Category: Event Announcements

This month’s title references the roofs coming into play in Milwaukee and St. Petersburg during raucous Division Series contests in both leagues, leading to the demise of the Padres and Yankees, respectively, this season. We’re now in the LCS phase, and the Dodgers are off to an inauspicious start, digging themselves into a 0-3 hole against the Brewers. In the AL, the Rays and Guardians split the first two games before heading for Cleveland and some possible fall-like weather.

We’re also coming up on a Hornsby Chapter tradition: the Jim Baker World Series Watch Party on Saturday, October 24, starting at 6pm, which will feature [insert best guess here]. But we do have a few ground rules for the evening. First, you’ll note the RSVP form does not have Jim’s exact address in Cedar Park for privacy reasons – check the box if you need his address, we’ll email it once to requesters after the close of RSVPs on Thursday, October 22. Second, your RSVP helps us get Jim a headcount for the food he graciously provides for guests, BYOB is welcome. Third, Dan Walsh is the designated quizmaster for the evening. Link to the aforementioned form:

RSVP Oct 2026 WS Watch Party

It’s always a fun evening, and we look forward to seeing all our friends there!

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.

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!

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!

 

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 28^th 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!

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 16^th – 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!

 

 

 

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!

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!