Category: Chapter News

20th Annual Winter Meeting leads off 2026

[Please see below for updated parking information]

Happy New Year, everyone! If you’re already struggling with keeping up with your new year’s resolutions, here’s an easy one you can fulfill: attending the 20th Annual Bill Gilbert Winter Meeting!

Join us for a great day of baseball at our biggest meeting of the year from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 10, at Texas State University in San Marcos!

The winter meeting features Keith Moreland, a 12-year major league veteran, and longtime minor league broadcaster Mike Capps. We’ll also have representatives from the Round Rock Express and San Antonio Missions, along with various baseball presentations and activities during the day. See the agenda below for the full schedule.

Please consider bringing new or gently used baseballs, gloves, bats and other gear to donate to our baseball memories program.

Go to this link to RSVP and opt in for the pizza lunch.

IMPORTANT: The deadline to opt in for pizza is Thursday, Jan. 8. Payment is due on arrival Saturday: $5 cash (exact amount appreciated) for a few slices of pizza and a bottle of water. There will also be vending machines for snacks and beverages available onsite.

Also, a longtime tradition of the winter meeting is for chapter members to participate in our Mock Hall of Fame vote. You can vote the day of the meeting or submit your ballot online. Note that you can only vote once!

Here’s the link to the online ballot.

Schedule for the SABR Hornsby Chapter 20th Annual Bill Gilbert Winter Meeting

[Please note that while some presentations will be done via Zoom, we will not have a Zoom option for those unable to attend the meeting in person.]

All Day            
Accepting donations of donations of old baseballs, gloves, bats, and other gear for use in our “Baseball Memories” program, which supports baseball reminiscence activities as a means of improving the lives of persons dealing with dementia, chronic health problems, isolation, or loneliness.

9:30-9:45 a.m.
Welcome from Gilbert Martinez (Chapter President) and Jerry Miller (Winter Meeting Coordinator); Predictatron (Jim Baker) and Awardatron (Ryan Pollack) Presentations

9:45-10:15 a.m.       
Michael Gibbons, Director Emeritus, Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum, Baltimore (via Zoom)

10:15-10:35 a.m.    
Ballpark Memories, featuring chapter members Ryan Pollack and Gilbert D. Martinez

10:35-10:55 a.m.    
Author and former chapter member Doug Kurkul, “It’s a Beautiful Day for Baseball: The National Pastime in the 1960s” (via Zoom)

10:55-11:05 a.m.    
Morning break

11:05-11:25 a.m.   
Author, Rob Sheinkopf , “Baseball Impostors: The Dark Side of Fandom” and “Hey Mom, Wanna Have a Catch? A Collection of Baseball Stories Honoring Moms and Dads Who Taught Us How to Love America’s National Pastime” (via Zoom)

11:25 a.m. – 12:10 p.m.  
“Speed dating” presentations – a series of individual workshops featuring chapter members, including SABRmetrics (Ryan Pollack) and “Tabletop Baseball Simulation Games: Introduction and Overview” (Dick Butler and Larry Rice)

12:10- 1 p.m.  
Lunch (pizza lunch available for pre-order)

1-1:20 p.m.              
Frank Rechtorovic, “The Emerald City”

1:20-1:40 p.m.     
Dick Butler, “Town Ball: Depression-era Baseball in the Texas Hill Country”

1:40-2:20 p.m.         
Honored guest former University of Texas national champion and 12-year major league veteran Keith Moreland, interviewed by author, broadcaster, and chapter member Mike Capps

2:20-2:30 p.m.        
Afternoon break

Minor League reports, featuring:

2:30-2:50 p.m.         
Tim Jackson, General Manager, Round Rock Express (via Zoom)

2:50-3:10 p.m.      
Texas State graduate Carly Earnest (master’s in digital media), photo presentation about the Sugar Land Space Cowboys

3:10-3:25 p.m.         
Afternoon break (may be cancelled in order to accommodate presentations)

3:25-3:45 p.m.         
J.J. Jimenez, Director of Ticket Sales, and Brian Yancelson, Public Relations and Broadcasting, San Antonio Missions

