Last week we were able to deliver some good news, when we mentioned the recent marriage of Metros' catcher Jono Marcheterre, to his new wife, Cindy.  This week, unfortunately, we have to deliver some bad news.  The mother of Deb Walters has passed away.  Deb, of course, is the wife of Metros' GM Mark Walters.

Ann Furney passed away peacefully, early on the morning of Monday January 25th, at the age of 75.  She was surrounded by her family, at her home in Thorold.  Ann leaves behind 3 daughters, one son, 8 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren.  She faught a courageous, but losing 10-month battle with cancer, after being diagnosed last April.

The family will be receiving friends at the Lamb-Bocchinfuso Funeral Home (2 Regent St. in Thorold) on Tuesday evening at 7:00, and again Wednesday at 2:00 and 7:00.  The funeral is set for Thursday at St. John's Anglican Church (12 Carleton St. South in Thorold) at 12:00 noon.

We send our sincere condolences to Deb, Mark and the entire Furney family.


C.O.B.A. MAJOR LEAGUE HOLDS FIRST MEETING OF '10

The Central Ontario Major Baseball League held it's first meeting of the 2010 season last night, in Burlington.  There were a lot of happenings and quite a bit of interesting news eminating from the meeting.  We will report on these happenings, next week...right here at metrosbaseball.ca. 

Till then, stay on the field.    

Lost in all the hubub surrounding the New Year celebrations and the Metros name-change was a significant event that occurred at the same time.  One of our players decided to bring the New Year in with a real bang...by getting hitched!

Metros' veteran catcher Jono Marcheterre and the former Cindy Sullivan were married back on January 2 2010, in front of about 100 friends and family.  It was a beautiful ceremony at St. Catherines Church, which is downtown in the city of the same name.  Afterwards, there was a fantastic reception and meal at Coppola's Ristorante and Banquet Hall.  We have posted a picture of the handsome couple, below. 

It was a great day and evening, and we can vouch for the fact that everyone had a wonderful time.  Congratulations guys!


IN ADDITION...

The first meeting of the Central Ontario Major Baseball League 2010 season will take place next Monday January 25th, in Burlington.  Expected to be announced following the meeting is a possible new team addition to the league, making it a 10-teamer, once agin.  Also on the agenda is the newly re-vamped "Hap" Walters Tournament...the final details of which, will be ratified by the league, and announced afterward.  These are just two of several items that will be discussed.  We'll update everyone on the outcome of the meeting and all of the "new" items discussed, next week. 

Talk to you then. 

Did you notice it?  You may not have.  But believe us, the small change that you may have overlooked is, indeed, a big one for the Metros.  The "St. Catharines" Metros will henceforth be known as the "Niagara" Metros.  Although it's only a one-word change from St. Catharines to Niagara, the ramifications are huge.  You can see the change already reflected throughout many areas of this website (including a change to our logo)...and that's only the beginning.

You may be asking yourself "why", after 25 years of being known a the St. Catharines Metros?  Well, as we said last week, we have completed our 25th Anniversary look back, with the last submission to "Our History" page (Mark Walters' Recollections of 25 years of Metros baseball).  From now on, we are only looking forward.  And that forward "look to the future" necessitated this name change.  

In truth, as the only "A" team in Niagara, the Metros have been a regional team for the past few years.  As recently as 2004, 85 % of our players were from (or resided in) the city of St. Catharines.  However, with the folding of our primary feeder club, the St. Catharines Juniors (right around that time), we have been drawing players from across the Niagara District, ever since.  Our main feeder teams for the past 5 seasons have been the two "Elite programs" in the area (the Niagara Rebels, and Bullett-Proof Prospects) as well as Brock University. 

The Metros' roster, in fact, reflects those changes.  Our 2009 roster featured only 6 players from St. Catharines, while 8 players were from other "Niagara" cities.  Throw in the 7 that hailed from "points beyond" and you get a "melting pot" of talent.  So, we really have become a "regional team"...but our name didn't reflect that fact.  Hence forth it will.  

