BasebALZ Season 9 wrap-up

Season Nine of our baseball reminiscence program wrapped up on July 30 at Westminster Senior Living in Austin.  All six sessions were well-attended, with 15-20 participants, caregivers, volunteers and guests present.

We enjoyed presentations on Baseball Bobbleheads (authored by Jerry), The Curveball (Jerry), The Evolution of the Glove (Monte & Linda), Baseball Lingo (Ira), The National Anthem and Baseball (Dan), an Eddie Gaedel update (Jim) … just to name a few.  Recurring agenda items were Today in Baseball (Mike and Jim),  and Stump the Experts (Bobby and Renee).  We also had some fun hands-on activites including Baseball Bingo (Mike) and Beanbag Baseball (Bob and Diane).

A highlight of the July 30th session was “Let’s Do the Twist”.  We had some serious twistin’ goin’ on, including Bob & Diane and Bobby & Renee (top) and John & Vicki.  We all enjoyed the dancing and listening & singing to Chubby Checker.

Fellow SABR member and author Anne Keene joined us.  She added some very interesting memories from her research on her current book – The Cloudbuster Nine.

In his “Stump the Experts” segment, Bobby once again stumped the SABR volunteers.  The answer was “Matt Batts”, a San Antonio native who played 10 years in the majors from 1947-1956.

Mike was the emcee for Season Nine.  Here he chats with Dave and Diana before one of our sessions.

Our leader Jim Kenton was on the “DL” for Season Nine, but we expect him to complete his rehab assignments and rejoin the BasebALZ team for Season Ten.

Speaking of Season Ten – dates for the six sessions are September 10,24; October 8, 22 and November 5 and 19.  We expect to return to Westminster and we extend our most sincere thanks to them for hosting BasebALZ in 2018.  Many thanks, as always, to Alzheimer’s Texas for sponsoring our program.

We are also taking August “off” at the Kerrville Veterans Administration Hospital.  Volunteers Dan & Ann and Bob & Diane will return to Kerrville in September to resume the monthly program there.

The fun continues … “See you in September”.

Main course of baseball and sandwiches highlight July meeting

Photo by Raeanne Martinez.

A dozen chapter members and guests beat the heat and enjoyed an afternoon of baseball with sides of sandwiches, desserts and beverages in air conditioned comfort on Saturday.

Many thanks to Ryan Pollack for providing a sandwich platter and hosting the July meeting, the 140th consecutive month in which the chapter has had a meeting. Other members brought beverages, desserts and homemade side dishes for a nice food spread. We watched the Chicago Cubs host the St. Louis Cardinals, and then saw part of Aroldis Chapman’s meltdown in the ninth inning against the Mets (Yankees held on for the win).

Later, Ryan showed the many facets of game play in the Playstation 4 game “MLB – The Show 18,” a realistic-looking baseball simulation game that allows a player to build a team and player from scratch and play full-length baseball games. The game also offers challenges and accomplishments to earn a variety of virtual items, including player cards and uniforms. When Ryan’s not working or attending chapter meetings, he’s likely testing his mettle in this game.

In addition, Gilbert Martinez (pictured above) returned after having spent five weeks in Japan. Wearing a Chunichi Dragons shirt and cap, he brought homemade chocolate cupcakes. The Dragons play in the Central Division of Nippon Professional Baseball.

Next meeting is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 25. More details to follow next month.

 

 

 

 

July Baseball Watch Party

Our July get-together will be held on Saturday, July 21 at the home of Ryan Pollack starting at 12:30 p.m.  Ryan has graciously offered to host a baseball watch party and will supply a sandwich platter and chips.  Attendees are requested to bring along your favorite side dishes and/or dessert along with your favorite beverage.

Please RSVP to jan.a.larson@gmail.com if you plan to attend.

June Meeting Wrap-Up

Ten Hornsby Chapter members, including first time attendee Ryan Cafferty, enjoyed Tex Mex at Serrano’s Mopac on Saturday, June 16.