3:45-4 p.m.         
Mock HOF voting results; closing remarks

Directions to Old Main at Texas State, site of the Bill Gilbert Winter Meeting

Directions to the winter meeting are as follows:

  1. From I-35, take exit 206 (Aquarena Springs Dr.).
  2. Travel west on Aquarena Springs Drive, which turns into University Drive.
  3. After crossing the San Marcos River, you will come to a traffic light. Turn right onto Sessom Drive. At the first light, turn left on State Street and go up a steep road toward Old Main (pictured above). Go through a gate (the gate should be up) and continue up the hill.
  4. At the top of the hill, make a sharp left turn and drive up to Old Main (pictured above).
  5. Look for parking on this road that winds around the side and back of Old Main. You can find additional parking at the Pleasant Street Garage, located at the corner of N. LBJ and Pleasant Street. To reach this garage, after you pass through the gate, continue up the hill, then down the hill to the stop sign on Pleasant Street. Turn left; the entrance to the parking garage will be on your left.

UPDATED Jan. 9: Texas State no longer has free parking, even on the weekends. Instead, please purchase a $5 parking permit. This is done online. You enter your name, car information and license plate number. You will not receive a permit or anything to display. Your license plate number is your permit, so be sure to enter it correctly.

Steps to register for parking:

  1. Click here to Order Event Permit (Do Not use the login button at the top of the Page)
  2. Select Event Type Department Sponsored Events / Meetings
  3. Select 20th Annual Winter Meeting of the Rogers Hornsby Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research 01/10/26
  4. Select permit type Single Day Event Standard Vehicle
  5. Click add vehicle button, enter vehicle information, click the add button at the bottom.
  6. Enter your Name and click Confirm followed by the red continue button.
  7. Scroll to the bottom of the checkout page. Enter your email address for receipt and email attachment with permit and parking information/instructions click continue.
  8. You will be taken to the payment gateway to complete your payment by credit/debit card or E-Check.

Meeting is on the third floor – both stairs and elevator are available.

December meeting returns to the County Line on the Lake

Welcome to December, Hornsbyites. While it’s a bit cooler to start the month, we thankfully don’t get much of this white stuff pictured above (Huntington Stadium, home of the Columbus Clippers, taken about three weeks ago). Baseball stadiums may be in their winter hibernation, but in Texas, the hot smoker is fully lit.

Almost 22 years ago, a small group planted the seeds for what would become the SABR Rogers Hornsby Chapter over barbeque platters at County Line on the Lake in Austin (RM2222 and Loop 360). Our December meeting returns to the site on Sunday, December 14, at 1pm. As usual, RSVPs are appreciated so we get a right-sized table for the group, with the form open until Wednesday, December 10:

RSVP December 2025 Meeting – County Line on the Lake Austin

Who knows, there may be much more to talk about on the free agent or trade front, and corresponding sadness or euphoria, depending on your perspective. We hope to see everyone, including our student members, if you are in town, to discuss any developments with your favorite club or player. 

Seeing SABR friends in a new place for our November meeting

Well, that was an entertaining World Series, coming to a memorable crescendo last night. Either you’re celebrating a Dodger win – the first NL repeat champion in nearly 50 years – or, you’re in the Matchbox Twenty camp: “We kept this hat of broken dreams / And we pulled them out, when we needed them around.” 

Hope’s embers for many of us still burn in places like the Arizona Fall League, which is midway through its season. (Featured photo credit: Megan Mendoza, Arizona Republic.) AFL players will more than likely be on major league rosters soon. It’s a unique experience if you get a chance to see a game, or even better, go in person with a couple of hundred people in the stands. 

Closer to home, congrats to Jerry Miller for his Dodger-fueled domination in the Postseason contest. Ryan is soliciting participants for the 2025-2026 installment of Contractatron; those entries are due via online ballot on November 5th.  Jim is also feverishly tallying the final results for this year’s Predictatron. 

