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Tuesday, January 27, 2009
2009 OFF AND RUNNING, AFTER C.O.B.A. MANAGER'S MEETING
The 2009 C.O.B.A. Major League season
got off to a good start, last night, as the league held it's first manager's meeting of the new year. All of the teams
were represented (except Etobicoke, due to manager Steve Breitner's illness) and there were a lot of league issues discussed
and formulated for the upcoming season. Without getting into too much detail here are the highlights:
1. The league will go with 9 teams,
this season, as the Mississauga North Tigers have officially withdrawn from the league. That will leave the divisions
uneven...with the Johnson Division having 5 teams, and the Andrews Division 4.
2. The loss of the Tigers meant
that the league was faced with a tough decision regarding the number of games in the schedule. To keep the schedule
balanced, the league had to adopt either a 24, or 32-game schedule. After much discussion, it was agreed that
24 was too few, and went with the 32-gamer (the longest schedule in league history).
3. The extra games means that each
team will be required to play at least 2 or 3 scheduled doubleheaders throughout the season. It also means that the
season will start the week of May 4th, and continue until August 19th...a full week longer than last season.
4. The league also adopted a new
playoff format...a hybrid of one that is used in some leagues in the U.S. and a format that C.O.B.A. used back in the 1980's.
Basically, it is a 2-weekend tournament, with the first weekend designed to reduce the field from 9 to 4 teams...and
the 2nd weekend to declare a winner from the 4 advancing teams. The beauty of the new format is that the road to the
2nd weekend becomes harder, the lower that a team finishes in the league. It is very advantageous for a team to finish as
high as possible in the regular season standings. The first game of the playoffs will be Thursday, August 20, with
the tourney wrapping up on Sunday, August 30.
5. The All-Star game will continue
to be played this season. A location has not been chosen as of yet, but the date will be Sunday, July 26th. The
game features the best players from the Johnson Division versus the best from the Andrews.
6. The C.O.B.A. Major "Hall of Fame"
committee is now accepting nominees from each team for the intial induction ceremony, which will take place at the 2009 C.O.B.A.
Major banquet. The committee will consider all nominees for the Hall, based on their statistics. The one criteria
that must be met...the player, coach or builder must have been involved in the C.O.B.A. Major League for at least 10 years.
7. The league voted to return their
existing Executive committee to power for 2009. The committee, which oversees all constitutional and disciplinary league
issues, consists of Glenn Turner (League Convenor), Greg Cranker (Erindale Cardinals), David Huctwith (C.O.B.A. Representative),
and Bruce Evans (Burlington Brants).
That is just a small sampling of the discussion
/ decisons that were made at last night's meeting. Now, league schedule-maker, Mark Walters, must get to work to
bring all these ideas together, in one neat package. We'll see how he does at the next meeting for the league managers...on
Monday, March 23.
Monday, January 19, 2009
FINAL STORY ABOUT 2008!
Well, the C.O.B.A. Major Baseball League
is holding their first meeting of the 2009 season next Monday...a sure sign that the new season is underway. So, next
week we'll be featuring some of the highlights to come from the meeting, and bring you up to date with what's happening in
our league for '09.
This story will therefore, be the final
one to wrap up our review of 2008. This week will also be your last chance to check out many of the other stories
and pictures documenting our 2008 season...
As promised last week, we'll wrap up our
look back at '08 with our "Top 20" Offensive Performances of the year. These ranking are based solely on the bottom
line numbers at the completion of each game, and not any other factors (such as level of competition or importance of the
game). We have established a "point system" to rate each individual performance, and make it easier for us to put these
outstanding games in their rightful place on the list.
So, here are the Top 20 Offensive performances
of the St. Catharines Metros for 2008.
20.
August 16 vs. Milton - Justin Czorny - Double, 2 Singles, 2 Runs, 2 RBI's.
19.
July 6 vs. East York - Joe Roach - Double, Single, Walk, 3 Runs, 3 RBI's.
18.
July 19 vs. Oshawa - Tylor Prudhomme - Double, 3 Singles, 2 Runs, 2 RBI's.
17.
June 26 vs. Dundas - Jonathan Paul - Single, Triple, Walk, 2 Runs, 3 RBI's.
