August 2026 Newsletter
By Gilbert D. Martinez
Chapter Commissioner
With the Little League World Series in full swing at Williamsport, Penn., a dozen chapter members and guests were treated to some recent history: recounting the last Texas team to make it to the LLWS U.S. Championship game just two years ago.
Chapter member Tim Christ, whose son Kaleb was on the team from Boerne, joined the chapter via Zoom to talk about his book, “How Boerne Made History and Played on Their Field of Dreams,” recounting that team’s magical August run. He also discussed just how much dedication it takes from the player and family to achieve high performance in youth sports and how the league and parents can support the mental health of the players.
The book is readily available from booksellers such as Amazon at this link. For those wanting to shop locally, the book can be purchased at D-BAT locations in Boerne.
Thanks so much to Tim and our members for joining us for a fascinating discussion! If you missed it, check out the video recording at this link or the video below.
Longtime Round Rock Express season ticket holder and chapter member Andy York assembled a quiz with a focus on MLB All-Stars who have played at Dell Diamond. Jerry Miller and Ryan Pollack tied with 17 points each, with Jerry edging by Ryan on tiebreakers. Andy offered prizes that were giveaways at the Dell: a Lance Berkman bobblehead and replica rings (Texas Rangers World Series in 2023 and Houston Astros NL Pennant in 2005).
Take a swing at Andy’s excellent quiz:
Check your answers against the answer key:
Hornsby Chapter achieves All-Star status again
For the third consecutive year, the Rogers Hornsby Chapter achieved All-Star status, earning a $250 award for chapter operations. Hornsby Chapter leadership uses these funds to support our Baseball Memories program. The recognition was announced at SABR 54, the annual conference, which was held in Cleveland. Congratulations to our friends at the Larry Dierker Chapter (Houston) for also earning All-Star chapter status. The Hornsby and Dierker chapters were two of 10 recognized for All-Star status.
“I’m grateful for recognition by SABR HQ for the efforts we have made in the Hornsby Chapter,” said Gilbert D. Martinez, Hornsby Chapter commissioner. “In recent years, we’ve adopted bylaws, held two leadership elections, maintained a monthly newsletter and website and created a wide variety of activities for our members throughout the year.”
Ten chapters were recognized for the highest tier, MVP. For more information, please see the news release from SABR HQ: https://sabr.org/latest/sabr-chapters-committees-honored-for-exceptional-performance-in-2025-26/
SABR 54 national convention reflections
By Jerry Miller
In late July, I attended the 54th annual SABR convention in Cleveland. Overall, it was my fourth convention, including last year’s in DFW, and it did not disappoint. The convention featured literally dozens of workshops on virtually every subject imaginable. Many of them, including two on Satchel Paige that I attended, focused on the colorful history of the local teams (Indians/Guardians/Buckeyes), as did several larger presentations featuring a panel of 1990s players (Mike Hargrove, Kenny Lofton, Charles Nagy, Sandy Alomar Jr. and Carlos Baerga), as well as their Hall of Fame broadcaster Tom Hamilton.
As always, there was always way too much to do, and my time was further limited by the fact that my wife and kids were in the area for a family reunion (which my wife began to plan once she learned the convention was in her hometown). I did, however, go on the bus tour of historic Cleveland baseball sites (Rocky Colavito statue, the grave of Ray Chapman, and the site of League Park and the Baseball Heritage Museum) and attended (with the family) the Friday night game at Progressive Field. And I added stops in Pittsburgh (where I attended two Pirates games at my now-favorite ballpark, saw the Roberto Clemente museum and hunted down the former sites of Forbes Field and other lost ballparks) and Cincinnati (where I located the remnants of Crosley Field).
We had some Texas representation at the convention. Several of the Larry Dierker (Houston) Chapter members were present, and the trivia contest winner was from the DFW chapter. I finished tied for 14th out of 70, which I didn’t think was half bad, given the competition. I was also glad to see that they included in our convention goodie bag a flier touting our own Dick Butler’s upcoming book on baseball in the Hill Country.
Next year’s convention is in a fairly unusual locale (Birmingham, Alabama), which I am told was chosen in part because of the uncertainty over whether there will be major league baseball next year. A trip to Rickwood Field, the oldest baseball park in America in current, continuous use, would certainly be an attraction.
I plan to prepare a slideshow of my trip for the winter meeting in January. You’ve been warned!