We’ll be gathering in a new-to-most-of-us place for our November meeting – the aptly named Cover 3 restaurant on Anderson Lane (just south of the MoPac – 183 interchange). Per usual, we’ve put up a digital RSVP form to help secure a reservation for our group – please join us there on Sunday, November 16, at 1pm.

RSVP November 2025 Meeting – Cover 3 Anderson Lane

We’d like to hear from you via that form by Wednesday, November 12th. Thanks to Ryan for help in selecting this location and finalizing the reservation when we get an accurate headcount. In the meantime, have a joyous November!

 

 

A sudden influx of pitching could make for a wild 2025 Watch Party

Just when it looked like the Yankees might ride the Schlittler-bahn all the way to the World Series, the Blue Jays counter with a Ye-savage outing of their own. It’s remarkable that guys with basically a month’s worth of MLB starting experience can come in and make such an immediate impact in the postseason. (But maybe not surprising – live arms, not much of a book or video on them.)

Who’s going to survive this gauntlet and make it to the World Series? Who will we be watching on Saturday, October 25th, in Game 2? It’s October and anything can happen, but we do know one thing – many of us will be gathered at Jim Baker’s house for the annual Hornsby Watch Party. The festivities begin at 6 p.m., and as is customary, Jim is generously supplying the food and soft drinks, BYOB optional.

To help Jim gauge how much sustenance to procure, and to help you find your way to his house, we’re opening a digital RSVP form. It has a map to tell you roughly where you’ll be headed, and if you haven’t been there or need your memory refreshed, check the box and I’ll send a follow-up email with Jim’s address (not automatically when you submit the form, but well before the party, your patience is appreciated).

RSVP – 2025 Hornsby Watch Party

We’ll keep the form open until Wednesday, October 22. Until then, kick back and enjoy the division and league championship rounds. We’ll look forward to seeing Hornsby members and guests on the 25th!

September lunch meeting on the 20th and a second option farther south

First, a belated Happy Labor Day to all, I hope you fared better than Jordan Hudson’s boyfriend (way to go, TCU, and yes, please, ESPN, let Peter do more of blowout broadcasts). In other chapter news, we’re thinking of Bailey Hall (and mom and dad) as she has officially begun her adventure as a Badger in Madison.

Five months of the MLB season are in the books, and right now the Brewers and Tigers look to have things in hand for the postseason. The rest of the field remains competitive, with the Mets holding the final spot in the NL over the Reds and Giants, and the Mariners with a slimmer margin in the AL over the Rangers and Royals. As many point out, it’s not a pennant race anymore, but a scrum to get into the field and see what happens.

Jim Baker reminds us that the Hornsby Postseason Tourney is coming up, open to all in the chapter, not just Predictatron participants. Jim’s contest deftly sidesteps the Wild Card chaos and opens with the known Division Series opponents.

We’re embarking on an experiment in the coming weeks, offering two options for lunch – members and guests are welcome to attend either or both dates.

  • We’ll be back at the Hurricane Grill & Wings (2701 Parker Drive, D-200, Round Rock) on Saturday, September 20th at 1 pm. For a group our size, we make reservations with the restaurant, so we’ve opened a mobile-friendly RSVP form for you to let us know you’ll be there and how many folks are with you.
  • We’ll also be in San Antonio soon – I’m looking at Saturday, October 4th at Willie’s Grill & Ice House in Schertz, and will announce that via the Google Group when we get closer to that date.

Here’s the link to RSVP for the 20th in Round Rock. Please let us know by Wednesday, September 17th if you’ll be there.

August virtual meeting examines no-hitters with author Kevin Hurd

We’ve made it past the trade deadline of the 2025 season, and our favorite teams fall somewhere on the spectrum of buying with both hands, filling one or two specific needs, standing pat or close to it, or tossing in the towel. And I’m still recovering from last night’s gigantic WHEEEEEE the Rockies put on the Pirates, a flashback to late-inning (and some earlier-inning) Coors Field magic of seasons past.

Which brings us to this month’s meeting, a virtual Zoom affair featuring author Kevin Hurd. On August 24, 1975, Ed Halicki spun a no-hitter pitching for the Giants at home against the Mets. Halicki, with a lifetime record of 55-66, is proof that no-hitters do not always come from elite pitchers – and that got a young Hurd, who was in the stands at Candlestick that day, thinking about the accomplishment.

