September 2026 Newsletter
By Gilbert D. Martinez
Chapter Commissioner
Eleven chapter members and guests gathered in Central Austin at Cover 3 on Saturday to remember a founding member of the chapter and his contributions to our community.
While it was the 238th consecutive month in which the chapter has met, it felt a little bit different without Jan Larson, an active chapter member and leader. Jan and spouse Connie recently passed away while coping with health challenges that prevented them from joining us for monthly meetings in the last year.
We saved a seat at the table for them with flowers on the National Baseball Hall of Fame logo. Of the many contributions Jan made to the chapter over the years, his introduction of a chapter Hall of Fame vote at the annual winter meeting has proven to be a favorite activity. We often found that our votes, just weeks before the annual announcements by the Baseball Writers Association of America, proved prophetic. Sometimes, we found that our members had higher standards for the hall than the baseball writers.
We also noted that many members remembered how welcoming Jan Larson was. He’d often introduce himself to new members, finding out who they rooted for and what they loved about baseball. He’d share his lifelong pursuit of attending Major League Baseball games all across the country and around the world, including in London and Sydney, Australia, the latter at the Sydney Cricket Grounds. Monte Cely, who attended many Express games at Dell Diamond with Jan, noted Jan’s fondness for dollar dog nights.
Jan was also known to have had an extensive ballcap collection, curated from his baseball outings with friends and family. At one baseball playoffs watch party featuring multiple teams, he brought the caps for all the teams playing and put them on when each team took the lead.
We will miss Jan and Connie Larson at our gatherings. They were good people who made the chapter special and better. Chapter Commissioner Gilbert D. Martinez is planning a tribute at the Bill Gilbert Winter Meeting on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2027, at Texas State University.
The families of Jan and Connie have not announced funeral or memorial services. If we hear of any plans, we’ll share with the membership.
Inspired by Jan’s cap collection, Jerry Miller rolled out the Baseball/Football Quiz, challenging attendees to recall renowned players from both professional sports. When giving the answers, Jerry donned a cap associated with the player for added flair and as a cap tip to Jan. Well done.
Cy Morong dominated this quiz with 20 total points, and Dan Walsh placed second with 18 points. Ryan Pollack (11) and Dick Butler (10) also achieved double digits.
Appropriately, Jerry Miller offered book prizes for the winners: “Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments” and “Why We Love Football: A History in 100 Moments,” both by Joe Posnanski. For the record, first-place winner Cy chose the baseball book, leaving the football book for Dan.
Take a swing and/or pass at Jerry’s quiz here: Baseball/Football Quiz
The answers are provided at the bottom on the document after the questions. Good luck!
Boerne Book Festival
Hornsby Chapter members Tim Christ and Dick Butler will be featured authors at the Boerne Book Festival at 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3, at the Patrick Heath Public Library in Boerne. Both will participate on the Hill Country Baseball panel.
Tim will discuss his book, “How Boerne Made History and Played on Their Field of Dreams,” the story of the 2024 Boerne Little League team that played in the American finals of the 2024 Little League World Series. Dick will review his book, “Hill Country Ball: Depression-Era Baseball in the Texas German Belt,” the story of town baseball 100 years ago in the Hill Country when teams like the Boerne White Sox, Fredericksburg Giants, Comfort Broncos and Kerrville Braves played.
Predictatron update: Scramble for Glory
By Jim Baker
We averaged a five-point gain this past week as nobody lost any points, which is nice for a change. For the fifth time this season, Mr. Dillon is our Player of the Week. Is this a record? No. You might recall that Mr. Harrell ran up seven such awards two seasons ago and Mr. Siegel has had a couple of seasons where he claimed many of these awards.
Mr. Pollack has retaken the lead in the Tom Wancho Division, outpointing previous leader Mr. McIntosh 6-2 to turn the trick. Mr. Gay is in third place, just six points back, but the real tale is told when we look at their postseason picks.
All three have the Dodgers defeating the Mariners in the World Series. Seattle is officially out of it (by any sane reckoning), so the ability for any one of these players to add more points than the others going forward is severely limited. This means what they do in the final weeks of the season is going to be very important, as is who they picked to make the playoffs.
Pollack: Yanks in ALCS, Mets in NLCS (gone)
McIntosh: Phils vs. Dodgers in NLCS; Tigers vs. Mariners in ALCS (gone)
Gay: Braves vs. Dodgers in NLCS; Jays vs. Mariners in ALCS (almost gone)
Moving on to the overall lead, let’s throw in our current leader, Mr. Robinson, who also has the Dodgers defeating the Mariners in the World Series. He’s got the Red Sox losing to the Mariners in the ALCS and the Mets losing to the Dodgers in the NLCS, so that’s 16 points off the board. The difference between his postseason picks vs. Mr. Pollack’s comes down to Red Sox or Yankees. If one of those two teams makes the ALCS, it could mean the difference in the contest.
There is one more contender who can completely disrupt this situation. Ms. Martinez is the only player in the contest who still has all 48 postseason points in play at this juncture. If things go according to her prognostications, she will win the contest running away. The catch is that much of her future success is in the hands of the Houston Astros, a team that will enter the postseason (they’re currently being given a 75 percent chance to do so) as one of the underdogs to go all the way. Any failure on their part will derail her advantage to a terminal degree.
Does anybody have a chance? Yes, Mr. Rechtorovic the Elder has an outside shot if the Yankees are World Champions. To make this a better chance, he needs to move closer to the top before the regular season expires.
Now, there are a host of playoff-bound teams who have either no or very little representation in our postseason ballots. Should Atlanta, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, both Chicagos, Arizona, San Diego, Tampa Bay, and Boston end up as World Champion, it will mean that your regular season score will be much more important than if the Dodgers or Yankees win it.
Next meeting: World Series Watch Party!
Please plan to join us next month for one of the chapter’s most anticipated events: the World Series Watch Party hosted by Jim Baker! Here’s what we know: We’ll watch World Series Game 2 on the evening of Saturday, Oct. 24. Jim is an excellent and generous host for this long-running chapter tradition. We have a great time every time, whether your team plays (and wins!) or not. What we don’t know is which teams will battle it out in the World Series, and we won’t know for another six weeks!
We are planning mid-month meetings in November and December. Dates are to be announced. November will likely be in Southwest Austin and December, according to tradition, will be at County Line BBQ.
The 21st Annual Bill Gilbert Winter Meeting will be Saturday, Jan. 9, 2027, at Texas State University in San Marcos. Planning for the meeting is well underway, and details will be shared in the coming months as we finalize plans.