SABR Day

The holidays will soon be behind us and, although never far from our minds, the National Pastime will soon again be front and center. It all starts with the 20th Annual Bill Gilbert Winter Meeting, sponsored by the Rogers Hornsby (Central Texas) Chapter of SABR.

This year’s meeting is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, January 10, 2026, at Texas State University in San Marcos, 250 Old Main Drive in San Marcos, Texas. (See directions below).

Named after our late chapter founder and president, the meeting will include our traditional chapter activities, as well as a series of presentations from both chapter members and outside speakers, with some new surprises. Through the efforts of chapter member and friend Mike Capps, we are honored to welcome University of Texas legend and 12-year major leaguer Keith Moreland, who will discuss the Longhorns’ 1975 national championship, as well as his long association with the Chicago Cubs, including as a member of the 1984 NL East champions and a team broadcaster.

Through the efforts of chapter member and Maryland native Ryan Pollack, we are also pleased to welcome, via Zoom, Michael Gibbons, director emeritus of the Babe Ruth Birthplace & Museum in Baltimore, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary as the repository of all things Bambino.

The meeting will also feature:

• A Zoom presentation by Rob Sheinkopf, author of the recently published “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 to Love America’s National Pastime” (featuring a chapter by our own Monte Cely);
• A Zoom presentation by Douglas Kurkul, a former chapter member and author of “It’s a Beautiful Day for Baseball: The National Pastime in the 1960s”;
• Reports from representatives of our local minor league teams, the San Antonio Missions and Round Rock Express, as well as a presentation by Texas State master’s graduate and former Sugar Land Space Cowboys creative marketing associate Carly Earnest on their season;
• Presentations from chapter members Dick Butler (“Town Ball: Depression-era Baseball in the Texas Hill Country”) and Frank Rechtorovic (“The Emerald City”);
• A new feature, i.e. a series of mini-workshops on different topics, including various baseball statistics and Strat-O-Matic and other baseball simulation games, presented in a “speed dating” format allowing participants to jump from one small group to another;
• Our traditional features, including our mock Hall of Fame voting, the presentation of awards to the winners of our Predictatron, Awardatron, and Contractatron contests, and presentations by chapter members regarding their 2025 baseball experiences; and
• Best of all, the opportunity to meet and interact with friends and colleagues from the local baseball community.

Please note that we will have an onsite pizza lunch available for pre-order. We will also be soliciting 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.

We hope that you will be able to join us for our biggest and hopefully best event of the year, as we reflect upon the season past and whet our collective appetites for the season ahead.

Watch for a winter meeting reminder and meeting schedule in early January on our email list and on this chapter website.

RSVP for the Winter Meeting

To RSVP for the Winter Meeting (required if you want to partake in the pizza lunch), please fill out this online form.

Mock Hall of Fame ballot

If you’d like to participate in the chapter’s mock Hall of Fame vote, you can do so online or at the meeting (one or the other, not both!). Use this link to the online ballot for those who want to submit their ballot before or are unable to attend the winter meeting. Many thanks to Ryan Pollack for managing our HOF vote!

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.
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.

You do not need a parking pass to park on campus – however, do not park in spaces not marked as parking spaces or in handicapped parking (unless you have the appropriate tag displayed).

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