After retiring from a 20-year career in the USAF as a navigator on RC-135s and KC-135s, his interest in the lore rekindled in 2014 with no-hitter feats from Tim Lincecum and Clayton Kershaw. Finally, in March 2020, with a pandemic just starting and his security job at the Western Currency Facility in Fort Worth just ending, a friend suggested turning his passion for no-hitters into a book. The result is a two-volume effort titled “From Randy Johnson to Dallas Braden: No-Hitters Beyond the Box Score,” available on Amazon.

Hurd documents 23 no-hitters with a unique perspective, looking at what went on around each game with first-hand accounts from many people who made baseball history. A twist to Hurd’s work is that he interviews not only the pitchers who accomplished the feat, but also others, including the catcher behind the plate. (I’ll be curious to see if Hurd talked to our old friend Robby Hammock, who my daughter got to know a bit as manager of the Missoula Osprey in 2013.)

Chapter commissioner Gilbert Martinez will interview Kevin Hurd live, and the event promises to be a WHEEEEEE for the Hornsby Chapter and our SABR friends around the country. We hope you can join us online on Saturday, August 9, starting at 2 p.m. CDT. Register for the Zoom at the following link. See you there!

SABR Hornsby Chapter – August 2025 Meeting

July meeting coming to the Wolff, trivia team on SABR53 podium

Greetings, Hornsbyites. We bring news regarding trivia at SABR53 and our upcoming July meeting. This month, we’ll be heading to Wolff Stadium on Saturday, July 19 at 7:05 p.m. when the Missions host the Amarillo Sod Poodles. We’ve scoped out Section 204 for a block of seats in rows R, S, T, and U, seats 1-6, listed at $26.52 each. Please purchase your tickets directly from the Missions website (link below goes directly to Section 204) as soon as possible to secure a seat in this block. We’re looking forward to seeing everyone there!

Sod Poodles vs Missions, Sat, July 19, 2025, 7:05 p.m.

Now, for highlights from our chapter participation in last week’s SABR53 conference. I counted 15 heads from the Hornsby Chapter at the Westin in Irving, including four presenters: Eric Bynum, John Fredland, new member Brenden Gilbreath, and Ira Siegel. We also stormed the new-format trivia contest, which featured three competitions: team trivia, individual trivia, and Immaculate Feud (a mashup of Immaculate Grid and Family Feud, with 5-person teams using Baseball Reference questions and data from the last eight months for responses).

Several of our members attempted the insanely hard written questions in the preliminary round of the individual competition, with none advancing. The Hornsby Team, consisting of Mike Lassman, Jim Baker, Cy Morong, and Eric Bynum, took on the 40-question written-response team preliminary on Thursday, where the top team scored 24. The top six, plus ties, advanced, and we scored 18 points in a tie for the last spots. In the eight-team semifinal with 40 more questions, we placed a solid second with 20 points.

The final team trivia round shifted to a live Jeopardy format on Saturday night. The board presented six categories: Mascot Names, That Sounds Familiar, Numbers Game, Cy Young Colleges, Rookies of the Year, and Texas Trades. With Cy, Jim, and Mike firing first, we took an early lead before the ringers on the other team (all-stars from the individual competition!) got going. Mid-game, Eric dominated the Texas Trades category to mount a comeback. Still, as the board emptied, we fell behind (OMG, 2002 NL RoY Jason Jennings and mascot Dinger were two answers), lacking enough points to close the gap with their correct final Jeopardy answer of Ugueth Urbina as a double-unique name no other player has. It was a valiant effort and a fantastic runner-up achievement, nonetheless, in a highly competitive field.

Here are a few more photos I caught of our folks at SABR53.

Our presenters received kudos for their strong presentations from the judges, and everyone I spoke to had a great time at the conference – still, I’m glad to be home. See you all soon.

 

 

It’s June, and we said, “What about breakfast at Rudy’s?”

