Category: Chapter News

Try to remember the kind of September

Quite a while ago, in a city pretty far away – if memory serves, it was named “Pomona,” where we made missiles in drab buildings with endless concrete floors and walls and the faint aroma of solder everywhere – we worked with this engineer named George. A mountain of a Mexican man, he always had a smile on his face, like he knew something we didn’t. We’d ask George how it was going, and without fail, his response was, “Better days, man. Better days ahead.” Always, even on the days that obviously weren’t better. “Better days.”

I hadn’t thought about that again until today. As we all reflect on the passing of Jan and Connie Larson, I’d encourage each of us to take a small memory of them from better days, put it on a shelf somewhere in our head, and dust it off to look at every once in a while. I’ll assure each of you there are better days ahead for each of us, the young and the old, and that Jan and Connie now enjoy better days free of the challenges of this life.

As weird as it feels at this moment to announce our next chapter meeting, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the last thing Jan would have wanted was for us to fold the tent and go home after losing him. He worked hard to help found the chapter and help each of us who came out to meetings, including me, feel welcome. We honor him by continuing those efforts, for us today and for those we haven’t met yet. 

Our next meeting is coming up soon, on Saturday, September 12, at Cover 3 – Anderson Lane at 1 p.m. We’d invite all who can join us there to hit the RSVP form below by next Wednesday the 9th so we can grab group seating.

RSVP Sep 2026 Meeting – Cover 3 Anderson Lane

Better days, folks. And maybe better baseball down the 57 from Pomona.

August meeting Zooms in on the 2024 Boerne Little League run to Williamsport

The 2026 Little League World Series begins in earnest this Thursday, August 6, with regionals across the US, along with some international regionals decided months ago and others already in progress. Nearly two weeks of play provide a run-up to the ten US regional winners advancing with ten international teams, who then travel to Williamsport, PA for the championship round.

In 2024, a team from Boerne made just such a trip in a 19-game sprint, falling just short to a team from Lake Mary, FL in the US Championship Game. Tim Christ, a member of the Hornsby Chapter, has chronicled the efforts of his son Kaleb and his teammates on the Boerne squad that summer in his recently published book available on Amazon:

How Boerne Made History and Played on Their Field of Dreams

Tim will join us via Zoom for our August chapter meeting, hosted by chapter commissioner Gilbert Martinez, to present highlights of his book, photos, and personal observations as a team parent for that squad. We encourage all chapter members to attend this virtual session on Saturday, August 22 at 1 p.m. CDT – register at the link below.

SABR Hornsby Chapter August 2026 virtual meeting

We’re looking forward to this session, since Tim’s book is receiving great feedback from other SABR chapters he has presented to, as well as baseball writers around the country. Save the date and join us on the 22nd!

If it’s July, we’re at the Wolff in SATX

We’ve already blown by another Bobby Bonilla Day and are coming up on the All Star Break, meaning July is in full swing in Central and South Texas. That also means there is a French flag flying on the front of our home, along with the American flag, in celebration of the Tour de France and my Huguenot ancestors.

July also marks a new Hornsby Chapter tradition – a game outing to Wolff Stadium, giving folks in the southern half of the chapter a chance to meet up with others in person, and we’re happy to have folks from the northern half of the chapter join in on the fun. We’ll catch the Missions hosting the Frisco RoughRiders on Sunday, July 26, game time 6:05 p.m.

We’ll go behind the plate this time, to Section 200, Rows R, S, T, and U, seats 1-8 to try to get as many of our folks seated together as possible.  Those rows should be in the shade in the late evening. Each seat is priced at $24.35.

RoughRiders vs Missions – Sunday, July 26, 6:05pm – Section 200

As always, family and friends are welcome as guests of SABR members. This is our one official stop in San Antonio and we hope folks can make it!

