Larry Dierker Chapter meeting recap – 1/19/2026
Members and guests of the SABR Larry Dierker Chapter gathered at the Spaghetti Western in Houston, Texas, and via Zoom for the January 2026 monthly meeting. We had a great chapter meeting with special guest Kevin Hurd. Chapter VP Herb Whalley gave a recap of the 20th Anniversary of the Bill Gilbert Rogers Hornsby Chapter Winter Meeting that a few members of the chapter attended on January 10 at Texas State.
The meeting video is now available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/nN4Lh7WZJtU
Chapter President Joe Thompson discussed the Astros making baseball’s first big splash of 2026 the previous Friday by signing Japanese right-hander Tatsuya Imai to a three-year contract with player opt-outs after the ’26 and ’27 seasons. Joe also spoke of the busy January schedule for the chapter, including an event at Astros Fest on Saturday, January 24, and the SABR Day event on January 31.
The guest speaker for the evening was Kevin Hurd. The title of his talk was based on his two-volume book series: From Randy Johnson to Dallas Braden: No-hitters Beyond The Box Score? As Kevin stated, “The book is actually 2 books (Volume 1 and Volume 2), each 300 pages long. There are 23 games covered, from 1959-2022. The reason I picked these games is that they all had interesting back-stories. I also did interviews with 20 pitchers and catchers that participated in the no-hitters. Of the 23 games, one was about Nolan Ryan’s last no hitter in May 1991. Some of the other games dealt with a 10-inning no-hitter, an 8-inning no-hitter, a no-hitter through 12 innings that got broken up/lost in the 13th inning, etc. As I mentioned above I tried to get games with interesting back stories.”
John Lloyd won the chapter trivia contest and will prepare the test for the next chapter meeting on Monday, February 16. Retired American judge, attorney, professor, and author Lou Schiff will give a presentation on attorneys in the Baseball Hall of Fame. His presentation is based on his book Attorneys in the Baseball Hall of Fame: A Collection of Biographical Profiles. We hope you can join us.
Our chapter’s SABR Day event is this Saturday, January 31 from 11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. at Jax Grill on Shepherd Drive. Please join us! Our guest speakers for the event will be Bailey and Brian Hall, along with Cyril Morong. They will give a presentation on “AI and Baseball.” This presentation was first given by Bailey and Brian Hall at the Bill Gilbert Winter Meeting on January 10. The presentation was eye-opening and funny from my point of view. You do not want to miss it! Their presentation will begin at 12 pm on Saturday.
As part of our SABR Day event, I would like people to bring a piece of their own baseball history and to share the story behind it. This is anything you possess that has a baseball story behind it. For example, from 11 – 12 pm, while we are eating lunch, as part of my own baseball history collection presentation, I plan on showing a DVD that I picked up at the SABR convention in Baltimore a few years ago. It is a partial television broadcast of the Saturday, September 4, 1965 ABC Saturday Afternoon Baseball game featuring the Astros vs Dodgers from the Astrodome. Rare SportsFilms says this is the oldest TV broadcast involving the Astros known, as well as the only ABC-TV MLBB game in existence. The game featured Tim Jackson and Jackie Robinson on the call! According to the company, 1965 was the only year Jackie Robinson did major league broadcast work.
Finally, I would like to do a book exchange. If you have an old baseball book, magazine, or anything else that you are finished with, please bring it so that someone else may take it home and enjoy it.
Besides good food at Jax Grill, this should be an exciting event. We hope that you can join us!
— Joe Thompson