Society for American Baseball Research, Rogers Hornsby Chapter
Serving Central and South Texas Since 2006
The November chapter meeting will be at 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 12, at Serranos Cocina and Cantina, at MoPac and Ben White/71. Click here for directions.
Please RSVP to Gilbert D. Martinez by email (gmartinez46@mac.com).
Hope to see you there! We’ll likely talk about the World Series, Gold Glove winners, candidates for MLB awards, hot stove transactions, dreams of next season, and more!
October Newsletter
By Gilbert D. Martinez
Sixteen chapter members and guests gathered to watch the Arizona Diamondbacks bounce back in World Series Game 2 on Saturday to even the Fall Classic with the Texas Rangers.
Thanks to generous host Jim Baker, watch party revelers got to enjoy delicious snacks, pizza and desserts while discussing the finer points of the lopsided Diamondbacks win, the enjoyment (or not) of broadcasters Joe Davis and John Smoltz and opinions about the line between players celebrating a great play and those who go too far.
With the longer commercial breaks and little drama in Game 2, Ira Siegel brought a wide-ranging trivia quiz that got us thinking more about mid-century baseball and less about Diamondback Merrill Kelly’s masterful seven innings with nine strikeouts and one earned run. Much like Kelly silenced the Rangers’ offense in Game 2, Ira shut most of us down with his confounding trivia questions.
Host Jim Baker took top honors with 23 points, easily outdistancing second-place runner-up Tom Thayer (16) and third-place and fourth-place finishers Jerry Miller (15) and Ryan Pollack (13). Take your swing at Ira’s hodgepodge quiz below. The answers immediately follow the questions.
This was the 203rd consecutive month in which the chapter has met. Ryan Pollack also shared that his first Hornsby Chapter meeting was 10 years ago when he attended the World Series Watch Party at Jim’s house in 2013. For the record, the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Boston Red Sox in Game 3 that night. Ryan said he was a little nervous attending that first meeting since he didn’t know anyone else in the chapter but said he was glad he did. He thanked everyone for welcoming him to the chapter. We’re glad to have you, Ryan!
Predictatron Champions
Predictatron impresario Jim Baker announced the winners of the regular season and postseason prediction contests. Since the outcome of the World Series would not change the outcome, Jim announced that Raeanne Martinez won the regular season contest, her fourth title. Her final score of 742 outpaced contest runner-up Ryan Pollack (734) and Brian Rogers (733). As the highest scorers in their respective divisions, both Raeanne and Brian will have divisions named in their honor next season, while hard-luck runner-up Ryan gets nothing but a shake of the hand and a pat on the back. Jim noted that last year’s division winners – Gilbert Martinez and Chuck Kaufman – both finished last in their divisions, demonstrating the unpredictability of forecasting. The disappointing and underperforming seasons by the Padres, Mets and Yankees, among others, caused considerable damage to our predictions.
Jim also announced Frank Rechtorovic as the winner in the postseason Predictatron contest. This is most fitting as he was the only one to pick the Rangers to make the World Series. It’s also notable that not one of us foresaw the rise of the Diamondbacks. Jerry Miller shared that his postseason ballot has been filled with nothing but duds, incorrectly naming the winner in each series so far. For the record, he has the Rangers to win the World Series in five, which may suggest the exact opposite outcome. “Bet the house on the Snakes,” he recommended in an email to the list.
For their prognostication skills, both Raeanne and Frank will receive Predictatron trophies to adorn their homes for the upcoming year.
Baseball Reminiscence Update
In 2015, Hornsby Chapter volunteers led by Jim Kenton started SABR’s first baseball reminiscence program. Reminiscence, recalling pleasant memories of the past, has proven to be an effective way to improve the quality of life of those dealing with dementia, chronic health problems, isolation or loneliness. Since then, the number of programs using baseball as a reminiscence topic has grown both locally and nationally.
While the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted some of our programs and forced others to go online, we’re happy to report that all our local programs are now back in action and serving more participants than ever before. We currently have more than 50 attendees and care partners spread across programs in Kerrville (partnering with the VA Hospital there), Round Rock (at AGE of Central Texas, a licensed adult day care facility), Georgetown (working with volunteers from Sun City), and in Austin with some of our original participants.
