Rogers Hornsby Chapter

May 2026 Newsletter

By Gilbert D. Martinez
Chapter Commissioner

Nine chapter members and guests celebrated Star Wars night at the Dell Diamond on Saturday and watched the Round Rock Express tie the game 2-2 in the 8th inning before falling to the Sacramento River Cats 3-2 in a tight game.

The Express took an early lead in the bottom of the first with a double steal of second by Trevor Hauver and home by Cameron Cauley. But the River Cats jumped ahead on Grant McCray’s two-run home run in the 6th inning. After the Express tied it in the 8th inning with Diego Castillo’s RBI single, the River Cats wasted no time regaining the lead and ultimately the win with an RBI single by Turner Hill in the 9th inning.

Some of us visited with Express General Manager Tim Jackson, who stopped by before first pitch and caught up with the group. He shared that the ballpark is making modifications to the field to accommodate the Texas Volts, the team in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League that will call the Dell Diamond home this summer (See the note in “Next meeting” below for the chapter’s plan to see the Volts host the Portland Cascade on June 28 for the June meeting). Pegs for the bases have been placed in the infield and the temporary fence is ready for the outfield.

Before the game, we gathered at the Salt Lick for a barbecue dinner and caught up on developments in the baseball season.

We pondered the impact of the ABS system. Monte shared that he didn’t like drama injected into the game and the added commentary by broadcasters. He’d rather see full ABS incorporated, eliminating the challenge system altogether. I shared that I think that’s ultimately where we’re head, but Andy disagreed. Andy said he doesn’t want to see the loss of the human element provided by umpires.

We saw a few challenges during the game, including a check-swing challenge, something many of us hadn’t seen yet. A graphic showed a dotted line running near home plate toward first base along with animation showing the path of the bat.

After the game, some of us, including Dick Butler and his son Andrew, visiting from Australia, stuck around for the terrific Star Wars-themed drone show. Fans were also treated to dozens of Star Wars characters roaming the aisles, stands and walkways throughout the game.

Chapter commissioner election results

By Dick Butler
Election Coordinator

The Hornsby Chapter conducted its online election for the office of commissioner between May 8 and May 15.  The results have been tabulated and are now official.  As election coordinator, I hereby certify that Gilbert Martinez was re-elected as commissioner for the next three-year term (2026-2029).  Seventeen (17) votes were cast by members, representing 21% of members eligible to vote.  All 17 votes were cast for Mr. Martinez, the sole candidate nominated in our nomination process.  No blank ballots were submitted.  Congratulations to Gilbert!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the election by voting.  A special thanks to Election Committee members Don Dingee and Ryan Pollack, whose work on the technology ensured that our online voting process went smoothly.  

Commissioner’s first task

I’m very grateful to membership for your support! Thanks also to Dick, Don and Ryan for conducting this election.

My first task as chapter commissioner is to appoint directors to the chapter’s leadership team. Running this chapter takes a group of dedicated and passionate members, so I’m happy to announce the group of directors who will continue to guide our chapter activities and responsibilities.

Ryan Pollack, webmaster/faciliator
Jerry Miller, winter meeting coordinator
Don Dingee, membership coordinator
Dick Butler, election coordinator
Nicole Bryan, at-large

Monte Cely, who’s been a chapter member since its formation more than 20 years ago, is stepping down from the leadership team, but I’ve happy to report that I offered, and he accepted, a role as director emeritus, so that he can stay involved as time allows. He and his spouse, Linda, will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in October and have many hours, days, weeks and months planned with their children and grandchildren. Congratulations to Monte and Linda! Monte will continue to serve as a Baseball Memories coordinator along with Larry Rice. Please join me in thanking Monte for all of his work with the chapter and his continued involvement.

Email list trivia

In recent weeks, some of our members have tried (and failed!) to stump our membership with trivia questions. Here are a few of the questions.

Cy Morong: Who had the most HRs in MLB over the years 1958-62?

Ryan Pollack: Who is the only player in MLB history to have a qualifying season with 0 HR and a qualifying season with 30+ HR?

Gilbert D. Martinez: Jose Altuve’s appearance in the Astros game on April 21 versus the Cleveland Guardians put him at 2,000 career games, good enough for fifth among active players. Who are the four active players ahead of him?

Think you know the answers? Check your work at the bottom of this newsletter. Good luck!

