Baseball Memories at AGE of Central Texas

On March 15 our SABR volunteers presented the second in our monthly series of Baseball Memories programs at AGE of Central Texas.  We again had 19 participants.  The focus of the March 15 program was “The Year in Baseball – 1969”.

One of the topics we talked about from 1969 was the Woodstock music festival.  As it turned out, one of our participants had been there!

Everyone had a great time talking about “1969” – the Miracle Mets, the Moon Landing, popular TV and music.  We will return to the AGE center in Round Rock on April 5.

Live Baseball – Recap of August 7 chapter meeting at Dell Diamond

Chapter members met at Linda and Monte Cely’s house near Dell Diamond for some baseball grub and then ventured on to the ball park for the Hornsby Chapter’s August, 2021 outing.

It was a pleasant evening at the ball park.  There was something for all Lone Star State baseball fans, as the Rangers’ and Astros’ AAA affiliates squared off.  The Astros farmhands prevailed, as Sugar Land defeated Round Rock 12-3.

Those of us that got there early enough scored a Yordan Alvarez ROY bobblehead:

We were having such a good time that we forgot to take any pictures of ourselves!  Nine Hornsby Chapter members were in attendance.

Talking Baseball wrapping up sixth year of baseball reminiscence

The “Talking Baseball” (originally known as BasebALZ) reminiscence program will celebrate six years of operation next month.  Chapter member Jim Kenton proposed this community service effort to the Hornsby Chapter at our January 2015 Winter Meeting and, as the saying goes, “the rest is history”.

Even the global pandemic could not stop Talking Baseball!  After experimenting with informational newsletters, the program went “online” using Zoom during the Summer of 2020.  Current offerings are held every other Monday in Austin and every other Wednesday in Georgetown.

Speaking of the Georgetown program, a nice article recently appeared about that offering in the April 2021 edition of Sun Rays, the official magazine of Sun City Texas.  Take a look, it’s a great read!

 

Talking Baseball at Dell Diamond

Fifty one participants, caregivers, and volunteers enjoyed a day of “Spring Training” on February 19 at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas.  Our BasebALZ and “Talking Baseball” groups from Austin and Sun City/Georgetown were hosted by the AAA Round Rock Express baseball club.

We had planned to play whiffle-ball on the pro diamond, but inclement weather forced the event indoors.  Not to worry, the Express opened up the clubhouse and batting cages to the group:

After Express GM Tim Jackson welcomed the group, former major league pitcher Ross Ohlendorf threw “batting practice” to the participants (above).  For those not wanting to “step up to the plate”, a game of baseball beanbag toss was underway in the next batting cage.

Other highlights of the day included:

Trading baseball cards with new/unopened packs of cards provided by Card Traders of Austin.  Several Nolan Ryan cards were located – but none were traded!

Breaking in and oiling up baseball gloves.

Lunch provided by Alzheimer’s Texas.  After lunch, Ross Ohlendorf led a very interesting Q&A session with the group.

The day was viewed as a great success by all involved.  Perhaps it is best summed up by one of the SABR volunteers, who stated: “I am proud to have been involved in the organization of our group and feel supremely lucky to associate with such a great group of guys and gal. I find it interesting that our efforts to help others has resulted in such a great gift to ourselves.  Or at least that’s how I feel. Being involved has rekindled my baseball juices, which died along with my playing career.”

An excellent video about the event (6 min.) can be viewed here.

The event was also covered by local media.  An article can be found on page 2 of the local newspaper:  Williamson County Sun

We hope to make this an annual event.  Many thanks to Tim Jackson and the Round Rock Express, to Ross Ohlendorf, to Card Traders of Austin, to our long-time sponsor Alzheimer’s Texas, and to our many dedicated volunteers.  

 

 

 

BasebALZ opens at Sun City Texas

January 8th was Opening Day for the BasebALZ program at Sun City Texas.  Thirty participants, caregivers, and volunteers kicked off the Sun City “season” at the Wesleyan at Estrella in Georgetown, Texas.

This new program at Sun City continues the  partnership between SABR and Alzheimer’s Texas to provide baseball reminiscence programs in Central Texas.  BasebALZ project leader Jim Kenton worked closely with volunteers in Sun City, led by fellow SABR member Bob Wakefield, to get the program started there.  Alzheimer’s Texas coordinated the facility, paid for lunch, and handled publicity and registration.

