Rogers Hornsby Chapter

Book Review: Joe Black – More Than a Dodger

Joe Black: More Than a Dodger
354 pages
Chicago Review Press, 2015

One wouldn’t think a book about a "single-season wonder" could hold enough information to fill 350 pages. But this engaging life story written by Joe Black’s daughter, Martha Jo, and AP/UPI sportswriter Chuck Schoffner, captures the essence of a determined competitor in sport as well as life. Joe was raised in the integrated town of Plainfield, New Jersey, but beginning in his university years, he faced life’s toughest curves from the challenges of Jim Crow. As a young man in 1944, he aspired to pitch in the major leagues but was surprised to learn that he would probably never have that opportunity. Not only did he achieve his dream in 1952, but he led his Brooklyn Dodgers to the pennant, leading the club in wins, earning Rookie of the Year honors, and finishing third in the MVP race. That season he became the first African-American to win a World Series game.

But Joe Black was so much more than a one-dimensional sports figure. Joe had an over-sized, magnetic personality that matched his later-in-life physical presence, allowing him to become a beloved school teacher and the first African-American Vice-President of a corporation of its size, when he worked at and later consulted for Greyhound. From the 1980s until the end of his life he worked hard on behalf of major league baseball to aid retired ballplayers who had fallen upon hard times.

After divorcing Martha Jo’s mother, Joe was determined to win sole custody of his daughter, perhaps his biggest life challenge. After all, the odds were clearly stacked against a black man in conservative Arizona during the early 1970s, especially considering that Martha Jo’s mom was also a "fit" parent. But Joe miraculously prevailed and Martha Jo, who today works for Jerry Reinsdorf with the Whitesox, penned this labor of love to honor a top athlete, a great humanitarian, and an exceptional dad.

Though a great portion of the book has to do with his career leading up to, and during, his days with Brooklyn, you need not be a Dodger fan at all to enjoy this uplifting biography.

100th Consecutive Month with a Meeting Quiz

by Gilbert D. Martinez

Presented at chapter meeting March 21, 2015

(Move the mouse over the blank space to see the answer)