Our next Hornsby Chapter monthly meeting brings us together at an earlier start time, 9:30 a.m., Saturday, June 14, for an inviting selection of breakfast tacos and self-serve beverages on the covered patio of Rudy’s Country Store, just off TX 360 at Stoneridge Road (drivers may notice the Shell station first).

Ryan Pollack will host our trivia quiz, and I’m pretty sure the 2025 Colorado Rockies will not be any of the correct answers. It’s sure to be intriguing where this month’s quiz goes. We will also have insight on the field for Omaha and the 2025 Men’s College World Series by that time.

While seating should be open in the 9:30 a.m. window, hitting the mobile-friendly RSVP form helps us know who and how many to expect, especially if you are joining us for the first time (or first in a while). We’ll see you there!

June 2025 Monthly Meeting RSVP form

 

Rogers Hornsby Chapter Annual Report (2024-2025)

Society for American Baseball Research
Rogers Hornsby Chapter (Central and South Texas)
Annual Report, June 2024 – May 2025

By Gilbert D. Martinez
Chapter Commissioner

The SABR Rogers Hornsby Chapter continues to provide members with a wide range of monthly activities, volunteer opportunities and in-person and online interactions related to many facets of baseball.

The chapter’s biggest event was the 19th Annual Bill Gilbert Winter Meeting at Texas State University in January, which featured former Major League pitcher Ross Ohlendorf and longtime broadcaster and chapter member Mike Capps. Also joining the winter meeting was Rylan Kobre, manager of public relations and broadcasting with the Round Rock Express. A long-time winter meeting tradition, a mock Hall of Fame vote was conducted and trophies for the winners of Jim Baker’s regular season and post-season Predictatron contests were presented. In addition, member Tom Thayer presented a research project that offered a new way of evaluating catchers. Members Jerry Miller, Jan Larson, Frank Rechtorovic and Nicole Bryan-Hall also presented at the winter meeting.

At SABR 52 in Minneapolis, chapter member Bailey Hall won top poster presentation at the annual conference. Her poster evaluated whether a leadoff walk is worse than a leadoff hit.

For SABR Day on Feb. 1, Texas State graduates Remle Herzberg, the social media manager for the Texas Rangers, and Aaron Peralta, who worked on the social media team for the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds, joined the chapter via Zoom to share their career experiences with chapter members and Texas State students.

In a Zoom meeting in August, award-winning sportswriter, editor and multimedia journalist Aaron Fischman, author of “A Baseball Gaijin: Chasing a Dream to Japan and Back,” told the story of Tony Barnette, a pitcher who didn’t know if he’d ever achieve his dream to pitch in MLB when he signed a lucrative contract to join the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in Nippon Professional Baseball. He later went on to pitch for the Texas Rangers and the Chicago Cubs.

The year also included outings to Minor League Baseball games such as the Round Rock Express on May 17 for Star Wars Night and the San Antonio Missions in July. The chapter also added a supplemental meeting in February with an outing to UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin to watch the Texas Longhorns host the Dartmouth Big Green.

We also had chapter members thrice host a monthly meeting – Ryan Pollack in June, Jim Baker in October for our World Series Watch Party and Bailey Hall, Nicole Bryan-Hall and Brian Hall in April.

In the summer, the chapter was awarded $250 for meeting specific benchmarks and achieving All Star status. With the national SABR office’s help, the chapter now has a bank account. The chapter leadership team approved $125 to purchase gifts for the baseball memories programs. As of May 2025, $60 has been used for two large table-top baseball puzzles and a catalog of baseball-themed word scrambles for the baseball memories program, leaving $190 in the bank account.

In the second year of a three-year term, Chapter Commissioner Gilbert D. Martinez continued to serve on the chapter leadership team with directors Jan Larson, Monte Cely, Ryan Pollack and Jerry Miller. In June, chapter member Don Dingee joined the leadership team as membership director. Cely, Pollack, Miller and Dingee will continue as directors in the coming year while Larson will step down. For his many years of service, we thank Jan Larson, who was a founding member of the chapter in 2005 and has long served on the leadership team, leading chapter outings to Whataburger Field’s owners’ experience and running the mock Hall of Fame voting at the winter meeting for many years.