SABR 54 registration now open; early bird discount ending soon!

SABR’s 54th annual convention will be July 29–Aug. 2, 2026, at the Hilton Downtown Cleveland hotel!  

The featured speakers and panelists include:

•    Chris Antonetti, Cleveland Guardians President of Baseball Operations
•    Sandy Alomar Jr., 1990 AL ROY, Gold Glove-winning catcher, and 1997 All-Star Game MVP, White Sox legend
•    Carlos Baerga, fan favorite as a switch-hitting second baseman during his 14-year major league career
•    Tom Hamilton, Cleveland Guardians broadcaster and 2025 Ford C. Frick Award recipient
•    Mike Hargrove, won two AL pennants and 5 consecutive AL Central Division titles as Cleveland’s manager
•    Kenny Lofton, all-star CF who holds Cleveland franchise record for stolen bases, Cubs/White Sox legend
•    Charles Nagy, three-time All-Star pitcher and Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame inductee
•    Paul Hoynes, Cleveland Plain Dealer sports writer and BBWAA Career Excellence Award recipient
•    David S. Ward, writer and director of Major League, who will lead a Q&A session following a screening
•    Sky Andrecheck, Assistant General Manager, Cleveland Guardians
•    Keith Woolner, Principal Data Scientist, Baseball Analytics, Cleveland Guardians
•    Kyle Burris, Director, Research & Development, Cleveland Guardians

Conference and hotel registration for SABR 54 is now available.

THE DEADLINE FOR THE EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT IS MAY 29.

Click the link to register today: https://sabr.org/convention

Predictatron: The Quarter Turn

[Editor’s note: Jim Baker shared this update with the chapter on May 15.]

By Jim Baker

Believe it or not, a full quarter of the season is on the books. It seems like only yesterday that teams were breaking camp to start the season and yet here we are, wondering where the time went and why we made some of the picks we did way back then.

There were no changes to the uppermost portions of our standings. Slots one through four remain the same in the Mike Harrell Division, with Ms. Martinez holding her lead for a second week and continuing to preside over the contest. The two top spots in the Tom Wancho Division remain in the hands of Mr. Pollack and Mr. Wancho, for whom the division is named, not coincidentally. Mr. Rechtorovic the Elder and Mr. McIntosh were tied for fifth last week, but both had identical 29-point outings and are now tied for third. The biggest standings jumps were made by Mr. Siegel and our Player of the Week Mr. Dillon (for the second time this season). Both moved up three spots with the latter player improving by 53 points to lead us all.

We averaged a 35-point increase this time around as we continue to find our footing after the disastrous week of April 19 showing. On the team front, our new worst enemies are the Tampa Bay Rays, who are costing us an average of 31 points each. Did anybody here predict they’d have the best record in the American League? Show of hands… no? Not seeing any. In fact, only three players even had them finishing over .500. The best Rays pick at the moment belongs to Mr. Rechtorovic the Younger at 85. Even that is costing him 23 points!

It’s time to check in on our Locks, that thing we all love to hate! Let’s start with the positives for a change. Here are the four best individual Lock choices so far:

0 Mike Harrell, Dodgers at 97
2 Eric Robinson, Angels at 64
2 Raeanne Martinez, Twins at 72
2 Mike Bass, Dodgers at 98

Now the best combined Lock score. Not surprisingly, our leader heads up this list:

8 Raeanne Martinez, Twins at 72 and Dodgers at 94
14 Eric Robinson, Angels at 64 and Dodgers at 103
22 Gary McIntosh, Angels at 66 and Rockies at 55
22 Frank Rechtorovic, Angels at 65 and Rockies at 54

There must be a dark side as well, alas. These are the most-damaging individual Lock picks so far:

72 Jerry Miller, Rays at 72
66 John Rechtorovic, Cardinals at 60
58 Ira Siegel, Cardinals at 64

These are the most-damaging combined Locks to date:

104 Mike McNulty, Red Sox at 94 and Cardinals at 66
  92 Ira Siegel, Blue Jays at 90 and Cardinals at 64
  82 Jerry Miller, Rays at 72 and Nationals at 70

The good news is that these numbers are bound to shrink as teams regress to the mean—unless they don’t, which happens sometimes because it’s baseball, right?