This subtle change will help us in at least two ways, we believe.  It should make it easier to attract talent, and widen our "feeder system area".  Hopefully, players will no longer be reluctant to come to St. Catharines to play their Senior ball, because of a possible animosity to a long-time rival that has built up during their Midget, and Junior years.  Let's face it, our future depends on the talent-pool that's feeding us...and hopefully with our name being "Niagara" we'll be able to attract the type of players we need to remain competitve, at the "A" level.  And those players will be from all over the area.

The other way this name change should help is on the financial side.  If we open up our market area to include cities such as Niagara Falls, Welland, Thorold, Ft. Erie, Grimsby, etc., etc....we should able to double (or even triple) the number of potential sponsors to our program.  Again, with the economic climate in the area (combined with the rising costs of operating a club at this level) we can't afford to limit the number of businesses that might be willing to invest in our ballclub.  The name "Niagara" should also help in this regard.

So, there you have it.  A very small change, but with very real consequences (hopefully good ones).  We are still the same team, in the same league, with the same players and coaches, at the same park.  Just, from now on, if you please...call us the Niagara Metros!      


OTHER STUFF!

Also this week.  Do you like our new "Welcome Montage"?  It is 2010, and our new montage features a few of the players who led our team in 2009.  It's always fun to get a little creative on the site.  Hope you like it.

In addition, we need to tell you that we'll be updating many sections of the website, over the next couple of weeks, to reflect the new 2010 season.  As such, this is your "last call" on anything 2009.  Some of the 2009 pictures, stories etc, will be moving over to our "Archive Website" (link just above this Blog) shortly.  And some will be deleted altogether.  So, if you want to check out the 2009 roster, scores and recaps, standings, photos, and anything else from our '09 season, you'll have to do it over the next week or so.

Finally, we have added a new movie to our regular "Baseball Film Feature" area.  It's a facinating story about Cuban defector (and newly-signed Cincinnati Red) Aroldis Chapman.  What this kid went through to persue his dream of pitching in the Majors, is unbelievable.  And this ESPN report gives you all the details.  It's a great story, and a great report.  Just scroll to the bottom of the page, and press "PLAY".

Talk to you next week.

Well, we made it to a new year...and a new decade.  Wow, 2010!  Where did the time go?  We at metrosbaseball.ca hope you all had a wonderful Christmas / New Year season, and are looking forward to a happy and prosperous "fresh start".

We have to appologize for being a bit late on our regular Tuesday update...we were waiting for something special to be completed, and it now is.  We'll share that with you today.  By the way, we are still getting things sorted out here, after the Christmas break, and have not gotten around to posting a new "Welcome Montage" for 2010, or updated the pages of the website to reflect the new year.  We'll have that ready for next week. 

Also, we're going to leave up our "Metros 2009 Recap Video" for another week.  Some of you may have been away for the holidays, and not had a chance to see it yet.  It's posted in our Metros Baseball Film area, at the bottom of this page.  Check it out...we're very proud of it.

As we mentioned, we have something special for you this week.  Back at the end of the season, we said we were going to get our GM Mark Walters, to write a story recounting some of his memories and experiences from being associated with our team for 25 years.  He has since completed the task, and we have it for you.  This essay took Mark about a week to research, and another week to write...and it basically tells you what our team has experienced through all the years.  Who we were/are, where we've been, and what we're about.  It is truly an in-depth look at the teams and players that have worn the "Metros" uniform...going back to 1985.  And all from Mark's perspective, as Coach / Manager / GM, written as objectively as possible.  It is a very interesting read.

You'll find the link to this essay at the bottom of our "Metros History" page.  The link and the essay are entitled "25 Years: Observations, Recollections, and Opinions...by Mark Walters".  This will put an exclamation point on our 25th Anniversary celebration (thank God!), and will be the last you hear about it.  From this point on (until the 50 year Anniversary, maybe) we are only looking forward.  Enjoy the essay, and once again, Happy New Year!