Along the way, 15 Hornsby Chapter members, and several spouses, have volunteered to facilitate or assist with these programs. Everyone involved has found this to be a worthwhile and rewarding experience.
There are plenty of opportunities to get involved in this valuable community service program. In addition to plenty of baseball (of course), we also add music, video, history and other sports in order to invoke a broad range of pleasant memories from a diverse audience. If you’d consider volunteering, have an idea for a new program in your community, or just would like to learn more, please contact Monte Cely at cely@swbell.net.
Next month: Sunday, Nov. 12
We’ll gather in November to reflect on the 2023 season and the MLB awards at lunch on Sunday, Nov. 12. We haven’t yet decided on a location, but we’ll post an announcement on the email list and on the chapter website in early November.
Hornsby Trivia Contest – Hodgepodge
By Ira Siegel
There are 21 questions. Each answer is worth one point. A perfect score is 50 points. Good luck!
1—In 1956, when Mantle won the AL triple crown, who finished second in batting average? Home runs? RBI? Two are HOFers and one was involved in a famous at bat.
2—Also in 1956, who were the 3 pitchers who threw regular season no hitters? Two of them played for a NY team and the other, a two-time 20-game winning lefty in his final season, pitched all 10 years of his career with the same AL team.
3—In any order, name the 4 leading total home run players during the 1950s decade.
4—In any order, name the players with the top 5 home run totals during the 1970s.
5— Name the HOF first baseman who was the first player to hit 2 HRs in the same inning twice in his career.
6—In 1999, Fernando Tatis hit 2 grand slams in one inning, but who has the AL record for 7 RBI in one inning? It happened on the last day of the season and got him to exactly 30 HR and 100 RBI. He is not in the HOF and hit .358 (in his first full season) to win his only batting title.
7—Which was the only one of the 8 original AL teams that Eddie Robinson did not play for?
8—If Mazeroski did not homer to end the 1960 season, who was due to hit next?
9—During the 1960s, who was on the field for all 4 World Series games that his team won but did not have any official at bats?
10 – In 1966, when Frank Robinson won the AL triple crown, who finished second in batting average? Home runs? RBI? The man 2nd in batting hit only .307. (It wasn’t Kaline, who was 3rd at only .288.)
11—The 1973 Oakland A’s used 11 players at second base. Excluding Billy Conigliaro, Jay Johnstone, and Gene Tenace, name 4 of the other 8. Note that 4 of those 8 have a last name that starts with “m”.
12—Name 5 of the 9 players who were on all 3 of the SF Giants’ World Series-winning teams in 2010, 2012, and 2014.
13—Babe Ruth is the all-time leader with 8 runs scored titles. What current player is tied for 11th?
14—In any order, who are the top 5 active players in games played while also being on only one team in their career?
15—Jason Varitek set the record of catching 4 no hitters during his Red Sox-only 15-year career. Name the 4 pitchers.
16—Name the catcher who, in 2015, tied Varitek after he caught his 4th no hitter. This question is intended to help prevent any perfect scores.
17—Which team has won all 5 of its World Series titles in 7 games? Also, name the first 2 years.
18—Who hit the only walk-off inside-the-park grand slam? He is a deceased HOFer.
19—Name 3 of the 5 HOFers who played for only one manager, who was also a HOFer, in their career.
20—Name the only one of the 16 teams from the modern two-league era that never won more than 100 games in a season.
21—Who won the AL batting title without hitting any home runs? This happened between 1950 and 2000.
Tiebreakers:
The leaders in career world series at bats only includes two players who never played for the Yankees who are in the top 10.
#1—Who is 4th on the list?
#2—If needed—who is 9th?