Through games of Sunday, May 10 or 25.0 percent of the 2026 season:

Next meeting

Please join us for our June meeting, a return to the Dell Diamond, to see the Texas Volts host the Portland Cascade of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League on Sunday, June 28! More information about tickets and a discount code will go out in a meeting announcement in early June. Hope you can join us!

Trivia answers:
Morong: Rocky Colavito
Pollack: Kirby Puckett
Martinez: (in order from most) Andrew McCutchen, Carlos Santana, Freddie Freeman and Paul Goldschmidt

 

April 2026 Newsletter

By Gilbert D. Martinez

Fourteen chapter members and guests gathered at the home of Nicole Bryan and Brian Hall on an unseasonably cool spring day Saturday, marveling at the early storylines in the just-started baseball season.

One storyline was the debut of 19-year-old Konnor Griffin with the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 3. In fact, this was the inspiration of my trivia quiz about a selection of first hits by teenagers.

The seemingly random nature of the quiz’s 20 multiple-choice questions proved to be an equalizer, giving everyone a fighting chance!

Andy York (pictured above on the right) was one of three participants to earn double figures, but he eked out first place with 11 points, followed by a tie between Cy Morong (pictured above on the left) and Brian Hall (pictured above in the middle) with 10 each. Just off the platform were Raeanne Martinez, Wyatt Walker and Jerry Miller with nine points each.

For his prize, Andy picked “The Unwritten Rules of Baseball” by Paul Dickson. Cy conceded the tie to Brian, so Brian received “The New Yorker Book of Baseball Cartoons” by Robert Mankoff and Michael Crawford, editors.

Brian and Nicole were so thrilled that Brian tied Cy in the quiz that Nicole immediately reached out to their daughter, Bailey Hall, to share the good news.

Many thanks to Nicole and Brian for hosting the meeting and providing delicious Rudy’s barbecue and fixings! Nicole and Brian’s friend Dave joined us and shared that he saw Dallas Braden’s perfect game on May 9, 2010, in Oakland. In fact, mid-game, he said his son was given a foul ball by a fan seated a few rows in front of them. By the fifth inning or so, he said, the crowd was aware that something special was brewing on Mother’s Day.

We also welcomed new member Leah Islam, an Arizona State University graduate who recently joined a baseball fantasy league at work and followed up on joining SABR, something she’s been wanting to do for a while. Welcome, Leah!

Take your swing at the quiz here: Teenage First-Hit Wonders Quiz

Here’s the answer key: Teenage First-Hit Wonders Quiz Answer Key

Don Dingee’s bio project article

Congratulations to Don Dingee, whose biography on Lou Frazier was published in SABR’s Bio Project last month!  Here is the link:  https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/lou-frazier/.

“Lou’s story is about working hard and being in the right place at the right time,” Don shared on the group email list. “It was fun to work with him on this. Thrilled it’s published and off my desk!”

Ryan Pollack’s graph on xwOBA: The Dodgers are absurd

Ryan shared on the email list a graph plotting teams’ offense and defense xwOBA (Expected Weighted On-Base Average), an advanced statistic that measures how teams are doing thus far in the season on offense and on defense. It confirmed some conversations we had during the meeting about which teams are doing well and which are struggling, some in both categories.

But the team leading both leagues in both xwOBA for offense and defense by a wide margin is no surprise: the Los Angeles Dodgers. Here’s the graph Ryan put together and shared with the group.

Predictatron Second Week Update: Wancho, Pollack Tied!

[Editor’s note: Jim Baker shared this update including game play through April 12.]
By Jim Baker

Two weeks into our contest and we already have a battle developing. Mr. Wancho and Mr. Pollack find themselves tied for not only the lead of the Tom Wancho Division, but for the contest entire, setting the pace with 624 points. Both made significant gains over the opening update to get where they are today.

Our Mike Harrell Division leader also made a great leap forward. Mr. Robinson was in seventh place in the opening report but tacked on 222 points and climbed all the way to the top of the division. Nobody had a better showing than our Player of the Week Mr. Walsh, though. He padded his score with 269 points and catapulted himself out of the Wancho Division basement all the way up to fourth place.

Most teams are not complying with our desires in the early going and are costing us double-figure deficits. A few clubs immediately began playing the way we said they would, however. They are as follows:

Brewers: We said they’d be just over .500 and here they are, doing just that. Of course, it took a 1-6 week to get them there.