Here’s a quote from one of the caregivers who attended with her husband: “I just wanted to tell you that this program is excellent, fun, and my husband, who has been very depressed and lonely, enjoyed the session greatly.  It was the first time, in a long time, that he was engaged, laughed some, and interacted so well with the volunteers, the other participants, and the presentations.  He especially liked the fact that you provided the Allman Brothers connection.  I also met another caregiver, who is experiencing similar issues as I am, and we have already exchanged phone numbers.”  

Some of the baseball experiences shared by those in attendance:

One went to three of the four games of the 1946 World Series with his Dad at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis.  He is a big Stan Musial fan.

Another played ball as a youngster with Jimmy Piersall, in Waterbury, CT.

Still another is a big Rocky Colavito fan.

The local newspaper, the Williamson County Sun, covered the program in a front page article here: The Sun BasebALZ

2020 is off to a great start!  Sun City will continue on a bi-weekly basis.  The monthly program at the Kerrville V.A. held its first monthly session on January 10.  Season 2 of the San Antonio program kicks off on January 23rd.  And our original program in Austin begins Season 14 (its fifth year) on January 27th.

BasebALZ featured on L.A. Times sports page

L.A. Times sports columnist Bill Plaschke (left) with BasebALZ participants.
L.A. SABR chapter BasebALZ leader Jon Leonoudakis (center-Pirates jersey) with participants.

Our SABR colleagues in Los Angeles have been having great success with their BasebALZ programs. We here in Texas are very excited to have been able to provide some advice and guidance to help them get started.

The Sunday, July 28 L.A. Times featured an article on the sports section front page highlighting their efforts. The article was written by well-known sports columnist Bill Plaschke.

A copy of the article is at the link below:

LA Times BasebALZ

“Talking Baseball” enjoys evening at Dell Diamond

Twenty participants, volunteers and family from the baseball reminiscence program enjoyed an evening at Dell Diamond in Round Rock on Monday May 13. 

In a “rematch” (of sorts) of the 2017 World Series, the Astros and Dodgers AAA affiliates squared off.  The Express prevailed 5-2 over the OKC Dodgers.

A big “THANK YOU” goes out to United Heritage Credit Union for arranging the use of their luxury suite plus food and drink.  Thanks, as always, to our great sponsors at Alzheimer’s Texas.  A good time was had by all. 

Baseball Reminiscence program celebrates 100th session

The “Talking Baseball” reminiscence program celebrated its 100th session on Monday April 8 at Westminster Senior Living in Austin.  Our SABR chapter’s program in Austin, offered in conjunction with Alzheimer’s Texas, has been running for four years.  This session concluded our 11th “season” in Austin.  The monthly program in Kerrville, in cooperation with the Veteran’s Administration there, has been in operation for three years.

We had “standing room only” with 26 participants, caregivers, family, guests and volunteers in attendance.  This also set a record for attendance at a single session.

Two special guests joined us for our Centennial program.  Former Texas Longhorn and professional baseball pitcher Jim Gideon (standing) entertained the group with stories of his years at U.T. and in the Texas Rangers organization.  Jim also fielded questions and autographed baseball cards and baseballs for the attendees.  Local radio personality and Alzheimer’s Texas board member Ed Clements (seated) added to the fun.  We sincerely thank Ed and Jim for joining us.

Very special thanks to our long-time sponsors at Alzheimer’s Texas.  In addition to all their logistical support, they even brought the cake!

Our next scheduled events are the monthly program at Kerrville VA Hospital and then a night at Dell Diamond in May (in one of the luxury suites courtesy of United Heritage Credit Union).   Planning for Season 12 is underway.  Stay tuned! 

 

Texas Talking Baseball 2019 Opening Day(s)

“Talking Baseball” (aka BasebALZ) opened its Texas 2019 season with a session at the Kerrville, Texas VA Hospital.  Six veterans, plus hospital staff and administrators, were in attendance.  This is the 30th program session that we’ve delivered at Kerrville, and we continue to get great feedback from our staff contacts there.

SABR volunteers Jim, Mike, Dan & Ann join VA staff for the January 18 session.

On January 28, we kicked off our 11th “season” of Talking Baseball programs in Austin.  We were very happy to welcome several new participants and their caregivers.  Eleven participants, caregivers and guests joined our eight volunteers.

In addition to our usual program offerings, we experimented with some new segments.  One, entitled “Baseball Time Machine“, asked “If you could go back in time to one ballgame, what game would it be?”  We had some lively (and funny) examples, for instance – one of the participants missed Kirk Gibson’s classic World Series walk-off homer because his wife sent him out for Chinese food!

