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Monday, October 25, 2010
METROS' DAVIDSON DOUBLE WINNER AT C.O.M.B.L. YEAR-END BANQUET
The Central Ontario Major Baseball League held their
year-end awards banquet last week, and the Niagara Metros' Dave Davidson came away with two of the big prizes. Davidson
took home the League's Batting Championship, as well as the Regular Seasom Most Valuable Player Trophy.
As you
are probably aware, the 26 year-old ex-Major League pitcher spent the summer of 2010 rehabbing a recent shoulder
surgery with the Niagara team. And while he was able to successfully compete on the mound for 10 games with the Metros,
it was at the plate and in the field where he excelled...amassing some unbelievable numbers. His final stats
line shows a batting average of .468, and he led the team in doubles (11), total bases (60), RBI's (28), and Slugging Pct.
(.759). If you count only his C.O.M.B.L numbers, his average swelled to an incredible .516, some 80 points
higher than runner-up Geoff Cullen of the Erindale Cardinals.
In so doing, Davidson became the first
Metros player to take home the League Batting Title since Lance Bell turned the trick, in 1989. When you throw in his
errorless season in the field, and his impressive pitching line (11 innings, 5 hits, 21 strikeouts, 1 win, 5 saves, and a
2.45 ERA) Dave became the League Managers' choice for their M.V.P. award. He is the first Metros' player to
take home the top prize since Brian Essery in 2001...and 6th Metros' League M.V.P. in the team's history, joining
Frank Keltos (1992, '93, and '97) and Chris Denison (1986).
The other award winners announced at the
2010 C.O.M.B.L. Year-end banquet were:
Top Pitcher - Eric Ventura, Mississauga (edging out Niagara's Dustin
Turner)
Rookie of the Year - Jamie Smith, Mississauga (finishing 2 votes ahead of the Metros' Matt Spillman)
Playoff
M.V.P. - Corey Morrison, Glanbrook
HR Champion - Geoff Cullen, Erindale
Bill Graham "Iron Man" Award -
Vic Speciale, Brampton
Sportsman of the Year Award - John Kielb, Etobicoke
Executive of the Year - David Huctwith,
C.O.B.A. Representative and League Convenor
In addition, the Metros had 3 players voted to the Year-End
Ken Johnson Division All Star Team. The Metros' 2010 All-Stars are: Davidson at the DH position, Matt Spillman
at 2nd Base, and (for the 5th time in 6 years), Jason Ermers at the Lefthanded Pitcher's spot.
By the way, we have
posted a few pictures from the event, on our website. Just click on "Photo Album" and scroll to the bottom
of the page. Congratulations to all the winners.
ALSO THIS WEEK...
We have a new "Baseball Film Feature" on our website
this week. For those of you who haven't seen the new Baseball documentary "The 10 Inning" by filmmaker
Ken Burns...here's a quick 5 minute preview. We encourage anyone who has a soft spot in their heart for our game,
check out the film...as well as it's 18 hour original predecessor "Baseball: The First 9 Innings".
It is an amazing look at the history of our game, dating back to it's roots, in the 1840's.
As for the newest
edition, "The 10th Inning" recounts baseball's recent past, from the Blue Jays' first World Series win in 1992,
to the end of the 2009 season...featuring an in depth look at the steroid era (and the fallout from it), the strike season
of 1994, the massive HR numbers from the late '90's and early 2000's, and the end of the Bambino's Red Sox curse. To
check out our preview of this fascinating documentary, scroll to the bottom of this page and press "Play".
Talk to you next week.
Monday, October 18, 2010
C.O.M.B.L. YEAR-END BANQUET THIS THURSDAY
One of the highlights of the baseball year is happening
this coming Thursday night, as the C.O.M.B.L. holds its annual year-end banquet. The best and brightest stars in COBA
will be honoured with an awards celebration, dinner and social event for the 28th consecutive season. That is a
statistic that the league is very proud of! This year's event takes place at the King's Court Banquet Center, at 1159
King Road in Burlington. The agenda features a cash bar (opening at 6:15), a beautiful all-you-can-eat roast beef buffet
(at 7:15) and the awards ceremony at about 8:15. It all wraps up at around 10:00. It's a great chance for the
players and coaches to get together and talk baseball one last time before we begin our long winter's hibernation.