 

Time to get charged up for the Volts on Sunday, June 28 at noon

Our June game outing promises to be a unique experience – for the first time as a chapter, to take in an Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) game in Round Rock. After a 4-game barnstorming stop here last summer, the Texas Volts now officially call Dell Diamond home. In our brief conversation with GM Tim Jackson last month, he said there is a three-season deal to host the club, and he’s proud of his grounds crew and their ability to turn the field for softball while the Express are out of town. Here’s a time-lapse video of last year’s field preparation. I believe Tim said those fences are 200 down the lines and 225 to center.

We’ll attend the Sunday, June 28th game between the visiting Portland Cascade and the Texas Volts starting at high noon, or 12:00 p.m. We may see two local stars: Mia Scott, a 2025 graduate of the University of Texas from the Houston area, and Aliyah Binford, who hails from New Braunfels. The Volts also just signed outfielder Jaydyn Goodwin, who was with Georgia in the Knoxville Super Regional of the 2026 DI Softball Championship.

With a good chance of ample sunshine, we’re going to aim for rows under the overhang on the third base side. Here’s a ticketing link to Section 115, Row 23, which is currently wide open, and there are a few open seats in Row 24 (which is the back of the section) behind those.

Portland Cascade vs. Texas Volts, Sunday, June 28, 12:00 p.m.

Let’s lean toward the aisle, seats 1-12, to start, and fill across if we get more folks. I’d suggest booking seats early, as last year’s Volts contests were well attended, and anything toward the playing field will be in full sun if it’s out. One more thing … our own Jerry Miller has provided a promo code for 10% off any single-game ticket, just enter LEGENDARY at checkout. Should be an exciting day, and we hope you can join us there!

Rogers Hornsby Chapter Annual Report (2025-2026)

By Gilbert D. Martinez
Chapter Commissioner

The Rogers Hornsby Chapter continues to be active with regular monthly meetings, baseball outings to the Dell Diamond in Round Rock and Wolff Municipal Stadium in San Antonio, an annual winter meeting, World Series watch party and robust participation on the group’s email list.

Highlights from the year include the 20th Annual Bill Gilbert Winter Meeting at Texas State University, which featured MLB veteran Keith Moreland and long-time broadcaster Mike Capps, Michael Gibbons, director emeritus of the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum in Baltimore, and book authors Doug Kurkal (“It’s a Beautiful Day for Baseball: The National Pastime in the 1960s”) and Rob Sheinkopf (“Baseball Imposters: The Dark Side of Fandom”). Representatives from the Round Rock Express (General Manager Tim Jackson), the San Antonio Missions (J.J. Jimenez, director of ticket sales, and Brian Yancelson, public relations and broadcasting manager) and John Fredland, head of SABR’s Baseball Games Project, also joined. We also had presentations from members and guests.

In Zoom meetings for SABR Day and one in August, the chapter welcomed book authors Kevin Hurd (“From Randy Johnson to Dallas Braden: No-hitters Beyond the Box Score”) and Marshall Garvey (“Interstate ’85”).

In addition, with Membership Coordinator Don Dingee’s leadership, we have instituted quarterly lunch meetings in the San Antonio area to increase engagement with members in Central and South Texas.

The chapter had a slight growth in membership from 89 last year to 92 in May. Members with 10+ years in SABR was 33.7% (31 members) with new members at 21.7% (20 members). Membership retention also had a slight increase from 88.1% last year to 89.9% this year. Month-to-month in-person and virtual meeting engagement remains strong with an average of 15 attendees (16.3% active participation). There’s also regular participation among members on the Google group email list.  

A continuing volunteer commitment for the chapter is the baseball memories program. May 2026 marks 11 years that the chapter has fielded baseball reminiscence programs with monthly programs at the Kerrville Veterans Affairs Medical Center since 2016. Since 2023, monthly programs have also been conducted at Williamson County AGE of Central Texas in Round Rock. In 2026, two additional programs have been added at Grace Place in San Antonio and at the South Austin office of AGE. All four programs achieved a record monthly high of 96 participants.

In May, the chapter conducted its second commissioner election, re-electing Gilbert D. Martinez for a second three-year term. In accordance with the chapter’s bylaws, he has appointed Ryan Pollack, webmaster and facilitator, Don Dingee, membership coordinator, Jerry Miller, winter meeting coordinator, Dick Butler, election coordinator and Nicole Bryan, at-large coordinator. Monte Cely, who has long been involved with the chapter, has stepped down as coordinator. We thank him for his long service to the chapter and leadership in the baseball memories program. He’ll stay on as director emeritus and baseball memories coordinator for the chapter.