ANSWERS
1—Ted Williams .345, Vic Wertz 32 HR, Al Kaline 128 RBI
2—Carl Erskine, Sal Maglie, Mel Parnell
3—Snider 326, Hodges 310, Mathews 299, Mantle 280
4—Stargell 296, Jackson 292, Bench 290, Bobby Bonds 280, Lee May 270
5—McCovey in 1977
6—Alex Rodriguez in 2009
7—Red Sox
8—Harvey Haddix, who pitched after Law, Face, & Friend
9—Ray Oyler in 1968, who walked in his only plate appearance
10—Oliva .307, Killebrew 39 HR, Killebrew 110 RBI (.281 was 5th)
11— Mike Andrews, Dick Green, Ted Kubiak, Angel Mangual, Gonzalo Marquez, Dal Maxvill, Rich McKinney, Manny Trillo
12—Jeremy Affeldt, Madison Bumgarner, Matt Cain, Santiago Casilla, Tim Lincecum, Javier Lopez, Buster Posey, Sergio Romo, Pablo Sandoval
13—Trout (with Billy Hamilton, Lou Gehrig, & Pete Rose)
14—Votto (2,056), Altuve, B. Crawford, Blackmon, Trout
15—Nomo, Lowe, Buchholz, Lester
16—Carlos Ruiz
17—Pirates in 1909 (Tigers) & 1925 (Senators)…also, 1960, 1971, & 1979)
18—Clemente in 1956 vs Cubs’ Jim Brosnan
19—Drysdale & Koufax (Alston), Ross Youngs (McGraw), Harry Wright (player-mgr), Alston (Frisch)
20—White Sox only 100 in 1917
21—Rod Carew, .318 in 1972 (hit 92 HRs IN 19 years)
Tiebreakers:
#1—Frankie Frisch 4th
#2—Pee Wee Reese 9th
The Hornsby Chapter will hold a watch party for World Series Game 2 at the home of generous host Jim Baker on Saturday, Oct. 28!
Please RSVP to him directly at <jimbaker1066@yahoo.com> by Thursday, Oct. 26.
September Newsletter
By Gilbert D. Martinez
Eleven chapter members trekked to Nelson Wolff Municipal Stadium on Sunday to watch the San Antonio Missions drop their regular season finale to the Springfield Cardinals.
Though the Missions, the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, lost 7-5 to Springfield, the Double-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, most of us enjoyed the shady seats and comfortable breeze for the afternoon matinee of baseball under partly cloudy skies.
This was the chapter’s first outing to a baseball game in San Antonio, which was part of an effort to cater to members in the area. Thirty percent of Sunday’s participants were from San Antonio, so the chapter may explore more outings to Wolff Stadium in the future.
Upon arriving, San Antonian Cy Morong sprung a question on the group, asking if we knew what happened on Sept. 17, fifty-five years ago. It roused the group with a series of guesses until we narrowed down the answer: Gaylord Perry of the San Francisco Giants no-hit the St. Louis Cardinals and out-dueled Bob Gibson in 1968.
Mike Lassman shared a little bit of the history of the Missions, including when it was a Dodgers farm team and saw players such as Pedro Martinez, Fernando Valenzuela, Dennis Eckersley and Adrian Beltre. Some of the illustrious alumni of the Missions are features on banners around the ballpark.
We also welcomed 14-year-old Torin, who said he joined SABR in February and was attending his first Hornsby meeting. An eighth grader from Austin, he pitches and plays shortstop for a travel baseball team and hopes to make the Westlake baseball team when he reaches high school. At the game with his parents, he shared that he’s a Texas Rangers fan and enjoys collecting baseball cards.
This was the 202nd consecutive month in which the chapter has met, a streak dating to December 2006.
Home stretch for Predictatron
Jim Baker’s Predictatron contest continues to its inevitable conclusion just as the baseball season winds down. Our predictions made in the pleasant temperatures as winter gave way to spring before the start of the season have endured the hard summer rays, beating many of us into oblivion. Or maybe just the author, who – despite lifting himself out of the cellar for one week (or was that a mirage?) – is nearing the end of a campaign in which he has anchored the entire contest, and not in a good way! But who cares about him. We all bow to Ryan Pollack, who led his division and the entire contest as of Sept. 10, and Jan Larson, leader of his division. With just weeks to go, we’ll soon find out if they’ll hold on to their leads, or if upstarts such as Brian Rogers or Raeanne Martinez will catch them before the end. Hold on to your caps, folks!
Research spotlight
Chapter leadership sometimes receives email inquiries about baseball or Rogers Hornsby or the like. We received one such email from Scott Henson, who lives in East Austin and is working on a book about the Austin Black Senators, a team that once played near where he lives now. He shared that he’s done some research and spoken with experts such as Bill Staples, Jr., an independent baseball historian who has researched and studied Black baseball organizations. We put Scott in touch with chapter member Eric Robinson, who has also done his share of research of the Negro Leagues. If you have information or contacts that may be useful to Scott’s research for his book, please contact him by email at <gritsforbreakfast@gmail.com>.