This year's edition of the Niagara Metros will be in on some of the awards, although we don't know entirely who will win
and what the whole picture looks like at this point. We do know that the Metros' Dave Davidson has won the legue batting
title, and will be so honoured for his gaudy .516 batting average. It's the first Metros' batting title since Lance
Bell turned the trick, way back in 1989. We also know that the Glanbrook Grizzlies will be awarded the Johnson Division
title along with the Barry Dobson Playoff Championship Trophy, while the Oakville A's will be awarded the Andrews Division
Trophy. Finally, we know that Erindale's Geoff Cullen will be awarded his 8th C.O.M.B.L. HR title, and 6th in the
last 7 years.
Here's what has yet to be announced:
League M.V.P. (Niagara's Davidson is
nominated for this trophy, in addition to his batting title honour)
Top Pitcher (Niagara's Dustin Turner has been nominated
for the 3rd straight season)
Rookie of the Year (Niagara's Matt Spillman has been nominated after an amazing 1st season
in the league)
Other awards being handed out are the Bill Graham "Iron Man" award, the C.O.M.B.L. Sportsman
of the Year, the C.O.M.B.L. Playoff M.V.P. Trophy, and the C.O.M.B.L. Executive of the Year award. In addition, the year-end
All Star teams will be announced for each division.
All in all, it should be a great night. Anyone that
might be still interested in attending, should let G.M. Mark Walters know before the end of Tuesday, so he can arrange for
a meal. For the folks already attending, we'll see you Thursday.
Talk to you next week, with a recap
of all the winners.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
TEAM CANADA GOES 2-2 IN SECOND ROUND TO FINISH FIFTH
The Canadian National Baseball team came up with
a big 14-6 win last night against the host Puerto Rican team to finish the Pan-Am Qualifier in 5th place, just out of the
semi-finals. Earlier, the Canadians lost 5-2 to the Dominican Republic and 4-0 to Team U.S.A, while defeating the team
from Panama 9-5. With their 2-2 second round record, Canada achieved their primary goal of qualifying for both the 2011
Pan-Am games, and the World Cup of Baseball. In fact,
they will participate in the Pan Am Games for the first time since the event was held on home soil in Winnipeg back in
1999.
In the game versus Pueto Rico, it started out as a see-saw
battle, but Canada pulled ahead for good in the seventh inning by putting up five runs to take a commanding lead. Overall,
Canada had fourteen hits including homeruns from Chris Robinson (Dorchester, ON), Adam Stern (London, ON), Scott Thorman (Cambridge,
ON) and Jamie Romak (London, ON) who smacked his fifth of the tourney. Robinson was
Canada’s most impressive offensive player going 5-for-6 with three RBI’s. His homerun came at a key time in the
fifth inning to put his team in front 3-1. Scott Diamond (Guelph, ON) started on the mound for Canada and was effective
through four innings by only allowing one run and three hits.
As for the Metros' Dave Davidson, he finished the
tourney with a 7.71 ERA, having allowed 3 hits (all singles) and 3 walks, while striking out 1. Of his 31 pitches thrown,
19 were for strikes. We'll try to get Dave to write a recap of his experiences at the tourney, for us to post here at
metrosbaseball.ca later in the fall.
By the way, the semi-final match-ups will feature undefeated Team USA
taking on the Dominican Republic and Venezuela squaring off against Cuba. For those interested in following the remainder
of the tournament, please visit: http://premundial2010.prnbt.com/.