Speaking of the winter meeting…
The 21st Annual Bill Gilbert Winter Meeting is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 9, 2027, at Texas State University. Jerry Miller, winter meeting coordinator, and the Hornsby Chapter leadership team, are working out details for the all-day meeting. Please mark you calendars (online and otherwise!) and plan accordingly.
Awardatron: August Update
By Ryan Pollack
By Ryan Pollack
Hard to believe, baseball fans, but it’s the second-to-last Awardatron update of the 2026 season. Time flies, eh? Let’s get to it.
AL MVP
Favorites:Alvarez, Witt Jr, Dingler
This just might be Yordan Alvarez’s year. I wrote earlier that he’s almost a Judge-ian hitter but because Judge has the boost of non-terrible defense to Yordan’s, uh, DH-iness — that Yordan might always come up short. There’s no shame in that. Many superstars get overlooked because they happen to play alongside even greater superstars. But this year Judge has no chance as he’s been out for several months and Yordan is leading the AL in batting with a .319 average, in HR with 36, and in RBI with 90.
You know what that means — we’re now officially on Triple Crown watch.
NL MVP
Favorites: Crow-Armstrong, Ohtani, Moreno
This award is Crow-Armstrong’s to lose at this point and because Ohtani hasn’t pitched in awhile, I don’t think he will. But let’s focus on Gabriel Moreno for a bit, not because he’s on my fantasy team, but because almost no one is talking about him.
Moreno has been good, putting up >2 WAR in each full season in the big leagues, but with more than a month left in 2026 he’s already at 4.1 WAR. He is playing his typical good defense behind the plate, but in front of (or, well, beside it) he’s been a monster: currently slashing .307/.383/.468 for a 134 wRC+, compared to his previous career high of 117 last year. At age 26 this could be his breakout year. Diamondbacks fans, it’s the beginning of a peak.
AL Cy Young
Favorites: Schlittler, Cease, Messick
I’ve been writing about these guys all summer, so there’s not much left to say at this point, so I’ll just say that I’m genuinely happy for Cease, who’s flirted with this kind of year for awhile now but never truly broken out.
NL Cy Young
Favorites: Misiorowski, Sale, Sanchez
Kind of like the above: what else is there to say at this point? The Miz seems like a lock for the award, so instead of writing about his baseball stats, let’s all recognize he’s a gigantic Pokemon nerd.
AL Rookie of the Year
Favorites: McGonigle, Messick, Tolle
The Red Sox have turned their season around extensively due in no small part to Payton Tolle. The 23-year old goofball (seriously, look him up) is demonstrating excellent command, walking just 6.8% of batters, and an above-average strikeout rate at 27.7%.
NL Rookie of the Year
Favorites: Wetherholt, Benge, McLean
The Mets’ season sank before it could get going, but one bright spot is rookie Carson Benge. The 23-year old is hitting .276/.336/.425 for a 114 RC+, demonstrating good contact and on-base skills along with some power. He’s also getting slightly unlucky, indicating he hasn’t tapped into his ceiling yet. Combine that with good OF defense and the Mets have one less problem they need to solve going forward.
AL Manager of the Year
Favorites: Venable, Tracy, Cash
The Red Sox might be the AL version of this year’s Phillies. After going 10-17 under Alex Cora, they’re now 60-42 under replacement Chad Tracy and a virtual lock for the playoffs. If the White Sox make the playoffs as they’re currently on track to do, it should be tight between Tracy and Venable for the award.
NL Manager of the Year
Favorites:Murphy, Stammen, Mattingly
Craig Stammen’s Padres have had a somewhat up-and-down year. After trading away so many players and losing others to free agency, they were not expected to be strong contenders. And when Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado started the year ice cold, the pressure started to build. You can’t make the playoffs with Mason Miller alone.
Well, fast forward and now the Padres have an excellent chance of making the postseason in Stammen’s first year. If they do, the narrative might be that he provided calm and steady leadership (or lit a fire under the team; take your pick) to guide them to a playoff berth through many troubles.
Predictatron update
By Jim Baker
As weeks go, this past one was mostly a pleasant outing. And, while nobody lit up the sky with a big point explosion, only three players were in the red.