	I. Chapter questions
1.	In what year did Bill Gilbert have an initial meeting in Austin in the hopes of creating a new SABR chapter?	2003
2.	In what year did participants sign a petition asking for SABR recognition, thereby creating the Rogers Hornsby Chapter?	2006
3.	Many of our monthly meetings have occurred at a restaurant. Name as many of these restaurants as you can (each worth one point).	County Line Cover 3 Hyde Park Bar and Grill Iron Works BBQ Macaroni Grill Restaurant at the Dell Diamond Salt Lick Scholz Garten Serranos Siena The Tavern Third Base
4.	We have also had meetings at non-restaurant locations. Name as many of these as you can (each worth one point).	Dell Diamond Jim Baker’s house Bill and Evelyn Gilbert’s home in Lakeway Chuck Kaufman’s house Jan and Connie Larson’s house Gilbert and Raeanne Martinez’s house Minute Maid Park Texas State University/Old Main Whataburger Field
	II. Member questions
5.	Name the Hornsby Chapter member that has covered the last five consecutive La Serie del Caribe (Caribbean World Series). Bonus question – Which team won the 2015 contest?	Monte Cely — Cuba
6.	On Aug. 17, 1976, this Hornsby Chapter member watched a player steal home to win a game in extra innings. This kicked off a research project and later, a presentation by which Hornsby member? Bonus question: Which player stole home in that game in 1976?	Jan Larson – George Brett
7.	This former Hornsby Chapter member is nearly done with his three-volume biography of Connie Mack. Yeah, I know you know who this is, so name him! Two bonus questions – 1) Name the publisher of the three-part biography, and 2) Name the university that is now housing all the archival material collected for this biography.	Norman Macht – University of Nebraska — SMU
8.	The Hornsby Chapter has the Rajah Award for lifetime achievement and service to the chapter. Thus far, only one person has received it. Who?	Bill Gilbert
	II. Speaker questions — In the following questions, name the speakers who have visited us at our annual Winter Meetings.
9.	I was the Houston Astros’ first 20-game winner, a two-time National League All-Star, and a National League Manager of the Year. Who am I?	Larry Dierker
10.	I am the director of professional scouting for the Kansas City Royals and played college baseball with the University of Texas at Arlington. Who am I?	Gene Watson
11.	I am a former broadcast journalist who covered the first Persian Gulf War and the siege in Waco, but am now the director of broadcasting for the Round Rock Express. Who am I?	Mike Capps
12.	I was a former professional baseball scout credited with scouting players such as Dale Murphy, George Bell, Cito Gaston and David Wells. Who am I?	Al LaMacchia
13.	I am the president of the Pacific Coast League and grandson of the man who signed Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers. Who am I?	Branch B. Rickey
14.	I am the longtime Houston Astros television broadcaster and member of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. Who am I?	Bill Brown
15.	I was a member of the 1948 World Series Champion Cleveland Indians, a scout, general manager, and head of player development for the Houston Colt .45s. Who am I?	Eddie Robinson
16.	I won a World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers three times and once had a devoted fan name her parakeet after me. Who am I?	Wally Moon
17.	I covered the playoff runs of the Houston Astros in 2004 and 2005 and had, perhaps, the last Budweiser beer at Busch Stadium II. Who am I?	Alyson Footer
	Tie-Breaker Question: Most SABR chapters are in the United States, but there are a few that are international chapters. Name these international chapters (country or city in which the chapter is based).	Toronto, Canada Quebec, Canada Great Britain Sorrento, Italy Tokyo, Japan South Korea The Luis Castro/Latin America Chapter serves Spanish-speaking SABR members in all Central and South America countries and the Caribbean, including Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Cuba, Colombia, Panamá and Nicaragua.

Chapter celebrates 100th with pizza and trivia

Hornsby 100th group pic 2

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.

Chapter reaches, celebrates 100th month with a meeting!

Spring training is underway and Opening Day is just around the corner. This month marks a special celebration for the Rogers Hornsby Chapter. When we meet on Saturday, March 21, it will be the 100th consecutive month in which our chapter has met!

It’s a celebration that’s, well, 100 months in the making! I’ll have a special trivia quiz to mark this occasion. Here’s what you need to know about the celebration.

We’ll have a pizza party at the home of Gilbert and Raeanne Martinez in southwest Austin starting at 6 p.m. Saturday, March 21.

Please RSVP directly to Gilbert (gmartinez46@mac.com) if you plan to attend by Friday, March 20. You may bring a side dish, an appetizer, dessert or beverages.

When you RSVP, please let me know what you’re bringing so we can minimize duplications.

Let me know if you have any questions. Hope to see you for our 100th!

February Chapter Meeting Recap

Ten members of the Rogers Hornsby Chapter met Thursday evening, February 26, 2015 at IronWorks BBQ in downtown Austin. This was the chapter’s 99th consecutive monthly meeting!

Topics of discussion included the opening of Spring Training and the prospects for the attendees’ favorite teams.

Jim Kenton gave a report on the status of the Alzheimer’s Memory project. This is an effort to use baseball memories and experiences to help enhance the well-being of early-stage Alzheimer’s patients. Jim reported that the local Austin-area chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association was highly supportive of this effort, and they are in the process of recruiting participants for a “trial season”. It’s envisioned that about ten participants, plus their care-givers, will engage with SABR members in a bi-weekly session to talk baseball. More details will be forthcoming.

Monte Cely and Mike Dillon shared their experiences at Serie del Caribe 2015, the Caribbean World Series, held in San Juan, Puerto Rico. This was followed by a quiz about Latin American baseball, with a Puerto Rican flavor. Dan Walsh won the quiz, with an excellent score of 18 of 25. The quiz is here. A picture of Dan, wearing his prize (a Puerto Rican bandana), is here:

Dan Walsh 26Feb2015

Plans are being made for our 100th consecutive monthly meeting next month – March, 2015. More details will follow.