Orioles: For a team that bombed last year, the O’s got a decent amount of love on our ballots for 2026. We said they’d win 84 games, a nine-game improvement over 2025, and they are just about on pace to do that very thing.

Yankees: Another team that had a disastrous week (1-6) to get them right around our group prediction of 90 wins. They’re currently four games below that pace, but it still qualifies for third-best prediction in the early going.

Rockies: Colorado won just 43 games last season and we said they would be adding 14 to that total this year. Wellity, wellity, wellity, they’re playing at a 61-win pace, meaning our group pick is a near genius.

White Sox: To this point, our Pale Hose prediction is a bit too generous. We said they’d improve by seven games from 60 to 67, but they’re playing at the same pace as last year, costing us six games apiece on average. That’s still what qualifies as a top five pick at this point of the season.

Through games of Sunday, April 12 or 9.6 percent of the 2026 season:

Awardatron 2026 Kickoff
[Editor’s note: Ryan Pollack shared this first update on the email list on March 26.]

By Ryan Pollack

Greetings! Another season of baseball is upon us and with it comes the excitement of, uh, seeing the overwhelming Cy Young favorite get rocked for a jillion runs in his first start. Oops. Well I mean who among us hasn’t had a 67.50 ERA at some point in our lives? At least most of us managed to spell “Wetherholt’ correctly. Most of us.

I’m your host Ryan and welcome to Awardatron 2026. Shoutout to all the folks who’ve returned for another year of fun and games. And welcome welcome (welcome!) to those of you joining us for the first time.

Here’s how it works: towards the end of every month I’ll be sharing whom I think are the top 3 favorites for each award and providing commentary on one of the three in each category. I mix it up because honestly who wants to write about boring old Aaron Judge six times a year? Not me. I not only have a life, I hate the Yankees. Also, there will be a heavy Orioles bias because that’s what you pay me for. (Note: you do not pay me for anything.)

During the All-Star Break you’ll have a chance to change one (1) pick in each league in exchange for reduced points but hopefully more points than you would’ve otherwise gotten. There’s an opportunity to be strategic and go right when you think everyone else is going left. Or you can just bail out your worst picks. Tip #1: try not to get caught up in the hype. Jacob Misiorowski debuted right before the ASB last year and stuck out a billion batters. Many folks changed their NL Cy Young pick to him. Oops. 

I’ll send out a warning ahead of time and then it’s game on. Tip #2: whoever picked Roman Anthony and Caleb Durbin to win ROY awards, and I’m being coy because I know who you are, you may want to pull the lever on those ones. Just sayin’. 

After the awards are announced, typically in mid-November, I’ll share the scores. I group you into divisions based on award winners of years past. This year it’ll be the 2003 ROY award winners. So you can look forward to winning either the Angel Berroa or Dontrelle Willis division. There is of course an overall winner.

For now, have a look at how we picked ‘em: 

I personally appreciate the Orioles love. I would love it so much if Basallo, Alonso, Henderson, and/or Albernaz picked up an award. It’d mean we had a hell of a year. We are 1-0 to start the year and Trevor Rogers has, unlike Mr. Livvy Dunne, a sparkling 0.00 ERA. So anything’s possible, I suppose. 

Strap in, folks! I’m already impatient to see who’s going to win the World Series but since time travel hasn’t been invented yet (that we know of) I suppose I’ll settle in and enjoy the season with the rest of you.

Cheers!

P.S. Hats off to everyone who spelled ‘McGonigle’ correctly. I didn’t have to correct a single one!

Next meeting

Join us on Saturday, May 16, for our outing to see the Round Rock Express at Dell Diamond! It’s also Star Wars Night, so we can probably expect out-of-this world costumes and post-game entertainment. We’ll share a link to where we’ll be sitting so that you can purchase tickets in early May. May the force, er, the baseball, be with you, or something like that!

Plans for summer meetings

We have more ballgames in store for the summer! Please plan to join us on Sunday, June 28, again at Dell Diamond, for the Texas Volts, a member of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League. They’ll host the Portland Cascade at noon that Sunday. More details to come in early June.

In July, we’re planning to travel to watch the San Antonio Missions. Exact date to be determined but will be announced soon.

We’re planning to have a virtual meeting in August with details to come.

