(Photo by Raeanne R. Martinez)

Nine chapter members and guests had a pre-game meal at Dell Diamond’s Intel Club and then watched the Round Rock Express come-from-behind late to win 4-3 against the Salt Lake Bees on Sunday, Aug. 23.

We had some of the best seats in the park, located directly behind home plate. We also had the benefit of the cool air conditioning in the Intel Club when we needed a break from the warm summer night.

For September, we hope you consider attending the Inaugural Baseball History Forum on Saturday, Sept. 19, in Waco. Click here for more details.

This was the 105th consecutive month that the chapter has had a monthly meeting.

Later in the month, the chapter will have its regular monthly meeting at lunch in southwest Austin on Sunday, Sept. 27. More details to come.

Nineteen Hornsby Chapter members and guests gathered in north Austin on Saturday, July 11, to chatter about baseball over an Italian lunch. This was the 104th consecutive month that our chapter has had a monthly meeting.

After a long string of regular monthly meetings during the week in downtown Austin at a barbeque restaurant, we decided to try meeting on a Saturday away from the traffic congestion and construction in downtown. This first effort proved promising, with nearly 20 in attendance.

Over the remainder of the year, we’ll endeavor to move the meeting around some in the Austin metro area.

For the meeting in August, we’ll return to the Dell Diamond for a 6 p.m. game on Sunday, Aug. 23. The Round Rock Express take on the Salt Lake Bees, the AAA affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, California.

More details to come on next month’s meeting.

A total of 19 members and guests gathered for BBQ and baseball on Saturday, June 6.  The group enjoyed a pre-game meal at the Salt Lick BBQ and then ventured to the nearby Dell Diamond where we watched the hometown Round Rock Express fall to the visiting Oklahoma City Dodgers by a score of 9-6.  The game featured not only six home runs but also six errors.

Starting in July, we will be changing our chapter meetings from the traditional Tuesday or Thursday evening dinner meetings to Saturday lunch meetings.  These will be held at various locations around the Austin area in order to make it easier for more people to attend.  Watch this space for details.

Nine members of the Hornsby Chapter gathered on May 19, 2015 at Iron Works BBQ in downtown Austin.  After consuming goodly portions of tasty barbeque, the topic of baseball was addressed.   The main focus of discussion was the tremendous (and unexpected) start by the AL West leading Houston Astros.  Two trivia quizzes were presented, the first by Ryan Pollack and the second by Bill Gilbert.  The June meeting will be held on Saturday, June 6 and will be the first chapter outing of the season to the Dell Diamond for the Round Rock Express vs. Oklahoma City Dodgers game.

Nine chapter members met for dinner at Iron Works in downtown Austin this Thursday, April 23.  This is the 101st consecutive monthly meeting for the Rogers Hornsby Chapter of SABR.

Activities and points of discussion included:

Optimism about the Astros’ good start to the season.  Several members had already been to Astros’ games and are looking forward to continuing improvement.

General discussion around replay reviews (positive) and rules to shorten length-of-game (early results look favorable).

Jim Baker conducted a lottery drawing to assign Predictatron contestants to two divisions.  In honor of last year’s two division winners, this year’s divisions will be named the Tom Thayer Division and the Raeanne Martinez Division.  Jim will have Predictatron data entered and a first round of results available within the next week or so.

Monte Cely gave a brief report, on behalf of Jim Kenton, as to the status of the Alzheimer’s Baseball Memories project.  The Austin Alzheimer’s Association is currently soliciting for participants for a "trial season".  The season will consist of six 90-minute sessions, held every other week from Monday May 18 to Monday July 27.  Each session will include baseball content such as box scores, videos, audios, etc. with the goal being to engage the participants in recalling and discussing memories about baseball.  Next steps will then be determined, based upon experiences and feedback from this trial.

Gilbert Martinez solicited interest from the group in volunteering to form a committee to oversee the agenda for the next chapter Winter Meeting, to be held in January, 2016.

Upcoming chapter meetings are tentatively set as follows (more information will be forthcoming):

May Monthly Meeting – Tuesday, May 19

June Monthly Meeting – Saturday, June 6 at Dell Diamond vs. Ok. City Dodgers

Twenty-one members and guests celebrated the Rogers Hornsby Chapter’s 100th consecutive month with a meeting on Saturday at the Martinezes’ home in southwest Austin.

We enjoyed good pizza (from Yaghi’s New York Pizzeria) and a dazzling array of side dishes, appetizers, beverages and desserts.

Jan Larson won a trivia contest created by Gilbert Martinez that covered information about the chapter history, members and guest speakers. Like the namesake of the bobblehead that Jan won for his victory, Jan slugged away all challengers and stood tall on the mound. He scored 33 out of a possible 40 points on the quiz. Try your hand on the quiz by clicking here.

Many thanks to everyone who joined us for the celebration.

Now that we have reached 100th consecutive months with a meeting, we return to our usual programming and start working toward 200 consecutive months with a meeting! The next meeting will be at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 23, at Iron Works BBQ in downtown Austin.