Book Review: Baseball’s Great Hispanic Pitchers

Title: Baseball’s Great Hispanic Pitchers – Seventeen Aces from the Major, Negro and Latin American Leagues

Author: Lou Hernandez

Published: 2015 by McFarland, ISBN: 978-0-7864-7975-7; $39.95 new, $13.99 ebook; 306 pages

Lou Hernandez deals us a winning hand of 17 aces with this review of baseball’s greatest Hispanic pitchers. He covers the standout Hispanic pitchers of each era or decade, beginning with Ramon Bragana and Martin Dihigo in the Negro and Latin American leagues and wrapping up with current star King Felix Hernandez. Along the way, the book has indepth coverage of Ramon Arano, Ruben Gomez, Orlando Hernandez, Juan Pizarro, Adolfo Luque, Camilo Pascual, Juan Marichal, Luis Tiant, Mike Cuellar, Dennis Martinez, Fernando Valenzuela, Pedro Martinez, Mariano Rivera, and Johan Santana.

The biographical chapter on each lanzador is loaded with facts, stats, and anecdotes. Although the author admits upfront that he is a fan of the "old school" views that pitcher wins, innings pitched and complete games are important, he also effectively weaves in the use of sabermetric measurements to compare and contrast pitcher effectiveness across the decades.

Mr. Hernandez also offers his opinion as to the greatest season ever by a Hispanic pitcher. His two finalists are Pedro Martinez in 2000 and "Dolf" Luque in 1923. You’ll have to get the book to find his choice among the two, and rationale therein.

I enjoyed this book and learned a lot. I think most SABR members will.

Author(s) background: Lou Hernandez is a fellow SABR member and lifelong baseball fan. His recent books include: Memories of Winter Ball – Interviews with Players in the Latin American Winter Leagues of the 1950s (2013, McFarland) and The Rise of the Latin American Baseball Leagues, 1947-1961: Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela (2011, McFarland). Lou lives in Pembroke Pines, Florida.

Beisbol Latinoamericano 2015 – con un sabor puertorriquenop

Beisbol Latinoamericano 2015 – con un sabor puertorriqueno

by Monte Cely and Mike Dillon

(Presented at chapter meeting on February 26, 2015)

Total of 25 possible points.

(Move the mouse over the blank space to see the answer)

1. In 2015, for the second consecutive year, five countries’ winter league champs competed in la Serie del Caribe. Match the participating teams to their home cities.

Teams: Cangrejeros, Vegueros, Tomateros, Gigantes, Caribes.

Cities: Puerto la Cruz, Anzoategui, Venezuela; Santurce, Puerto Rico; San Francisco de Macoris, Dominican Republic; Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico; Pinar del Rio, Cuba.

Cangrejeros de Santurce, PR

Vegueros de Pinar del Rio, Cuba

Tomateros de Culiacan, Mex

Gigantes de San Francisco, DR

Caribes de Puerto la Cruz, Ven.

2. On the outfield wall of the stadium in San Juan, there are four retired numbers: 12, 21, 22, 30. Who are they?

12 – Roberto Alomar

21 – Roberto Clemente

22 – Ruben Gomez

30 – Orlando Cepeda

3. After many decades when only San Juan hosted la Serie del Caribe on behalf of Puerto Rico, the series has recently been hosted in three different Puerto Rican stadiums. Match the stadium to its Puerto Rican city:

Stadiums: Estadio Roberto Clemente; Estadio Isidoro "Cholo" Garcia; Estadio Hiram Bithorn.

Cities: San Juan, Carolina, Mayaguez.