16. May
23 vs. Brampton - Brad Namtzu - Double, 2 Singles, 2 Runs, 3 RBI's.
15.
July 2 vs. Burlington - Joe Roach - Double, 3 Singles, 3 Runs, 2 RBI's.
14.
July 6 vs. Oakville - Rocco Spano - Double, 2 Singles, Walk, 2 Runs, 3 RBI's.
13.
July 14 vs. Miss. N. - Jonathan Paul - 2B, 2 Singles, 2 BB's, 4 Runs, 2 RBI's.
12.
August 7 vs. Oakville - Rocco Spano - HR, Single, Sac Fly, Run, 3 RBI's.
11.
August 6 vs. Miss. N. - Tim Collins - Home Run, Single, Walk, 2 Runs, 3 RBI's.
10.
July 14 vs. Miss. N. - Rocco Spano - Double, 3 Singles, Walk, 4 Runs, 2 RBI's.
9.
May 28 vs. Miss. N. - Justin Czorny - Double, 2 Singles, 2 Runs, 4 RBI's.
8.
May 28 vs. Miss. N. - Joe Roach - Home Run, Single, Sac Fly, 3 Runs, 3 RBI's.
7.
August 9 vs. Brampton - Andrew Sorochan - 3 Singles, 3 Runs, 5 RBI's.
6.
June 16 vs. Erindale - Joe Roach - Home Run, Single, 2 Walks, 3 Runs, 3 RBI's.
5.
May 10 vs. Milton - Andrew Sorochan - HR, Double, Walk, 2 Runs, 3 RBI's.
4.
May 28 vs. Miss. N. - Rocco Spano - HR, Double, Single, 2 BB's, 3 Runs, 2 RBI's.
3.
August 20 vs. Miss. N. - Brad Namtzu - HR, Single, Sac Fly, 2 Runs, 5 RBI's.
2.
July 14 vs. Miss. N. - Tim Collins - 4 Singles, 4 Runs, 6 RBI's.
1. July
2 vs. Burlington - Andrew Sorochan - HR, 2 Doubles, 3 Runs, 4 RBI's.
Congratulations to all the players that
made this very select list.
Oh, by the way, check below for our newest edition
of our Baseball "Film Feature". The Philadelphia Phillies' Bret Myers (along with all of his teammates, management
staff, reporters, clubhouse guys, etc.) played one of the best practical jokes ever...on Phillies' pitcher Kyle Kendrick.
Just scroll to the bottom of this page and press "PLAY".
We'll talk to you next week,
with our first look at 2009...
Monday, January 12, 2009
FINAL LOOK BACK AT 2008
For the next couple of weeks we'll be
taking a final look back at the 2008 baseball season, focusing on the Metros players, and their exploits. This week...the
Top 20 pitching performances of 2008.
We believe that we have one of the best
pitching staffs in Ontario, and it is for this reason that we're going to start our recap of the '08 season with the picthers.
We're going to list the Top 20 single-game performances of the year from #20, right down to the best-pitched game of the season.
Note that these rankings are based solely on the pitching line of the game in question, not the circumstances (importance
of the game, opposing team, etc.) surrounding the game. So, without further adieu...here is the list of the great Metros
pitching performances of 2008.
#20. Aug. 9 - vs. Brampton - T.J. Tavender - 7 Inn. CG, 4H, 3R, 2ER, 3BB, 6K.
#19. Aug. 9 - vs. Brampton - Dan Estey - 7 Inn CG, 4H, 3R, 1ER, 1BB, 4K.
#18. June 16 - vs. Erindale - Jason Ermers - 6 Inn., 6H, 1R, 0ER, 1BB, 8K.
#17. Aug. 14 - vs. Etobicoke
- Dustin Turner - 7 Inn., 6H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 11K.
#16. June 26 - vs. Dundas - Rob Nixon - 8 Inn., 4H, 2R, 1ER, 6BB, 7K.
#15. Aug. 16 - vs. Erindale - Rob Nixon - 7 Inn CG, 3H, 1R, 1ER, 4BB, 5K.
#14. June 2 - vs. Oakville - Dustin Turner - 7 Inn. CG, 3H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 7K.