March 2026 Newsletter

By Gilbert D. Martinez

In one of the best attended in-person meetings (not counting winter meetings), 21 chapter members and guests gathered to talk about the World Baseball Classic and the new season. In addition to a summary of the March meeting in the March Newsletter, you can find a report about the SABR Analytics Conference by scholarship recipient Bailey Hall, a new SABR Games Project article written by Larry Rice, a Black History Month presentation by Dick Butler and announcements for the annual Predictatron and Awardatron contests.

Cy Morong brought a quiz inspired by interruptions to baseball seasons past called “Pandemics, Strikes and Wars.” The 24-question multiple-choice quiz featured two questions that had two correct answers and an optional final question worth a bonus 6 points if correct and a deduction of 6 points if incorrect. Jim Baker took top honors with 25 points, and, surprise surprise, Gilbert Martinez, chapter commissioner, took second place with 23 points.

For his prowess, Jim selected a limited-edition Fergie Jenkins photocard commemorating his National Baseball Hall of Fame induction in 1991, leaving the Jeff Bagwell photocard for Gilbert (thanks, Jim!). Jim gifted the Mike Mussina photocard (not pictured) to well-known Yankees fan Ira Siegel.

Take your swing at Cy’s quiz here: March 2026 Pandemics, Strikes and Wars Quiz

Here’s the answer key: March 2026 Pandemics, Strikes and Wars Quiz answer key

We also welcomed Hornsby Chapter member Mark Escamilla, who grew up in Austin and attended his first chapter meeting. He recently contributed to the chapter email list discussion about Eduardo Rodriguez’s dominant pitching performance for Venezuela against Team USA in the World Baseball Classic championship last week. Mark also did statistical analysis for the Australian National Team in the World Baseball Classic. Welcome, Mark!

This was the 232nd consecutive month in which the chapter has met, a streak dating to December 2006.

Park renaming and historical marker in honor of MLB star and Austinite Don Baylor

A few chapter members attended the unveiling of a new historical marker at an Austin city park recently renamed in Don Baylor’s honor.

You can learn more from the various local media coverage, including KXAN (https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austinite-mlb-star-has-park-named-after-him/) and Cedric Golden’s column in the Austin American-Statesman: https://www.statesman.com/sports/columns/article/don-baylor-mlb-austin-park-21949779.php

Ms. Hall goes to Phoenix

[Congratulations to chapter member Bailey Hall for being awarded SABR’s Sarah Langs Women in Baseball Analytics Scholarship, which covered registration and accommodations for the SABR Analytics Conference last month and provided a travel stipend. I asked Bailey to share her impressions of her experience. – GDM]

By Bailey Hall

Hi, everyone! I hope everyone is doing well since I last saw y’all, and I can’t wait to come back for another meeting this summer. Gilbert has asked if I would do a quick writeup of my experience at the SABR Analytics Conference that just happened (Feb. 27-March 1) in Phoenix, Arizona, so here is what I thought of it!

SABR offers so many incredible opportunities for students in both high school and college, but one of the most meaningful is the scholarships they provide to attend the national conferences. This year, I was honored to receive the Sarah Langs Women in Baseball Analytics Scholarship, which allowed me to attend the conference in Phoenix. Because of this opportunity, I was able to meet so many amazing college women who share a passion for baseball and who were also able to attend thanks to this scholarship. 

So, with the scholarship, I arrived in Phoenix on a Wednesday morning. A man named Tyrone Brooks, who works for MLB but works closely with SABR, had a few events for the other scholarship winners before the conference began on Friday. Tyrone, who has worked in baseball for about 30 years and seems to know every person who works in MLB, was able to take us to about 12 front offices of the teams in Phoenix. At each facility, we were able to get a bit of a tour of the spring training complex, and then we were able to speak with a panel of employees about what their jobs look like. We spoke to scouts, coaches, player development employees, data analysts, performance scientists, biomechanics specialists, therapists, nutritionists, and more! It was really interesting to see how each team presented themselves. What I found interesting is that the general vibe you get from watching a team (cocky, big/small market, data driven, etc.) seemed to align with the vibe of the front office staff. 