Baseball Memories Program

By Monte Cely

Hornsby Chapter Director

In May 2015, Hornsby Chapter volunteers led by Jim Kenton started SABR’s first chapter-supported baseball reminiscence program in partnership with Alzheimer’s Texas.  Reminiscence, recalling pleasant memories of the past, has proven to be an effective way to enhance the quality-of-life of those dealing with dementia, chronic health problems, isolation, or loneliness.  Since then, the number of programs using baseball as a reminiscence topic has grown both locally and nationally. 

Chapter members led by Larry Rice in San Antonio have started a new program at the Audie Murphy Memorial Veterans’ Administration Medical Center there, as well as continued the popular program at the Kerrville Texas VA Medical Center.  Volunteers in the Austin metro area have continued their program at the AGE of Central Texas adult day care center in Round Rock.  On a monthly basis, these three programs are reaching 35 to 50 participants.  Fourteen SABR members, as well as spouses and other relatives, actively volunteer for these three programs.

There are plenty of opportunities to get involved in this valuable community service program.  In addition to plenty of baseball (of course), we also add music, video, history and other sports in order to invoke a broad range of pleasant memories from a diverse audience.  If you’d consider volunteering, have an idea for a new program in your community, or just would like to learn more, contact Monte Cely at cely@swbell.net or Larry Rice at ukisno1@gmail.com.  Information is also at our chapter website at:  https://www.sabrhornsby.org/baseball-memories/

Membership Report

By Don Dingee

Hornsby Chapter Membership Coordinator

SABR Hornsby extends along a 376-mile-long swath of Texas from Waco to the Rio Grande Valley, including territories of three MiLB teams (one AAA and two AA). Ninety-two percent of our members live in one of four metro clusters: Austin, San Antonio, San Marcos and Waco/Temple/Killeen. We currently stand at 221 consecutive monthly meetings thanks to our active members. Highlights for the period ending May 15, 2025:

  • Growth – 89 primary members, compared with 84 in 2024 and 82 in 2023.
  • Engagement – In-person meetings at various restaurants or member homes average 15 attendees, a 16.9% “active” member level. Game outings average seven attendees. Virtual or hybrid meetings average 26 attendees, drawing on an additional 43 affiliate members and non-members in event-specific outreach.
  • Retention (excluding students) – 88.1%, compared with 91.6% in 2024 (SABR 2024 national average: 91%).

Thirty percent of our members have 10 or more years of SABR tenure, with three-quarters of our members being 50 and over. Our member Survey cites monthly meetings, Predictatron, Awardatron and baseball discussions in our Hornsby Google Group as essential social interactions. It also indicates a desire to see younger members at meetings — we are tailoring outreach and engagement efforts with the 35-49 and 18-34 age groups in mind.

 

May game outing to see the Express on the 17th will feature Star Wars Night

Our 222nd consecutive monthly meeting is planned for our second game outing in 2025, this time to see the Round Rock Express take on the Oklahoma City Comets at Dell Diamond on Saturday, May 17, game time 7:15 p.m. It’s Star Wars Night in the park, with two chances for Hornsby members to socialize that evening:

  • Some members gather for an optional dinner at the Salt Lick BBQ adjacent to Dell Diamond. Salt Lick policy is only to seat complete parties, so we ask members and their guests to RSVP using our mobile-friendly form for an accurate headcount and arrive by 5 p.m. *sharp*. An added benefit of early arrival is 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 right field line in section 125, rows 16, 17, 18, and 19, seats 16-24 (with 24 being an aisle), where tickets are $23 each. Purchase seats as soon as possible to ensure being close to the group.

Dell Diamond is cashless, and card or mobile device payments are accepted for parking and at all concession booths. Join us on Saturday the 17th – significant others and kids are welcome. Where else will you get lightsaber lessons, a drone show, and baseball?

RSVP for the Salt Lick BBQ PreGame

Purchase tickets for the Express-Comets game