Another new segment was “Get Up and Move”.  The idea is to add some light physical activity to the program.  Our first try at this was “The Chicken Dance”, a staple at our local AAA ballpark.  As you can see from the pictures above, we did get up and move.

One of our regular segments is “Stump the Experts”.  Bobby (far end of table in Yankee pinstripes) and Renee attempt to stump the SABR “experts” with a series of clues about a ballplayer’s identity.  Bobby took it easy on us today, as we were able to successfully identify that the ballplayer was former Rangers star Josh Hamilton.

Our 2019 season will continue in February with a session at Kerrville on February 8 and sessions at Westminster Senior Living in Austin on February 11 and 25.

We have been offering the Talking Baseball reminiscence program since the Spring of 2015.  Our April, 2019 session in Austin will be our 100th session!  It has been a fun and rewarding experience for all of us.

BasebALZ – 2018 Texas Recap

2018 was a busy year for baseball reminiscence in Texas.  The Rogers Hornsby Chapter of SABR provided baseball-themed programs in Austin, Kerrville, and San Antonio.  We also worked with SABR members nationally to help expand and support this rewarding effort.

Our baseball reminiscence program, nicknamed “BasebALZ”, uses baseball history, anecdotes, and trivia to promote pleasant memories and discussion of the past for participants (and their family members) dealing with dementia.  Reminiscence therapy is an effective technique to help improve the well-being of those dealing with dementia, along with their family and caregivers.

Here are a few 2018 highlights:

In AUSTIN we began our fourth year of operation and delivered 18 BasebALZ sessions, organized into three “seasons” consisting of six biweekly sessions apiece.  The program is sponsored by Alzheimer’s Texas here in the capital city and is supported by funding from the DKR Research Fund.  We currently meet at Westminster Senior Living.

Attendance has been consistently strong in Austin with varied programs delivered by a dedicated group of volunteers.  Average attendance is around 14-18 participants, caregivers and volunteers; the high session attendance for the year was twenty.  In addition to talking about baseball, we include other reminiscence topics such as music, “this day in history”, memorabilia, “stump the experts”, baseball bingo – just to name a few.

A periodic “Do the Twist” contest has become a favorite activity.

Our last Austin session on November 19 was “standing room only”.

Our participants and caregivers are regular contributors to the agenda.  John (l) keeps order and leads the singing.  Bobby and Renee (r) present a regular item called “Stump the Experts”.  They provide a list of clues about the identity of a major league ballplayer and see if they can stump the SABR volunteers.  They “batted” about .500 in 2018, often stumping the “experts”.

We enjoy sharing memorabilia and sometimes get some “swag” from other non-profits.  Here the group sports t-shirts provided by the Eddie Gaedel Society (yes, there is one) in honor of one of owner Bill Veeck’s most notorious promotions.

We usually wrap up the spring/summer sessions with a night out at Dell Diamond in Round Rock.  We enjoyed a luxury suite courtesy of Alzheimer’s Texas and United Heritage Credit Union.

 

We continued to offer a BasebALZ program monthly at the Veterans Administration Hospital in KERRVILLE.  The administrators and staff have been very supportive of the reminiscence efforts.  Our volunteers have touched twenty individual veterans at the hospital, with average attendance of veterans, staff, and volunteers around fifteen per session.

As the participants at the VA are generally institutionalized with serious physical disabilities, the BasebALZ program not only helps them to “open up” and share memories of the past, but also serves as a change of pace to relieve potential isolation or loneliness.

The vets have some great stories.  A recent participant recalled his experiences at Utah Beach on D-Day.

The staff at Kerrville VA is so enthusiastic about BasebALZ that they’ve asked for our help to enable them to offer the program themselves more frequently.  We’re working with them on this now.

 

SAN ANTONIO – on November 15 we conducted our first BasebALZ session at the Alzheimer’s Association – San Antonio and South Texas offices.  We had a nice “opening day” turnout of 14 participants, caregivers, staff and volunteers.

We were very encouraged by the staff support and level of interaction among the participants and caregivers.  Lunch was provided by Wrigleyville Grill and it was ballpark food at its best.  We are looking forward to scheduling an ongoing program in the Alamo City in 2019.

 

NATIONALLY – Outside of the Lone Star State, SABR members are currently leading baseball reminiscence programs in Connecticut, New York, and Los Angeles.  We have also had dialog with SABR chapter leaders in both the North New Jersey and South New Jersey chapters, as well as San Diego and San Francisco.  We are available to assist, as needed, to further the adoption of this meaningful and rewarding program.

More information on BasebALZ is available on our chapter web site at:  http://www.sabrhornsby.org/about-basebalz/