’s in east Austin, Texas, on Saturday, February 20, 2016, for our monthly meeting.

With Spring Training upon us, everyone is looking forward to the rapidly approaching baseball season.  A few topics of discussion included:

Astros’ reliever/closer controversy precipitated by recent published comments from Luke Gregerson.

The possibility of Ichiro Suzuki reaching the 3000 hit plateau this season.  He currently has 2935 MLB hits.

Barry Bonds’ appearance at Miami Marlins spring training as hitting coach.

Monte Cely’s recent trip to la Serie del Caribe – the Caribbean World Series – in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.  Monte presented a quiz on the Series and Dominican Beisbol.  You can take the quiz here.  Jim Baker took the grand prize, a Dominican national team ball cap, with a near-perfect score of 19 out-of-20.

Our next chapter meeting will be Saturday, March 19 at 12:30pm at Serranos-Mopac in South Austin, 5030 Highway 290 West, Austin, TX 78735 (near intersection of MoPac & 290).  More details will be forthcoming.