Next month: World Series Watch Party!
Save the evening of Saturday, Oct. 28, on your calendar! Predictatron impresario and host extraordinaire Jim Baker will throw his annual World Series Watch Party with a scrumptious spread of food while we watch Game 2 of the World Series (teams to be determined). All members are invited, and there’s really no excuse to miss the chapter’s biggest party of the year. One acceptable excuse would be if you’re actually attending World Series Game 2, like, in person. But other than that, you should join us for the watch party! We’ll share more details in mid-October.
The Rogers Hornsby Chapter’s September meeting will involve an outing to Wolff Stadium in San Antonio where we will be afforded the opportunity to mingle and watch baseball with chapter members from the southern end of the Hornsby Chapter’s coverage area. The game will be played on Sunday, September 17 against the visiting Springfield Redbirds starting at 1:05 pm. Don’t worry, we can sit in the shade in section 200 directly in front of the suite/press box area. Please login to the Missions’ website (https://www.milb.com/san-antonio), select “Tickets and Schedule” from the drop down menu, then select “Schedule” and “September” and then the September 17 game. Select your seats near the “seed” seat in section 200, row V (last row), seat 12. If you already have an account with the Round Rock Express, you may have to create another account for the Missions.
August 2023 Newsletter
By Gilbert D. Martinez
Eleven chapter members and guests joined an award-winning author on Zoom on Saturday to discuss baseball in the mid-20th century.
Steven Gietschier, author of “Baseball: The Turbulent Midcentury Years,” shared how he was inspired by the work of Dr. Harold Seymour and Dorothy Seymour Mills, including their three-volume history of the early days of baseball: “Baseball: The Early Years,” “Baseball: The Golden Age” and “Baseball: The People’s Game.”
“I asked Dorothy what she would think if someone picked up the ball where she and her late husband had laid it down and wrote a solid narrative and analytical history of the game since 1930,” Gietschier said. “Without hesitation, she said this was a good idea. She heartily approved.”
He looked for others who might be interested in taking on this project, but everyone turned him down. However, he was told over and over again, “Steve, you should do it.”
Gietschier, who presented at SABR 51 in Chicago last month and won the Henry Chadwick Award, saw an opportunity to write about the next phase of baseball in the context of history, politics, economics and other broader themes from the Great Depression to post-World War II. He focuses on baseball owners, executives and players to tell the story of baseball.
As a longtime archivist and archival consultant for The Sporting News, Gietschier had access to lots of resources, including the notes and notecards created by Seymour and Seymour Mills.
He also shared baseball owners were initially against broadcasting games in the early days of radio for fear that it would decrease attendance. The same fear arose during the widespread adoption of televisions. He noted that a similar dilemma is playing out today with regional sports networks, cable, streaming and blackouts.
You can watch Gietschier’s presentation and Q&A session at this link on YouTube: https://youtu.be/7ghgjOdtLDI
You can learn more and purchase his new book on the University of Nebraska Press website: https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9781496235374/
Upcoming Meeting Schedule
As the baseball season continues during the dog days of summer, the chapter has plans to attend a minor league game in San Antonio in September and a World Series watch party in October.
Please save Sunday, Sept. 17, for next month’s meeting. At 1 p.m., the San Antonio Missions, the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, will host the Springfield Cardinals at Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium. We’ll share details in early September about where the group plans to sit and how you can purchase tickets.
In October, chapter member and Predictatron showrunner Jim Baker will continue a long tradition to host a watch party for a World Series game. Mark your calendar for the evening of Saturday, Oct. 28, for World Series Game 2 (teams to be determined). Regardless of the competing teams, the group has a fun time jointly watching the World Series with great food, commentary and insight.
Also, we have set Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024, as the date for the 18th Annual Bill Gilbert Winter Meeting at Texas State University in San Marcos. Winter meeting coordinator Jerry Miller is working on the schedule. If you are interested in making a presentation about baseball, please contact Jerry.