We averaged a five-point gain, with Mr. Martinez leading the way with a 13-point showing to haul off Player of the Week honors. Four other players broke the double-figure line as well: Ms. Martinez (12), Mr. Harrell (11), Mr. Wancho (11), and Mr. Butler (10). For her efforts, Ms. Martinez narrowed Mr. Robinson’s Mike Harrell Division lead by eight, as he only gained four points for the marking period. His overall lead is down to seven as Tom Wancho Division leader Mr. Pollack outpointed him 8-4.
It’s now time to revisit one of everybody’s (I’m assuming, nobody’s ever actually stated it) topics: our most vexatious teams. The numbers on these deficits have certainly come down a lot over the course of the season. While the Rays are still public enemy number one, they’re now costing us 20 points each on average, not the 31 of earlier in the season. In fact, the worst five used to end at 20 points and it now starts there.
Here they are:
Tampa Bay Rays (20): The main problem with all of these teams is their stubborn refusal to regress to the mean. Don’t they know who they really are? The (mostly) anonymous Rays are not going away, it would seem, so we’re going to have succeed in spite of them.
Chicago White Sox (19): The White Sox have now won more games than six players predicted they would, and we’re only half-way through August! Four players in the Wancho Division Locked them and are reaping the whirlwind. The best Pale Hose pick belongs to Ms. Martinez, who predicted they’d win 79 games—seven more than any other entrant. It’s an outlier pick that’s really working out.
Kansas City Royals (17): What were we thinking back in March regarding the Royals? Seven players said they’d make the playoffs and Mr. Baker predicted they’d win 90 games. The best Royals prediction is that of Mr. Gay, who said they show out for just 74 wins. (Mr. Butler was right behind him with 75.) Even they are losing eight and nine points respectively at the moment.
New York Mets (16): Starting play this week, the Mets have won nine of 12, meaning they’d be a lot closer to the top of this list without that outburst. All but three players said they’d make the postseason and we’d all thought they’d finish over .500, something they’re going to be hard pressed to do. The least-punishing Mets pick is that of Mr. Wancho, who pegged them for 83 wins and a quiet October.
Atlanta Braves and the A’s (14): Finally, while these other teams are either good when they were supposed to be bad or bad when they were supposed to be good, the A’s and Braves are, instead, exaggerations of what we said they would be. We thought the Braves would be just fine, with eight of us saying they’d make the postseason (five of us had them below .500, though). Here they are on a 97-win pace, however, taking points off our board right and left.
Meanwhile, we mostly thought the A’s would be a solidly mediocre squad, with six even predicting them besting .500. Our average pick for them was 78 wins and they’re phoning it in at a 64-win pace. The one player who saw the future out in Fresno or wherever it is they play these days was Mr. Rechtorovic the Younger. He foretold a 65-win season, making this perhaps the greatest outlier predictions of 2026 so far, as nobody else’s pick was anywhere close to that.
To end on a positive note, these are the teams we are currently nailing:
0 Yankees
1 Red Sox
1 Rangers
1 Pirates
2 Reds, Dodgers, Padres
Let’s see if any of these clubs will play themselves off of these lists over the final quarter of the season.
Through games of Sunday, August 16 or 76.9 percent of the 2026 season:
Upcoming meetings
San Antonio-area quarterly meeting
Hornsby Chapter Membership Coordinator Don Dingee continues his quarterly monthly meetings in the San Antonio area with a lunch meeting at 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29, at Max & Louie’s New York Diner in the shopping center at Bitters and West Avenue, just west of U.S. 281 and a bit north of the San Antonio airport. They’ve got a bit of everything, from classic deli sandwiches to burgers to Italian and more (Note: there’s a new Cibolo location as well – we’ll be at the original San Antonio location for this month).
Please RSVP – Aug 2026 SATX Meeting by Wednesday, Aug. 26, so we can arrange seating.
September meeting
For the September meeting, we’ll meet at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12, at Cover 3 at 2700 W. Anderson Lane in Austin. A call for RSVPs will go out on the chapter email list early next month.
October meeting
It’s almost that time of year again for one the chapter’s well-loved traditions – the World Series Watch Party at the home of Jim Baker! The plan is to gather for World Series Game 2 (teams to be announced) on the evening of Saturday, Oct. 24.
The November and December meetings are yet to be determined, but we’ll announce dates soon.
January meeting
As noted above, our biggest event of the year – the winter meeting – will be on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2027, at Texas State University. You don’t want to miss it!