Attendees
Photo by Raeanne Martinez.

Ryan Pollack provided a challenging quiz authored by Washington Post columnist George Will.  Dan Walsh took home a Mike Piazza bobblehead for besting all others in a decisive victory.

Discussion topics included, among others, the horrible season through which the Orioles and Oriole fans are suffering, the once again outstanding season being put together by Mike Trout and the Yankees’ youth movement.

Details of the July meeting will be forthcoming.  Watch this space.

Rogers Hornsby Chapter Annual Report (June 2017 to May 2018)

Society for American Baseball Research

Rogers Hornsby Chapter

Central and South Texas

Annual Report, June 2017 – May 2018

By Gilbert D. Martinez

Chapter Commissioner

Rogers Hornsby Chapter

The Rogers Hornsby Chapter continued a long run of regular monthly meetings, celebrated three years of BasebALZ, a baseball-themed program for Alzheimer’s patients in Central Texas, took outings to the Round Rock Express and gathered for a World Series game watch party.

The chapter hosted the 12th annual Hornsby Chapter Winter Meeting, which featured memories of the historic regular- and post-season run of the World Series champion Houston Astros. The meeting also featured a presentation by Monte Cely about his visit to Cuba with other SABR members. The keynote speaker was Branch B. Rickey, president of the Pacific Coast League and grandson of Branch Rickey. Chapter member Anne Keene, the daughter of former professional baseball player Jim Raugh, talked about baseball in the 1940s and a little-known Navy team that featured Ted Williams. Her father was a batboy on that team, which also featured Johnny Pesky and Johnny Sain. Her book, The Cloudbuster Nine, was published in May 2018 and she plans to discuss her book at SABR 48 in Pittsburgh in June. The meeting was held at historic Old Main, the oldest building on the campus of Texas State University in San Marcos.

BasebALZ organizers Jim Kenton and Monte Cely have been in touch with other SABR members across the country who are interested in replicating the baseball-themed program for Alzheimer’s patients elsewhere. The Hornsby Chapter continues to partner with Alzheimer’s Texas to help Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers recover baseball memories. The therapy program involves six bi-weekly meetings, which include discussing favorite players and teams, remembering details of attending a ballgame, and handling baseball items such as gloves and memorabilia. In addition to Kenton and Cely, other Hornsby Chapter members volunteer to participate in this valuable program.

The chapter had several outings to see the Texas Rangers Triple-A affiliate Round Rock Express, including a game in April 2018 in which fog delayed the game for 30 minutes. Express officials later said that the fog-induced delay was the first in franchise history.

Monte Cely also attended and filed dispatches about the Caribbean Series 2018 from Jalisco, Mexico. Puerto Rico defeated the Dominican Republic to take the Serie del Caribe crown.

In May 2018, the chapter met for the 138th consecutive month, a streak dating back to December 2006.

Many of the monthly meetings include lunch at a restaurant in the Austin area, sometimes involving baseball trivia quizzes.

 

BasebALZ Season 9 Opening Day

A new season of our Alzheimer’s baseball reminiscence program opened on Monday, May 21 – returning again to Westminster Manor Senior Living in central Austin.  The facilities and ball park food were outstanding, and we appreciate them hosting us for Season Nine.

Fifteen participants, caregivers, and volunteers were in attendance.  In addition to baseball memories, the get-together doubled up as a birthday party for both John and Paul (we won’t reveal ages).  Sarah provided the birthday goodies and we sang “Happy Birthday” right after “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”.

The entire group enjoyed some swag, including new t-shirts, courtesy of Tom Keefe and the Eddie Gaedel Society (see picture above).  Memories of Bill Veeck’s most notorious promotion, and the St. Louis Browns, live on …

Jerry led a discussion on Bobbleheads and John won one with his claim of perfect attendance over the three years we’ve been offering the BasebALZ program.