Research Spotlight
Two chapter members – Mike Lassman and Monte Cely – are working on contributions to the Spring Training Anthology, edited by David Krell, chair of SABR’s Spring Training Committee. Lassman is focusing his essay on spring training in San Antonio while Cely is expanding earlier research about spring training in Marlin, Texas.
Baseball Memories Program
Monte Cely reported volunteers continue to work with AGE of Central Texas and Kerrville VA Medical Center to help Alzheimer’s patients, family and caregivers. AGE is also opening a new facility in South Austin and efforts are being made to bring a program to San Antonio. Anyone interested in helping out should reach out to Monte Cely. More information about the program can be found on the information page: https://www.sabrhornsby.org/about-basebalz/
Jan’s Excellent Ballpark Tour
Jan Larson reported that with his visit to Truist Park in Atlanta earlier this season, he has now attended a game at all 30 of the current ballparks. This brings his overall MLB ballpark total to 59. He’s planning a presentation about his ballpark journey at the winter meeting in January.
Caribbean Series in Miami
Monte Cely, a veteran of past Caribbean classics, shared that the Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) is coming to loanDepot Park, home of the Miami Marlins in February. The series, which features teams from the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation (Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Mexico, and one representative each from Panama and Colombia), puts on 25 ballgames in nine days (Feb. 1 to 9).
Meiji Jingu Stadium in Tokyo
I shared that I was able to attend a Tokyo Yakult Swallows game at Meiji Jingu Stadium in Tokyo in June. It’s renowned for being one of the few remaining active stadiums where Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and other Major League ballplayers participated in a baseball tour in 1934. This tour and its immense popularity gave birth to Nippon Professional Baseball. However, there are plans to demolish the stadium and the surrounding area in the face of intense local and international opposition.
Steven Gietschier, author of “Baseball: The Turbulent Midcentury Years,” will join us on Zoom at 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5, for the August monthly meeting.
Based on the member survey earlier this year, we heard from some respondents to include more Zoom meetings throughout the year. And, if you haven’t noticed, it’s been so hot that maybe staying inside to talk baseball isn’t such a bad idea!
To join the Zoom meeting on Aug. 5, please register at this link: https://txstate.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIucemgpj4oHtSWKf4MM2tDyS8NKG94JT2N
Gietschier, a long-time archivist and archival consultant for The Sporting News, presented at SABR 51 in Chicago earlier this month and won SABR’s Henry Chadwick Award at the awards luncheon. You can learn more about his new book on the University of Nebraska Press website: https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9781496235374/
With the trade deadline just days away, we’ll also talk about which teams had the best deals and which teams didn’t do enough to improve their chances for October/November glory.
On July 23rd, 12 chapter members braved the 102-degree heat and 65-degree dew point to watch the Round Rock Express host the Reno Aces at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, TX.
The game was a tense affair that the Aces won by a score of 3-1. They took an early 1-0 lead and threatened to expand it with 10 hits, but failed to actually increase the lead until Pavin Smith hit a two-run home run in the 8th inning. In the bottom half, the Express managed to load the bases with a few walks but could push across only one run. The Aces won, 3-1. Here’s the box score.
The gathering was the 200th consecutive monthly meeting of the chapter, dating from December 2006. Hornsby Chapter Commissioner Gilbert Martinez was unable to join the meeting but praised chapter members for their dedication and commitment. “This streak demonstrates the strong community that founder Bill Gilbert created and that we have all maintained for more than 16 years during the streak,” Martinez said. “We’ve fostered strong friendships built around all aspects of baseball.”
Here’s a photo of attendees gathered around a commemorative “200” sign comprising two baseball jerseys:
The #20 jersey is from a Josh Gibson Homestead Grays jersey; behind it is the “0” from a #10 worn by chapter member Jerry Miller.
While watching the game unfold, members discussed many baseball topics including the Orioles’ takeover of first place in the AL East (and conversely, the once-dominant Rays falling to second place), speculation on whether the Angels will trade Shohei Ohtani, the absence of 15+ inning games due to the automatic runner on second base, and LSU’s recent victory at the College World Series. Additionally, several on-field challenges to balls and strikes prompted discussion about whether this challenge system should be used instead of automated balls and strikes, or even at all!