As for the actual conference, which began that Friday, I found it quite different from the national convention held each summer. It was much more about networking and connecting for jobs, and the presentations were very data focused rather than historical. My favorite presentation was about developing a stat for third base coaches and determining their added value to a team. The idea was to perfect a third base coach’s accuracy in determining when to send a player home or not, and it took into account things like distance, runner speed, outfielder momentum, game time scenario, etc. The broader concept of expanding stats past just the players was recurring at the conference. Another presentation discussed the development of statistics to measure a manager’s added value to a team, almost like wins above replacement but for the coaching staff. I found this to be an interesting new area of interest, and I am curious to hear what you guys think about this as well. 

Another interesting part of the conference was that they embraced sports betting quite significantly. They had a panel of experts who were telling people which players they would bet on and which they would not, how much they believed each player was valued at, etc. Many of the speakers also talked about how listening to Vegas can really help perfect your statistical models because Vegas is almost never wrong about player predictions of injury, longevity, and overall value. Again, I am curious what you guys think about that!

There were many other interesting talks at the conference, and I believe some of them can be watched virtually if anyone is interested in checking them out. I also want to mention that Gilbert wrote me an incredible recommendation letter for my scholarship application, and I’m sure that played a big role in me receiving it. I’m very grateful for his support and wanted to thank him for that.

If anyone has questions about the conference, I’d be happy to talk more about it, and I’d also love to hear everyone’s thoughts. Happy spring training, everyone—I hope to see you all soon!

A chance for glory: Predictatron begins anew!

By Jim Baker

It won’t be long now until the regular season gets underway, which means that another installment of the Predictatron contest comes along with it. 

Attached you will find everything you need to know about getting your ballot submitted so that you can participate in this chapter institution. The deadline is 11:59 p.m. Friday, March 27.

Everyone is gunning for defending champion Mike Harrell, who will be looking to repeat. Last season, we had 25 participants, an all-time high. New players are welcome and encouraged. 

Instructions: 2026 Hornsby Predictatron Rules and Instructions

Ballot: 2026 Hornsby Predictatron Ballot

Another chance for glory: Awardatron seeks prognosticators!

By Ryan Pollack

Hear ye, hear ye — we are less than a week from the MLB season opener, which means the 2026 Awardatron contest is now open for submissions!

You know the drill: predict the BBWAA award winners in each league and win big points, I mean, bragging rights to your friends!! Unskilled at prognostication? Don’t fret, you’ll have the chance to change one pick in each league at the All-Star Break in exchange for reduced points. 

Either way you could join the ranks of these esteemed contest winners from years past:

2025: Ryan Pollack
2024: Mike McNulty
2023: Mike Cohen
2022: Scott Gay

Yes, if your name is Mike, you have a 50% chance of winning! 

Ballots are due 9 a.m. (Central Time) on Wednesday, March 25. The season kicks off that evening with the Giants & Yankees before a full slate of games the following day. 

Don’t delay, submit your picks today!!

Congrats to chapter member Larry Rice for his Games Project article!

At the invitation of SABR Games Project coordinator John Fredland, chapter member Larry Rice submitted “September 4, 2006: Home run, near no-hitter make it a Labor Day to remember for Ramón Ortiz,” published last month. Here’s a link to the article: https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/september-4-2006-home-run-near-no-hitter-make-it-a-labor-day-to-remember-for-ramon-ortiz/

Congrats, Larry!

Black History Month presentation about baseball by Dick Butler

Dick Butler, along with Clifton Fifer Jr., gave a Black History Month presentation on baseball titled “Kerrville All-Stars: Black Town Baseball in the Jim Crow Era” at the Patrick Heath Public Library in Boerne last month. Dick talked about the Kerrville All-Stars, a Black town baseball team that played from the 1920s until about 1970. Mr. Fifer provided anecdotes and personal stories about the All-Stars.  His father was a player and manager for the All-Stars.

In September, Dick is scheduled to publish “Hill Country Ball: Depression-Era Baseball in the Texas German Belt” (Texas Tech University Press). Click here for more about the new book.

Congrats, Dick!

Nicole Bryan joins Hornsby Chapter leadership

I’m pleased to announce that Nicole Bryan has joined the chapter leadership team to serve as a director, along with Dick Butler, who joined the team in January. They join Commissioner Martinez, Monte Cely, Ryan Pollack, Jerry Miller and Don Dingee on the leadership team.