Monte Cely, baseball memories coordinator, and Don Dingee, membership coordinator, contributed to this report.

May is Star Wars Night in RR, and an SATX lunch with a new face

May brings us to our traditional game outing in Round Rock, this time to see the Round Rock Express take on the Sacramento River Cats on Star Wars Night at Dell Diamond on Saturday, May 16, game time 7:05 p.m. For those who haven’t seen it, the post-game festivities include a themed drone show, which is spectacular.

  • Many of us gather for an optional dinner at the Salt Lick BBQ adjacent to Dell Diamond. Salt Lick policy is to seat only complete parties (although we can usually squeeze one or two folks in), so we ask members and their guests to RSVP using our mobile-friendly form for an accurate headcount and arrive by 5:30 p.m. *sharp* (we’ll be gathered in the tables outside the front door). Dinner guests can take free parking in or near the Salt Lick parking lot, and after dinner, it’s a short walk over to the stadium.
  • Game attendees should purchase their tickets via the Round Rock Express site. We are eying a block of seats down the left field line (behind home dugout and in evening shade) in section 115, rows 19, 20, and 21, seats 1-10, seats priced at $31 each. Please purchase seats as soon as possible to be among friends!

Dell Diamond is cashless, and card or mobile device payments are accepted for parking and at all concession booths. Join us on Saturday the 16th – significant others and kids are welcome. 

RSVP for the Salt Lick BBQ PreGame

Purchase tickets for the Express-River Cats game

We also held our quarterly lunch in San Antonio on Saturday, May 2, at BJ’s at the Rim. A small but enthusiastic group got to meet a new face – Bob Bailey, who moved from Florida to San Antonio last fall. Bob is a 40+ year SABR member, and is co-chair and newsletter editor of the Nineteenth Century Research Committee – instructions for subscribing to that group are on that page. Bob’s a Yankees fan, and bonded with Ira. Also lunching with us were Linda, Jeff, Cy, Larry, and yours truly. We had a rousing discussion about bases.chat and Stathead, with impromptu trivia challenge questions flying across the table in every direction.

This Round Rock outing is a great chance to catch up with friends, and who knows, general manager Tim Jackson may join us for a few minutes if he’s available. Looking forward to seeing folks there!

 

 

 

Heading to The Rim for a May Hornsby SATX meeting

We’re due for another quarterly meeting in San Antonio, open to all chapter members and guests. This time we’ll head for the west side, in the La Cantera area. If you are able to join us on Saturday, May 2, at 1pm, we’ll be at BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse at The Rim (La Cantera Parkway exit, just north of the 1604/10 interchange). Please RSVP using this form so I can get a headcount. I plan to reserve group seating on Thursday, April 30.

RSVP May 2026 SATX Meeting – BJs at the Rim

Those outside San Antonio, be advised, there’s fairly continuous construction on the north loop of 1604; you may want to plan for some extra travel time, even on Saturday. I’m considering coming down Ralph Fair Rd (the light on TX 46 in Bergheim), then south on the 10. Those coming from San Antonio or Boerne should be able to stick to the 10 and miss most of the mayhem.

For May and June, regular chapter meetings will be in Round Rock for the Express and the Texas Volts, as Gilbert just announced, then we will have a Missions game outing in July, with more details to follow. If you live in or near San Antonio, this is a great chance to catch up with folks in the chapter – we hope to see you there a couple of weekends from now.

Back in the Backyard for our April Meeting

The 2026 regular season is off to a rousing start. As I write on this Good Friday morning, every team has at least one win and no team is undefeated after a week of play. The Yankees, Astros, Marlins, Braves, and Brewers are off to hot starts, while the A’s and both Sox colors languish, with the Whites already piling up a severe 31-run deficit. Today, Konnor Griffin debuts for the Pirates, a good sign for Pirates fans and those of us (but not me, although it would have been easier for me to spell) who picked the 19-year-old phenom for NL RoY in Awardatron. The RoY races in both leagues look extremely competitive early on.