Prior to the game, chapter member Nancy Finley threw out the first pitch. Here she is walking off the mound:
Nancy’s book, Finleyball, is an excellent history of the A’s move from Kansas City to Oakland under owner Charles Finley. Nancy is Charles’ niece and had a close-up view; her father Carl helped run the team for many years.
The Rogers Hornsby Chapter proudly received the “Starting Lineup” certification from SABR HQ. It’s one of only eight chapters, out of more than 80 worldwide, to receive one of the available “Starting Lineup”, “All Star”, or “MVP” certifications. SABR HQ now certifies chapters nationwide who do things like elect officers and establish chapter bylaws.
“We’re thrilled with this recognition from SABR,” Commissioner Gilbert Martinez said. “We’ve long known that we’re a good, active chapter with great members, but it’s encouraging to be recognized by the national organization.”
In addition to having regular monthly meetings, an annual winter meeting and baseball prediction contests and trivia quizzes, the Hornsby Chapter took major steps to meet criteria created by SABR. For example, the chapter held its first election for chapter commissioner in May. In addition, the chapter is working on bylaws to meet another requirement by SABR.
“We look forward to doing more to achieve a higher ranking in the coming years,” Martinez added.
Chapter members utilize the email listserv to share research and socialize between meetings. Here’s some of what we shared since the last update:
That’s just the tip of the iceberg! We talked about many more things. If you’re a chapter member, email Jan Larson at jan.a.larson@gmail.com to participate in the discussions.
On July 19th, Monte and Linda Cely, Ira Siegel, Jerry Miller and Mike Dillon facilitated a Baseball Memories session at the Round Rock AGE of Central Texas for a diverse group of 29 attendees at the facility. The Baseball Memories project, active since 2015, is a community service outreach program that uses baseball as a theme to improve the quality of life for those living with dementia, isolation, loneliness, and other long-term health issues. The program is resuming in-person sessions after a hiatus caused by the pandemic.
Likewise, Jim Kenton and the “Baseball Guys” team are now back in person at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Kerrville. This program is a big hit with the resident veterans, and Jim advises that twelve vets attended the most recent gathering.
For more information or to get involved, visit the website.
Jim Baker runs the chapter’s Predictatron contest, wherein members submit pre-season predictions of teams’ end-of-season win totals and predict who will make the playoffs. Jim updates the standings weekly as teams’ records change.
In the most recent update, he shared how he had gained enough points recently to tie Ryan Pollack for the most points in not just his division, but also the entire contest. Many other players improved their scores as well, a contrast to earlier updates in which many players lost points overall.
The Awardatron contest challenges chapter members to predict the four major BBWAA awards in both leagues: MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, and Manager of the Year. Members submit predictions prior to the season’s first pitch and receive points for how their picks place in the voting. Members can change one pick during the All-Star Break in exchange for reduced points.
At the Break, two categories shuffled around the most. Perhaps owing to a large amount of uncertainty around pitchers’ value, three members changed their AL Cy Young pick and three also changed their NL Cy Young pick. In the AL, two participants changed to Framber Valdez; one changed to Shane McClanahan. In the NL, Spencer Strider, Marcus Stroman, and Zac Gallen got midseason votes of confidence. Shohei Ohtani remains the AL MVP favorite, Ronald Acuña Jr. remains the NL MVP favorite, Gunnar Henderson remains the AL ROY favorite, and Corbin Carroll remains the NL ROY favorite.
The Rogers Hornsby Chapter isn’t satisfied with 200 consecutive monthly meetings! The 201st is planned for Saturday, August 5th at 1 PM. It will be an online Zoom meeting; link details will be shared on the Google Group listserv soon.
Trivia Answer: “Indian” Bob Johnson who played for the A’s and Red Sox in the 30’s and 40’s.
The July meeting of the Rogers Hornsby Chapter will be at the Dell Diamond on SUNDAY, July 23 to see the home standing Round Rock Express take on the Reno Aces. The first pitch will be at 6:05 pm. With the pitch clock speeding up games, there is a good chance that the game will wrap up before 9:00 pm. This will mark the 200th consecutive monthly meeting for the chapter and we will take group photos to commemorate this milestone.
For anyone interested, we will gather at the adjacent Salt Lick restaurant at 4:00 pm (don’t be late!) for a late lunch/early dinner. Anyone at the Salt Lick by 4:00 pm is welcome to join the group to kick off our 200 meeting festivities.