#13. July 10 - vs. Etobicoke - Dustin Turner - 8 Inn., 6H, 2R, 1ER, 2BB, 11K.
#12. May 10 - vs. Milton - Dustin Turner - 5 Inn., 4H, 0R, 0ER, 5BB, 8K.
#11. Aug. 6 - vs. Miss. N. - Ian Horner - 7 Inn. CG, 3H, 1R, 1ER, 3BB, 10K.
#10. May 10 - vs. Milton - Taylor Boyle - 4 Inn Save, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 3K.
#9. Aug. 7 - vs. Oakville - T.J. Tavender - 5 Inn. Save, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 7K.
#8. May 15 - vs. Glanbrook - Jason Ermers - 7 Inn. 3H, 2R, 0ER, 4BB, 6K.
#7. Aug. 2 - vs. Etobicoke - Rob Nixon - 7 Inn. CG, 6H, 2R, 0ER, 3BB, 4K.
#6. July 5 - vs. Woodslee - Dan Estey - 7 Inn. CG, 3H, 1R, 0ER, 2BB, 5K.
#5. July 11 - vs. Etobicoke - Rob Nixon - 8 Inn, 2H, 0R, 0ER, 8BB, 10K.
#4. July 19 - vs. Oshawa - Dustin Turner - 7 Inn. CG, 3H, 0R, 0ER, 2BB, 5K.
#3. May 23 - vs. Brampton - Rob Nixon - 7 Inn. 1H, 0R, 0ER, 2BB, 8K.
#2. Aug. 16 - vs. Milton - Jason Ermers - 7 Inn. CG, 2H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 10K.
#1. Aug. 1 - vs. East York - Dustin Turner - 7Inn. CG, 2H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 8K.
Congratulations to every pitcher
who made this very impressive list, and congrats to the entire pitching staff, who collectively posted a sparkling team ERA
of 2.97.
Next week...a look at the hitters.
Talk to you then.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
WELCOME TO 2009!
Well, one of the best things about the
calendar turning over, is that you get to start everything fresh and new, again. We'll be doing that over the course
of the next 3 or 4 weeks, here at metrosbaseball.ca, as well. By the end of January, we'll be removing a lot of the
2008 material from the website, to make way for 2009.
But in the meantime, we've got a couple
of stories to put the wraps on 2008, as well as some things that we'll be looking forward to for the new year. This
is just a roundabout way of saying that, if you haven't checked out all of the stuff (pictures, stories, statistics, etc.)
from last year...you've got just a few weeks to do so.
To get us off on the right foot,
as we put 2008 to bed, we have an item that we on the Metros are very proud of. It's a news story about the generous
acknowledgement of our team and one of our people...in a 2008 year-end poll taken by our newspaper, the St. Catharines Standard.
The story (written by Bill Potrecz) names the various highlights of the year in local sports...and lists St. Catharines Metros
G.M., Mark Walters, as the "Sportsperson of the Year" in Niagara. The story further goes on to mention the Metros as
one of the "Best Kept Secrets" on the Niagara Sporting scene. For the entire article please click here.
Thanks to Bill for the kind words...
Hey, while we're at it...don't forget
to check out the new baseball movie feature for the weeks of January 5th to 19th. If you ever thought an amateur could
do a good job on the "play by play", better think again. It's at the bottom of this page.
Talk to you next week.
|
|
. The Niagara Metros are very pleased to have Cat's Caboose Dining Coach and Bar Car as their
corporate partner in 2011.
|
| Click on the logo to visit the Cat's Caboose website. |
Located in the heart of Old Glenridge,
Cat's Caboose is one of St.
Catharines' oldest and most established restaurants. The place for LIVE ENTERTAINMENT and GREAT FOOD.
. .
. Check out our Showcase Film for the period of February 13 to February 27.
Just scroll
to the bottom of this page and press "Play".
__________________________________
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| Click to visit the "St. Catharines Standard" Website. |
Thank You: To the St. Catharines Standard for allowing us to use pictures and articles throughout this website.
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| Niagara Metros website reaches 100,000 hits on April 18, 2010. |
hits since December, 2004 Thanks for visiting 
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