The Hornsby Chapter’s 233rd consecutive monthly meeting approaches, and as has become customary for April meetings, we’ll meet in the Austin backyard of Nicole Bryan, a recent addition to our chapter leadership, and Brian Hall. We will gather on Saturday, April 18, at noon (an hour earlier than most of our meetings). For everyone looking to join us, we respect the privacy of member homes and don’t post their address publicly – here’s a hint where we’re going, it’s in this rectangle, roughly a mile west of the UT campus.

Food will be provided by our hosts, but guests are encouraged to bring a beverage for personal or shared consumption – we ask that if you bring any and there are leftovers, you tote those home with you to minimize cleanup, no leave-behinds.

To help Nicole and Brian plan for feeding us, and to find out exactly where you’re going, just hit our mobile-friendly RSVP form and indicate any guests you’re bringing. I will round up a headcount and email those who request the address after we close RSVPs on Wednesday, April 15th. (Like you have nothing else important to remember for that day.) Here’s the form:

RSVP – Hornsby Chapter April 2026 Meeting

Until we see everyone there, have a joyous and safe Passover and Easter, and may your favorite team(s) prosper.

 

March meeting to mull Miami matchup over Mexican munchies on MoPac

It’s that time again, when Spring Training starts early to get players wound up for the triennial World Baseball Classic. One player we won’t see in the tournament is Mike Trout, who couldn’t secure insurance, so the marquee matchup may come down to Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge in Miami if we get a reprise of the Japan-USA final. Or will some Caribbean powerhouse step forward and get to the championship game? Questions abound. Hopefully, we’ll see an exciting tournament free of season-altering injuries to big-name MLB players.

We’ll know the answers before our March monthly meeting on Saturday, March 21, when we return to our classic location at Serranos MoPac (address link in the RSVP form) for lunch starting at 1 p. m.  We’d enjoy seeing everyone in person if you can make it out with us, and guests are welcome, too. To help us secure a table big enough for all, just hit the mobile-friendly RSVP form and let us know if you’re coming and who you’re bringing.

RSVP March 2026 Meeting

We’ll take reservations until Wednesday, March 18. Oh, and by then, we may know more about whether phenom Konnor Griffin or sleeper Kevin McGonigle make the Pirates or Tigers opening day rosters, respectively, or would be called up a few weeks into the season. Implications for the upcoming Predicatron and Awardatron contests rest on those and other decisions. Fun times ahead!

Hornsby SABR Day ’26 turns to memories in Interstate ’85

Officially, as I write this, SABR Day is today, but what could be better than extending our celebration of baseball by another week?

On Saturday, February 7, at 1 p.m. CST, we’ll meet on Zoom, where our featured presenter will be author Marshall Garvey discussing his recent book Interstate ’85: The Royals, The Cardinals, and The Show-Me World Series. Marshall lives near Sacramento, CA, and has also authored The Hidden History of Sacramento Baseball (pre-Athletics, I presume – we can ask him), and co-authored the novel Ellwood’s Odyssey, set in the Korean War. Interstate ’85 has received praise from Sports Collectors Digest and a former Kansas City Star editor. He also writes about baseball, gaming, and other topics on Substack.

The mental image burned into my brain from that 1985 World Series is Jim Sundberg, rounding third and raising his arms, heading for the plate in the bottom of the 9th with the Game 6 winner, which knotted the series at 3-3. That loss, and facing Bret Saberhagen, seemed to drain all the emotion from the Cardinals, who suffered an 11-0 drubbing in Game 7, giving the Royals the trophy. I’m sure Marshall will have much more to share from his in-depth research and interviews with players who lived that series. Here’s the Zoom registration page, you’ll get a link to join the session when you register.

Zoom Registration – Hornsby SABR Day ’26 – Sat., Feb. 7, 1 p.m. CST

Bring your questions for Marshall and we’ll see you there!