Hornsby Chapter commissioner election process

It’s been nearly three years since the Hornsby Chapter adopted chapter bylaws and conducted its first chapter commissioner election. In accordance with the bylaws, we are preparing for the chapter’s second election. Many thanks to Dick Butler, election coordinator, Ryan Pollack, election observer, and Don Dingee, election registrar. A call for nominations will go out on April 2 with an online election to occur in mid-May. The newly elected commissioner will then assemble a team of directors to assist in running the chapter. Questions about this process can be directed to Don.

Next meeting

As has become a recent tradition and for the third consecutive April, Nicole Bryan and Brian Hall are generously opening their home to host the chapter monthly meeting at noon Saturday, April 18, in Central Austin. A call for RSVPs will go out in early April. Hope to see you there!

February 2026 Newsletter

By Gilbert D. Martinez

An interstate trip down memory lane and a fun quiz to prepare us for spring training filled the Rogers Hornsby Chapter’s celebration of SABR Day on Saturday.

Fourteen members – including some from faraway lands such as Milwaukee, Michigan, Colorado Springs and Boston – joined us on Zoom to hear author Marshall Garvey read a chapter from his book, “Interstate ’85: The Royals, the Cardinals, and the Show-Me World Series.”

Garvey, who lives in the Sacramento area, read from his book, published last year. He said he sought to tell the story of the 1985 World Series by conducting new interviews with key participants on both teams, including George Brett, Ozzie Smith and Andy Van Slyke, and umpire Don Denkinger, who reflected on an infamous call that brought joy to one side and fury to the other.

But Garvey shared that his book goes beyond the play-by-play of the World Series and Denkinger’s call. He said he wanted to take a deep dive in this World Series to tell the human stories of those involved.

He described his book as a “compassionate book,” and invited all baseball fans, even Cardinals fans, to give it a read. The book, published by the University of Missouri Press, can be purchased through many booksellers, such as amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. Here’s more information from the book publisher:

https://upress.missouri.edu/9780826223272/interstate-85/

Many thanks to Marshall Garvey for joining us to celebrate SABR Day! He said he’s hopeful to publish the first paperback edition of the book soon.

To see his full presentation, please check out this recording on YouTube:

At the start of the meeting, we took a moment to remember three-time World Series champion Terrance Gore, who died after a routine surgery a few days before. We remember how Gore, with his blazing speed, demonstrated his value as a late-game pinch runner to help his team win ballgames.

https://bsky.app/profile/royals.com/post/3mebwpkibsk2j

This was the 231st consecutive month in which the chapter has met, either in person or virtually.

SABR Town Ball Research Committee

Dick Butler, member of the Hornsby Chapter leadership team, has been part of the creation of SABR’s Town Ball Research Committee and shared details about the committee’s first meeting held last month. He said the committee has set a goal to create a database of all town ball teams across the country. “We hope it will be a resource for future researchers,” he said, adding that they hope it helps identify town ball players who may have gone on to play professional baseball.

Click here for more information about the committee.

Starting to feel a lot like spring…

Jim Baker put together a quiz about teams and their spring training sites to get us ready for the return of the game we love.

Cy Morong took top honors with 10 points, followed by Jerry with 9, and Don and guest Steven with 8.

Take a swing at Jim’s quiz here: Jim Baker’s spring training quiz

Here are the answers: Jim Baker’s spring training quiz answers

Contractatron Update!

 (After the conclusion of the World Series last year, Ryan Pollack challenged us to predict the contracts for 10 of the biggest free agents this offseason. Now, only one from this group remains unsigned — Zac Gallen! Here’s Ryan’s update after Framber Valdez signed with the Detroit Tigers last week.)

By Ryan Pollack

Framber Valdez signed a 3-year, $115M contract with the Tigers [last] week and hoo boy did we all not see that coming!

Just like we have with the past few free agent signings, we all mostly missed big time. The median guess from this group was a $152.5M deal. Here’s how we fared, individually:

Yes, Mike Cohen came in first place with a whopping 26.1% miss. Overall it’s the third-worst we’ve done as a group:

With Framber’s signing, here are the current standings:

One more to go! Zac Gallen, we await your signing!!

Next Meeting

Next month’s meeting will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 21, at Serranos (5030 US 290, Austin, TX 78735) in Southwest Austin at the intersection of MoPac and U.S. 290. A request for RSVPs will go out on the website and Google Group at the beginning of the month. Hope to see you there as we prepare for opening day!