By the way, before we sign off, we have to let you know about our new Baseball Film Feature. It is from
the classic baseball movie "The Natural", but the scene isn't the one you think it is. It is, however, one
of our favourites from one of our favourite movies. Scroll to the bottom of the page and check it out.
Talk
to you next week.
10:27 am | link
Friday, October 8, 2010
DAVIDSON PITCHES SCORELESS 9TH AS CANADA ADVANCES
After getting off to a 2-1 start at the Pan-Am Games
Qualifying Tournament in Puerto Rico, the Team Canada baseball club split their final two games of the preliminary round to
finish at 3-2, and advanced to round 2. The Canadians dropped a very close 4-2 game to Cuba on Wednesday, before rebounding
with a 10-1 thumping of the Netherlands Antilles Thursday.
The Niagara Metros' Dave Davidson pitched the
9th inning in Thursday's win, and although he gave up a hit and a walk, did not allow a run. Dave has now pitched 2
1/3 innings at the tourney, and (as the only lefty in the Canadian bullpen) will likely be a key man for Canada in round
2. Atlanta Braves farmhand, Scott Diamond (Guelph, On.) pitched scoreless ball for Canada in picking up the win,
while Philadelphia Phillies' minor leaguer Phillippe Aumont (Gatineau, QC) pitched an outstanding game against the Cubans,
but received a "no decision".
Canada now has four more games scheduled in round 2 play. Later
today (at 2:00 EDT) the Canadians face the Dominican Republic, and then follow that up with games on Saturday, Sunday and
Monday, versus Panama, the U.S.A., and Puerto Rico respectively. Having already reached round two, Canada has qualified
for the 2011 Pan-Am games, and a top 6 finish will put them into the 2012 World Cup of Baseball. As always, we'll keep
you posted on Team Canada's performance and results, with emphasis on Niagara's Dave Davidson, right here at metrosbaseball.ca.
12:01 am | link
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
TEAM CANADA OFF TO 2-1 START AT PAN-AM QUALIFIER
The Team Canada Senior Baseball club made short work
of Argentina yesterday in Ponce, Puerto Rico, to improve to 2-1 at the Pan-Am games qualifying tournament. Toronto Blue
Jay's prospect, Adam Loewen (Surrey,
BC) hit a mammoth two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to give Canada a walk-off 13-2 mercy victory over the Argentinians.
Loewen finished the game going 3 for 5 with three runs scored and five RBI’s.
The victory followed
a tough 5-3 loss to Venezuela, and an opening day 7-6 win over Nicaragua. The Canadians are back at it again today
and Wednesday, as they finish off the round-robin portion of the tourney. Tonight, Canada takes on the very tough Cuban
National Team before playing the Netherlands Antilles on Wednesday. One win will likely secure a berth in the playoff
round, which will guarantee the club a spot in the next Pan-Am games tournament, in 2011. Should they finish in the
top 6, Canada will also qualify for the next World Cup of Baseball in two years.
The Metros' connection to Team
Canada, Dave Davidson (Thorold, ON), has had an up and down experience, since joining Team Canada following his stint with
Niagara this summer. Davidson tossed a perfect inning versus Team U.S.A. in the pre-tournament exhibition series, tossing
13 pitches and retiring the side in order with a strikeout. However, Davidson didn't fare quite as well during the tourney
itself, taking the loss against Venezuela. After a 3-up, 3-down first inning (in a tie game), manager Ernie Whitt sent
Dave out for a second inning, but he allowed a hit and a walk, before being relieved by Trystan Magnuson (Vancouver, B.C.).
Unfortunately, Magnuson allowed both runners to score, along with one of his own, and the damage was done...Davidson
taking the loss.
We hope to hear from Dave via email, with a few of his experiences and observations from the tourney,
and his time with Team Canada. When we do, we'll pass some of the stories along...right here at metrosbaseball.ca.
By the way, here is the link to the Baseball Canada website, where you can get daily updates on the Team Canada games. Talk to you soon.
9:12 am | link
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. 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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