Estadio Clemente is in Carolina (Clemente’s home town)

Estadio Garcia is in Mayaguez

Estadio Bithorn is in San Juan

4. One of the murals at the stadium claims that Puerto Rico is "la tierra de los receptores" … the land of the catchers. Which of these current/former MLB catchers are from Puerto Rico:

Yadier Molina, Wilson Ramos, Jason Castro, Salvador Perez, Benito Santiago, Pudge Rodriguez, Ali Solis, Jorge Posada. (pick four)

The Puerto Ricans are: Molina, Santiago, Rodriguez and Posada.

5. One of the differences that an American visitor will quickly notice about latino beisbol is the commerical advertising on the uniforms. Match these advertisers to their countries’ teams:

Advertisers: Megacable, El Nuevo Dia, Grupo Maltin-Cerveza Polar, Orange, No imperialist advertising allowed.

Country: Cuba, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Puerto Rico.

Megacable – Mexico

El Nuevo Dia – Puerto Rico

Grupo Maltin – Venezuela

Orange – DR

No advertising – Cuba

6. Miguel Dillon visited these places daily in/around the ball park. In English, what are they?

Taquilla

Butacas Preferencias

Servicios

Estacionamiento

Taquilla – Ticket office

Butacas Preferencias – Reserved Seats

Servicios – Restrooms

Estacionamiento – Parking Lot/Garage

25 Points total

Tie breaker: Javier Vazquez leads all Puerto Rican pitchers in MLB wins. How many?

165

February Meeting (no. 99)

We will be gathering at Iron Works BBQ located at 100 Red River in downtown Austin on Thursday, February 26 starting at 6:00 p.m. This will be our 99th consecutive monthly meeting. Monte Cely and Mike Dillon will present a quiz related to their recent trip to the Serie del Caribe in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Please RSVP to Jan Larson at jan.a.larson@gmail.com if you plan to attend.

Hornsby Chapter joins SABR Day celebration

SABR Day 2015 group photo

A dozen chapter members and guests celebrated SABR Day on Saturday, Jan. 24, along with nearly three dozen chapters across North America.

Cy Morong, who traveled from San Antonio to join us, brought a copy of “Computerized Baseball Guide,” a paperback book filled with baseball statistics and rankings published in 1974. Published by Stadia Sports Publishing, Inc., the book authors are listed as the Compu-Scout System, though no names are given. Morong found that the book had some system for the computerized rankings, but did not fully explain how calculations were made.

The group shared a toast in memory of Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks, who passed away the day before. Speaking of Banks, Morong shared research he did that showed that Banks led the National League in RBIs and fielding WAR (for all players, not just shortstops) in 1959. Morong said that a cursory check showed that the two others who have led in those categories were Honus Wagner and Johnny Bench.

SABR shared the Hornsby Chapter group photo above on their Facebook page and Twitter account, which were liked, commented upon and shared even more.

Check out SABR Day on social media by clicking on this link and you’ll see the above photo, which I shared on my social media networks/ You’ll also see photos from many other SABR Day celebrations, including our friends with the Larry Dierker Chapter, which had a table at the Astros FanFest.

Hornsby Chapter 2016 Hall of Fame votes

Below are the results from the 2016 Hall of Fame voting from the Ninth Annual Rogers Hornsby Winter Meeting on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015:

Voters : 30
Total votes cast: 222
Votes/voter : 7.4

Elected:

Griffey – 28 votes (93%)

Not elected:

Piazza – 22 (73%)
Bagwell – 20 (67%)
Raines – 18 (60%)
Bonds – 17 (57%)
E. Martinez – 16 (53%)
Schilling – 16 (53%)
Trammell – 16 (53%)
Clemens – 15 (50%)
Mussina – 15 (50%)

Others receiving votes:

Hoffman – 9
Kent – 8
McGwire – 5
McGriff – 4
L. Smith – 3
Walker – 3
Edmonds – 2
Wagner – 2
Garciaparra – 1
Sheffield – 1
Sosa – 1