Game tickets may be purchased ON YOUR OWN from the Express’ website. We will be sitting at the rear of section 121 which is under cover, close to restrooms and concessions and usually is situated where a welcome (especially in July) south breeze can be easily felt and enjoyed. Get your tickets at the link below. The group is centered on sec. 121, row 23, seats 11 and 12, so if you get seats near these, you’ll find yourself in the middle of our group.
https://mlb.tickets.com/?orgId=22433&agency=MILB_MPV&eventId=22625&tfl=#/event/E22625/seatmap/?seatmapId=9504&selectBuyers=false&minPrice=13&maxPrice=72&quantity=2&sort=price_desc&ada=false&seatSelection=true&onlyCoupon=true&onlyVoucher=false
June 2023 Newsletter
By Gilbert D. Martinez
Hornsby Chapter Commissioner
A quiz about 1970s baseball prompted an epic battle between two heavyweights as Bailey Hall and her parents, Nicole Bryan and Brian Hall, hosted the June meeting on Saturday at their lovely home in Old West Austin.
Eighteen chapter members, guests and Bailey’s family members joined us for the meeting, which was the 199th consecutive month with a meeting. Brian Hall grilled hot dogs and sausages, accompanied by cole slaw, orzo pasta salad and fruit salad made by Nicole Bryan. We also had delicious brownies for dessert. We are so grateful for their hospitality and generosity in hosting the meeting!
Over the years, Cy Morong and Jim Baker have often clashed mightily in our trivia quizzes, testing their baseball acumen, and Saturday was no different. They played to a 26-point tie, triggering Jan’s tiebreaker question. When they tied again on the tiebreaker question (both successfully naming each of the World Series winners in the 1970s), they resorted to lobbing their own questions on the fly.
How many home runs did George Foster hit in 1977, Cy asked. Jim nailed it (52). When was the last walk-off steal of home, Jim asked. We had to turn to Jan Larson, the resident expert on steals of home to end ballgames, for that answer: 1997. When the dust settled, Jim said he conceded to Cy because he had answered one of the questions in his head but didn’t write it down.
Usually, the quiz winner writes the next quiz, but Cy passed on that honor to second place finisher Ira Siegel, who had 24 points. Tom Wancho had 22 points, and Don Dingee had 21 points.
Take a swing at Jan’s ’70s quiz below. The answers immediately follow the questions.
Bailey Hall Goes to Houston
Expanding her presentation at the 17th Annual Bill Gilbert Winter Meeting, Bailey Hall has been invited to the Larry Dierker Chapter’s June meeting to talk about a brief history of the use of statistics in baseball and how technology has changed how we watch and analyze the game.
The Dierker Chapter meeting will be at 7 p.m. Monday, June 12, at the Spaghetti Western Italian Café, 1608 Shepherd Dr. in Houston. All baseball fans are invited to attend.
There will also be a Zoom option for those out of town. Please contact Dierker Chapter President Joe Thompson at splendorajoe@gmail.com for details.
Baseball Memories
Chapter volunteers continue to collaborate with AGE of Central Texas in Round Rock to assist Alzheimer’s patients, family and caregivers. They’ve had four successful monthly programs thus far with the next program on June 21.
Jim Kenton and the “Baseball Guys” are active at Kerrville VA Medical Center.
Monte Cely, who manages the chapter’s baseball memories program, reports progress in starting a program in San Antonio.
Any chapter members interested in volunteering should contact Monte Cely. For more information about the program, please go to the information page: https://www.sabrhornsby.org/about-basebalz/
Research Spotlight
Last month, I meant to include this nugget noted by Jim Baker, who, among many other things, keeps track of the most productive offensive games in baseball history. One such night was authored by Adolis Garcia of the Texas Rangers in a game against the Oakland Athletics on April 23.
“Totaling it all up, Garcia had five hits, five runs scored, 16 total bases and eight RBI,” Baker wrote in an email to the chapter’s Google Group. “In fantasy baseball, each one of these is worth one point, so he had a total of 29. (This is most definitely not sabermetric or deep-dive analysis.) This puts him right outside the top 10 for all-time single-game best performances and ties him for eleventh with Mike Schmidt (1976), Jimmie Foxx (1932) and Phil Weintraub (1944). Please note that a hit by pitch does not result in a point in fantasy, but an argument could be made that it should count in this context.”
