Author: Jan Larson

Watch Party summary

Thirteen Hornsby Chapter members and guests gathered at the home of Jim Baker to watch Game Four of the 2016 World Series and enjoy a pot luck dinner featuring Jim’s world (well, at least locally if not regionally) famous meatball sandwiches.

Among the group of mostly Cleveland Indians supporters, at least for this game, was long suffering Indians fan and Cleveland native, Tom Wancho, who enjoyed the Tribe’s 7-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs.  The win pushed the Indians’ lead in the Series to three games to one.  The streak of sixty eight seasons of heartbreak and futility for Clevelanders can be ended with one more victory.  Will it happen?   Only time will tell.

The November chapter meeting will once again feature a weekend lunch an an Austin area establishment.  Watch this space for details.

Mexican Baseball Fiesta wrap-up

On the evening of Saturday, September 24, fourteen Hornsby Chapter members and guests enjoyed pre-game BBQ at the Salt Lick restaurant followed by Game One of the “Mexican Baseball Fiesta” at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas.  The “Fiesta” featured the Águilas de Mexicali (Mexicali Eagles) versus the Naranjeros de Hermosillo (Hermasillo Orange Growers) of the Mexican Pacific League in a two game “fall training” series.  One of the coaches for the Naranjeros is Mario Mendoza; he of the (in)famous “Mendoza Line.”

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Although the skies were threatening prior to game time, nary a drop of rain fell and by the time the tarp was removed from the field, lines added, players warmed up and ground rules covered in what is apparently not atypical in the Mexican league, the first pitch of the game, scheduled for 6:00 p.m. actually took place at 7:30.

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With some of the “color” typical in Mexican League games, including a mascot hamming it up on the field and continuously playing music (piped in for this game as opposed to the live performances in regular season games) the Naranjeros left the field at the end of the game with a 3-0 win.

The next Hornsby Chapter get-together is scheduled for Saturday, October 29 at the home of Jim Baker where we will enjoy and critique Game Four of the 2016 World Series.  More information will be forthcoming.

August Lunch Meeting Wrap-Up

Eleven Hornsby Chapter members got together for a Saturday afternoon lunch meeting at the Macaroni Grill in the Arboretum in Austin. Jim Baker provided a very challenging quiz (some contestants were shut out) on the subject of Italian Major Leaguers. Tom Thayer, however, came through with a monster performance and took home the top prize.

Other topics discussed included Gilbert and Raeanne Martinez’s recent trip to Japan and Okinawa, the Yankees’ release of Alex Rodriguez and call up of young players, the chapter’s involvement in the BasebALZ project.

Our next meeting is scheduled for Saturday, September 24 at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock when we take in the Hermosillo vs. Mexicali game.  We have reserved a block of tickets.  Click here for more details.  Note:  For college football fans, the Texas Longhorns do not play that day.

September Baseball

Two of the top clubs in the Mexican Winter League will be at Dell Diamond on Saturday evening September 24 for a “pre-season” exhibition ball game.  This is part of a U.S. “Fall training” tour that the teams will be making prior to their season opening in mid-October.

 

The two teams, Naranjeros (Orange growers) de Hermosillo (Sonora) and Aguilas (Eagles) de Mexicali (Baja Calif. North) are successful franchises in the Liga Mexicana del Pacifico, the Mexican winter league.  In fact, they have been the two most recent Mexican hosts of the Caribbean World Series (Mexicali in 2009 and Hermosillo in 2013).  Naranjeros were the first Mexican club to win the Caribbean Series (in 1976) and have won the Series as recently as 2014.  Hermosillo has captured 16 Mexican Winter League titles.

 

We will plan for this event to be our chapter’s September monthly meeting.  Jan Larson has arranged for a block of tickets that are available to chapter members for $10 each.  These tickets are available to you on a first-come, first-served basis.  We can take orders up to September 10, or until this block of tickets is sold out.  All ticket commitments as of that date are final, payable to Jan.  Contact Jan at jan.a.larson@gmail.com to reserve your seat(s).

 

We’ll see y’all at Dell Diamond for some exciting beisbol latinomericano.

June Meeting Included BBQ and Baseball

by Jan Larson
The June meeting of the Rogers Hornsby Chapter consisted of a trip to the Dell Diamond for the Round Rock vs. Colorado Springs game that followed a pre-game BBQ dinner at the nearby Salt Lick restaurant.  A total of eighteen Hornsby chapter members and guests attended one or both.

An announced crowd of over 10,000 fans were disappointed as the home standing Express fell to the Sky Sox by the score of 8-5.  Despite the loss a good time was had by all.

Plans are pending for the July meeting.  Watch this space for more information.

May Chapter Meeting Summary

by Gilbert Martinez

Nine chapter members gathered in southwest Austin for the monthly meeting, the 114th consecutive month in which the chapter has met.

The group talked about a wide range of baseball topics, including the news of plans for a new stadium in Arlington for the Texas Rangers, the disappointing season for the Houston Astros, and the surprising Philadelphia Phillies. We also talked about whether waiving the four-pitch walk would speed up the game (most of us agreed that it wouldn’t save much time). In a continuation of our online email discussion, we also agreed that advertising on baseball uniforms, though not favored, seems to be inevitable.

On a personal note, I was very grateful to lead the group in a toast to my Tio Arturo Martinez, who died last month. He took me to my first game at old Yankees Stadium 24 years ago. May he rest in peace.

Next meeting will include a Round Rock Express game on Saturday, June 25, and a pre-game dinner at Salt Lick BBQ. More details to come.