Rogers Hornsby Chapter

A group of eight Hornsby Chapter members gathered on a lovely evening at Iron Works BBQ in Austin on Tuesday, May 15.  Topics of discussion included early season surprising/disappointing teams, brief reviews of Dan Walsh’s early season trip to Nationals Park and Jan Larson’s recent trip to Chase Field, some rehashing of members’ past experiences with ticket scalpers and a spirited discussion of BABIP.

The June meeting, scheduled for Saturday June 16, will include a pre-game meal at the Salt Lick BBQ followed by the Round Rock Express vs. Oklahoma City Redhawks game at the Dell Diamond.  Those interested will be given the opportunity to purchase advance tickets.  Details will be forthcoming.

A smaller than usual but enthusastic group of seven gathered at Iron Works BBQ on Tuesday, April 17 to discuss baseball and consume meat.  Returning from a stint on the disabled list was chapter founder Bill Gilbert.

With no trivia quiz on the agenda there was more time to concentrate on the baseball topics of the day including (in no particular order) Ozzie Guillen, Bobby Valentine, the Dodgers’ triple play, the Astros’ early season competitiveness, various members’ upcoming baseball-related trips and the 2012 post-season format.  Other baseball topics, not necessarily of the day, that came up for discussion included Dave Kingman, the starting rotation of the ’81 Oakland Athletics, the 1990s Cleveland Indians, members’ first major league games, the relative abilities of past baseball greats versus modern players, some recent baseball books and former Astros’ second baseman Craig Biggio’s chances of first ballot election to the baseball Hall of Fame.

The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, May 15 at Iron Works.  Mark your calendars for Saturday, June 16 when we’ll attend the Round Rock vs. Oklahoma City game at the Dell Diamond.  More information will be forthcoming.

 

Chapter members kicked off the new baseball season by taking in an exhibition game between the Texas Rangers and the Round Rock Express on April 2 at the Dell Diamond. The teams combined for six home runs, three apiece per team.

Ten members and guests enjoyed the three Rangers home runs by Adrian Beltre, Josh Hamilton and Mitch Moreland, and the other three by Express players Yangervis Solarte, Luis Hernandez and Michael Bianucci. For more about the game, check out the team’s summary by clicking here.

Both starting pitchers, Derek Holland for the Rangers and Greg Reynolds for the Express, labored early in the game, throwing more than 40 pitches apiece in the first few innings.

Above is a view from the nice seats secured by Jan Larson.

The next chapter meeting will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 17, at Iron Works BBQ in downtown Austin.

The March chapter meeting turned into a book signing as Norman Macht brought and signed copies of the newly published “Connie Mack: The Turbulent & Triumphant Years, 1915-1931.”

Macht told 11 members and guests about how he is making good progress on the third and final volume of the Connie Mack biography, which is expected to be published in two years.

The group also welcomed Summer Anne Burton and Brian Campbell, who both attended a chapter meeting for the first time. Both are longtime Astros fans. Summer is an artist who is drawing every member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. She’s up to inductees from the early 1980s. She shared some nifty business cards that featured her drawings. She’s been invited to share her work at a future Hornsby meeting, possibly the next winter meeting. To view her work, go to her website by clicking here.

Dan Walsh sprung on the group a Ron Santo-themed quiz, which was won by Jim Baker. You can try your hand at the quiz by clicking here, or going to the “Contests” tab above.

For Baker’s impressive win (he scored 13 of 15 points), Walsh presented him with a postcard reproduction of a Rogers Hornsby Barnstorming Poster. The back of the postcard reveals that the image is a stone litho advertisement used to promote Hornsby’s 1923 off-season tour. According to the post card, the poster sold for $8,250 at Leland’s August 1992 Hall of Fame Auction. The image is pictured below.

The next chapter meeting will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 17, at Iron Works BBQ. Meanwhile, nine members will be attending an exhibition game between the Texas Rangers and the Round Rock Express on April 2.