Category: Event Summaries

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.

July Chapter Meeting Wrap-up

by Monte Cely

Seven members met at Ryan Pollack’s house on Sunday afternoon, July 31, for the 116th consecutive monthly meeting of the Rogers Hornsby SABR Chapter.  The main topic of discussion centered around trade activity as the non-waiver deadline approaches.  We also discussed how changes in the game over the last few decades have affected our enjoyment of viewing a ball game.  Ichiro Suzuki’s nearing 3000 MLB hits was also a topic of note, although we were disappointed that he has not gotten more ABs this weekend.

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Plans for the August meeting are currently TBD.  Watch this space for further news.

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.

BasebALZ wraps up a successful third season

Volunteers from our chapter and Alzheimer’s Texas wrapped up another successful BasebALZ “season”.  Our reminiscence sessions were held at the Alzheimer’s Texas office in northwest Austin.  Eight participants with early-stage Alzheimer’s and their caregivers enjoyed the program and shared their memories with us.

Participants and volunteers capped off the season with a trip to Dell Diamond on June 27 to see an Express game.

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Pictures outside and inside of the Heritage Suite at Dell Diamond

April Meeting Wrap-Up

Six Hornsby Chapter members met at the County Line by the Lake for a Saturday afternoon lunch and to talk baseball.  A wide range of topics were discussed including the Astros’ slow start, the PED suspension of Marlins’ second baseman Dee Gordon as well as the pros/cons of some of the Sabermetric statistics, in particular WAR.

Jim Baker, the proprietor of the Predictaron, conducted a drawing to determine the membership in the "Raeanne Martinez" and "Michael Bass" divisions for the purposes of the contest.

Watch this space for an announcement on the date/location for the May meeting and mark you calendars for June 25 when we have our first chapter outing of the season to the Dell Diamond for the Express vs. Colorado Springs Sky Sox.

March meeting summary

Ten chapter members gathered in southwest Austin on Saturday to discuss a wide range of baseball topics – from the Chisox brouhaha involving Adam LaRoche to Goose Gossage’s recent comments about sabermetrics and bat flipping.

 

Also, Bill Gilbert gave an update and shared impressive statistics from his grandson, Caleb Gilbert, a freshman right-handed reliever for Louisiana State University.  

 

The group also discussed the new slide rules implemented last month, spurred in part by Chase Utley’s leg-breaking slide in last year’s National League Division Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets.

 

Gilbert and Raeanne Martinez shared that they’ll be in St. Petersburg in June for a journalism teaching workshop. Coincidentally, the Rays will host the Houston Astros that weekend, so one can be sure that the Martinezes will catch a game or two.

 

The chapter is planning an outing to the Dell Diamond in June to see the Round Rock Express; more details to come.

 

Meanwhile, the next chapter meeting will be at County Line on the Lake (2222 and 360) on Saturday, April 30. More details as we get closer to the date.

February Meeting Recap

Fifteen SABR Rogers Hornsby Chapter members and family met at Hoover’s in east Austin, Texas, on Saturday, February 20, 2016, for our monthly meeting.

With Spring Training upon us, everyone is looking forward to the rapidly approaching baseball season.  A few topics of discussion included:

Astros’ reliever/closer controversy precipitated by recent published comments from Luke Gregerson.

The possibility of Ichiro Suzuki reaching the 3000 hit plateau this season.  He currently has 2935 MLB hits.

Barry Bonds’ appearance at Miami Marlins spring training as hitting coach.

Monte Cely’s recent trip to la Serie del Caribe – the Caribbean World Series – in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.  Monte presented a quiz on the Series and Dominican Beisbol.  You can take the quiz here.  Jim Baker took the grand prize, a Dominican national team ball cap, with a near-perfect score of 19 out-of-20.

Our next chapter meeting will be Saturday, March 19 at 12:30pm at Serranos-Mopac in South Austin, 5030 Highway 290 West, Austin, TX 78735 (near intersection of MoPac & 290).  More details will be forthcoming.

SABR Day 2016 summary

Seven chapter members joined SABR members across the nation and around the world to recognize SABR Day on Saturday, Jan. 30.

 

We talked about the Astros’ recent pickup of Doug Fister, weighing the pros (proven record with the Tigers and Nationals) and the cons (struggled last season when he was demoted to the Nats’ bullpen). Fister has incentive to do well in this one-year contract, but if he doesn’t, the Astros still have other options at starting pitching.

 

Meanwhile, Jim Baker, Predictatron impresario, shared that he wasn’t surprised when the winter meeting predicted the Astros to win the World Series later this year. He said he figured this would happen because of the many Astros fans in the group. Jan Larson added that the Astros have improved enough as a team that the prediction shouldn’t come as a surprise. Whatever happens, the humble author of this summary hopes we’re right!

 

Also, Monte Cely missed our SABR Day lunch for good reason – he traveled to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, the home of 58th Serie del Caribe. Follow his updates by clicking on this link: http://chapters.sabr.org/hornsby/research/papers/394-serie-del-caribe-2016-in-santo-domingo

 

If you’d like to see what other SABR chapters did for SABR Day, check out this link: http://sabr.org/sabrday

 

Our next monthly meeting is scheduled for lunch on Saturday, Feb. 20. Details and email invitation to follow in the coming weeks.