More recently, Cy Morong wrote to the Google Group a few weeks ago that he noticed a significant drop in Astros’ right fielder Kyle Tucker’s defensive WAR, from 0.9 last year in which he won a Gold Glove to -0.9 thus far in 2023. Cy wondered if Tucker’s been playing poorly or playing hurt, or if it was a small sample. As a committed Astros fan who’s seen most every game this season, I responded that I hadn’t noticed any poor play by Tucker. Ryan Pollack took a deeper dive into Tucker’s numbers and offered that it could be both that Tucker’s playing more poorly than last year and it’s still a small sample size. “Looking at Statcast, he was consistently 4-5 outs above average for his career,” Pollack wrote. “This year so far he’s -5, a gap of 9-10 outs. The problem is coming primarily from going back on balls. He’s -4 OAA there compared to -1 OAA on going in. So he’s having trouble with balls over his head. He’s also getting less of a Jump (yes, this is a tracked stat that measures how many feet along the best route outfielders cover when reacting to a ball). This year his jump is 2 feet below average whereas before it’s been about average or only slightly below. I wonder if he’s played in unfamiliar parks to start the year, given the new scheduling format. He might be having trouble reading balls off the bat or just getting a good sense of where, in an unfamiliar RF (different walls, foul line distances, foul territory, etc) he should be heading and how far, when a ball is struck — especially on balls he has to go back on. That or he may have a lingering leg injury or soreness.”
It may be that Tucker’s defensive WAR improves as the season progresses, but we’ll have to wait and see.
Tracking the Oakland Athletics against worst teams all-time
Chapter member Syd Polk shared with us an effort to track the A’s season. “At the end of the year, we can just watch the losses mount up and see where they end up all time,” Polk wrote on his blog. “Will they lose 100 games (almost certainly)? 110 (probably)? 117, like the franchise record 1916 Philadelphia Athletics (it could happen)? 120, like the 1962 New York Mets (they are on pace to pass it)? 134, like the 1899 Cleveland Spiders (probably not)?”
Read more and follow along all season at his blog: https://sydneyrandall.blogspot.com/2023/05/the-train-wreck-that-is-2023-oakland.html
Election results and chapter leadership team
As announced in May in the email lists, Jan Larson and Ryan Pollack informed the chapter that Gilbert Martinez was unanimously voted as the chapter commissioner in the chapter’s first-ever election. His three-year term began this month. On Saturday, Martinez announced that Jan Larson, Monte Cely, Ryan Pollack and Jerry Miller have been appointed as directors in various areas. Jan will continue to organize chapter outings to ballparks; Monte will manage the chapter’s volunteer efforts in the baseball memories program; Ryan will continue to serve as webmaster, manage an annual survey of chapter members and run Awardatron; and Jerry Miller will continue to coordinate the chapter winter meeting. Martinez welcomed Don Dingee to the leadership team; he’ll serve as a membership coordinator, looking for ways to expand and retain and expand membership.
Martinez thanked Monte Cely for his work welcoming new chapter members for many years. With the addition of Don, this will allow Monte to focus on the baseball memories program. Many thanks to Monte, Don and the rest of the leadership team.
July meeting details
Please join us for our July meeting, which will be a big milestone for us! It will be the 200th consecutive month with a meeting, a streak dating to December 2006.
For our 200th meeting, we’re going out to see the Round Rock Express host the Reno Aces at 6:05 p.m. Sunday, July 23. If you’d like to attend and sit near us, go to this link to purchase tickets in Section 121, Rows 22 and 23: https://shorturl.at/cvw28
Many thanks to Jan Larson for organizing this. He has purchased Seats 12 and 13 in Row 23, so you can look for available tickets close to that.
The 1970s
By Jan Larson
(Note: For this quiz, the decade of the 1970s includes the years 1970-1979 inclusive)
Tiebreaker: Chronologically name all ten World Series winning clubs in the 1970s.
Answers
Tiebreaker: Baltimore Orioles, Pittsburgh Pirates, Oakland A’s (x3), Cincinnati Reds (x2), New York Yankees (x2), Pittsburgh Pirates
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