We had to skip the usual “Stump the Experts” agenda segment, as our research team of Bobby and Renee were absent.  They had a good excuse – they were in Boston and took in a Red Sox game:

The season is off to a great start.  We will continue with sessions at Westminster every other Monday through July 30.

Ichiro and Ohtani among topics at May monthly meeting

Panoramic photo by Gilbert D. Martinez

A dozen chapter members and guests enjoyed an Italian lunch and caught up on the young season at the monthly meeting on Saturday.

Topics included the extended conversation on SABR-L about Ichiro Suzuki’s new role in the Mariners’ front office and whether his playing career is done, Shohei Ohtani’s early success as a two-way player and the early lead by the Martinezes in Jim Baker’s Predictatron contest.

We also welcomed new member Adam, who hails from Des Moines, Iowa. He shared with us that he’s a Chicago Cubs fan and worked in the front office of the Triple-A Iowa Cubs while in high school and college.

We also congratulated member and author Anne Keene for the publication in May of her book, “The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team that Helped Win World War II.” She’s planning on attending SABR 48 in Pittsburgh in June to discuss her book, which is available online and at local bookstores. In addition, her book was named as this month’s Statesman Select, making it the top recommended read in Austin. You can catch Ms. Keene discuss her book at BookPeople at 7 p.m. Friday, May 25. Click this link for more information: https://www.bookpeople.com/statesman-selects

This was the 138th consecutive month in which the chapter has meet, a streak dating to December 2006. Tom Thayer wondered when our streak might match Cal Ripken’s consecutive-game streak; Jim Baker calculated that we’re 208 years away from that!

With that in mind, our next meeting has been set for 12:30 p.m. Saturday, June 16, at Serranos in southwest Austin (MoPac and 290). Jan Larson will send out a request for RSVPs as we get closer to that date.

BasebALZ Season 8 Wrap-up

It was a full house at our BasebALZ outing to Round Rock’s Dell Diamond on Monday, April 23.  Participants, caregivers, and volunteers enjoyed an 11-4 Round Rock Express victory over the visiting Colorado Springs Sky Sox.

We enjoyed the game in comfort, complete with food and drinks.   A big THANK YOU to United Heritage Credit Union and Alzheimer’s Texas for working together to host us in UHCU’s luxury suite at Dell Diamond.

Season Eight of BasebALZ, our baseball-themed Alzheimer’s reminiscence program, ran for six sessions from February through April, 2018.  We were hosted at the Austin, Texas office of our sponsor – Alzheimer’s Texas.

Just a few highlights included:

Baseball Bingo – Mike created this version of bingo and it was an immediate hit with everyone.  We had a Baseball Bingo session twice during Season Eight, as well as at one of the sessions at the Kerrville VA Hospital.

Stump the Experts – Bobby and Renee continued their feature effort to try to stump the SABR “experts” with clues about the life of a ballplayer.  Bobby threw three “shutouts” this season, successfully stumping the “experts” at three of the six sessions.

All-Time Latino All-Stars – we continued a periodic feature where we vote for various “all time” teams.  Ira led the discussion on selecting the all time line-up of Latin American players.

Singing – always a big part of every program, we devoted a full session to “Songs about Baseball”.  Above – Dodgers fans Jerry (l) and Dan (r) get ready for a rendition of “It’s a Beautiful Day for a Ball Game” and – below – we all join in for “The Eyes of Texas are Upon You”.

In addition to our now-three-year-old program at Alzheimer’s Texas here in Austin, we continue with our monthly program (every second Friday) at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Kerrville, Texas.  Our program at the VA continues to be well-received by the patients as well as administrators.

We will take a short break and then Season Nine of BasebALZ will commence on Monday, May 21, 2018.  We will have a change of venue, with Season Nine being hosted by Westminster Senior Living – 4100 Jackson Ave., Austin, TX 78731.

For more background on the BasebALZ program, see our informational page here.