The Niagara Metros management team has gotten together and come up with a couple of dates to mark on your calendar, regarding upcoming yearly "events".  This is the official notification of those events, as we wrap up the 2010 season.

First up is our annual year-end team meeting.  This is a get-together of all the players that are still in Niagara for the winter, to go over what happened this past season, talk about any changes we might like to make to our operation, any prospective new players for 2011, and basically a post-mortem on 2010.

That meeting is scheduled for next Wednesday, December 1 at the Thorold Legion (same place as this meeting has been held for the past 3 years) at 7:30.  The address of the Legion, for those of you that use GPS to get to locations, is 3 Ormond Street South, Thorold, Ontario, L2V 1X9.  We expect all players that are in the area to try and get to this important meeting.  If you have ideas for implementing change to our team or to the league in general, and are interested in finding out what's going on in the league for 2011, this is your chance.  Please guys, do what you can to get there...on time.

The other important date on the calendar, to complete the 2010 season, is the Metros Christmas party.  This has become an annual classic, and is one of the year's highlights.  Everyone is urged to attend, and to bring their "significant other" for a fun night of presentations, gifts, food and drink, and reminiscing.

This year's event will take place on Wednesday, December 29, at the home of Mark and Debbie Walters (where it has been for some 25 years).  The doors will be open at 3:00, and people are urged to get there as early as you can arrange, but if at all possible no later than 6:00.  Dinner will be served at about 7:00, and the presentations will begin around 8:00 or so.  Everyone will receive a "gift" that reflects back on the season, and is usually a night full of laughter.  Please do what you can to attend.

All Metros players will be receiving an email later today, with all of the information mentioned on this "blog".  Please respond with a yay or a nay regarding your attendance for both of these events.  They are a big part of our season.

Till next week, have a good one...and stay on the field. 

Last week we celebrated the champions of Major League Baseball...the 2010 San Francisco Giants.  This week, we'd like to bring it a little closer to home with an acknowledgement to all of the Senior baseball teams from across the province that won their O.B.A. or local league Championships. 

As the Niagara Metros have learned from travelling across Ontario and meeting some of these teams in tournaments, there is some very good baseball being played across the province, and we also know that winning a title (of any kind) is a hard thing to do.  So here's a little tip of the cap to the various winners (and runners-up) from across Ontario.  In 2010...you are the Champions!

As we mentioned last week, we didn't expect the San Francisco Giants to win the World Series in 5 games.  We, therefore, weren't prepared to post anything quite so soon, regarding the World Champions.  So, here it is, more than a week late, but still in all it's glory, our celebration of the Giants' win.

As you may or may not know, Metros G.M. Mark Walters is a die-hard San Francisco fan, and has been for a long, heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, frustrating time.  But, with the advent of the newest World Championship, that all changed, and we thought it would be interesting to get a feel for this unique victory, from the perspective of someone who is really passionate about it.

So, Mark has written a two-page essay on the highs and lows of being a Giants' fan for the last 50 years, or so.  And we also got his take on the recent Giants victory over the Texas Rangers.  Finally, after many coversations about it over the years, Mark has revealed what he really thinks of the Giants' much-publicized enigma...known as Barry Lamar Bonds.  It's interesting reading!

To get into a 50 year perspective on the latest World Champions, from one of their biggest fans, just click this link, and enjoy!


MORE GIANTS STUFF

Also this week, we have a special San Francisco Giants video on our "Baseball Film Feature".  Back in early September, the Giants' "out there" closer, Brian Wilson, appeared on the syndicated T.V. show, "Jim Rome is Burning".  It is a wild interview, with one of the most interesting people in baseball.  To find out exactly how nuts Mr. Wilson really is, you have to check it out.  Just scroll to the bottom of this page, and press "PLAY".

This week, we wanted to let you know that our yearly "Metros History" recap has been posted.  You'll recall that one of our 25th Anniversary tasks was to tell the story of what happened to the St. Catharines (now Niagara) Metros from a "historical perspective".  We did that all last season, posting a historical "Look Back" at every year of the Metros' 25 year history.  We also said that we were going to continue that process, and use these stories to reflect each season of Metros baseball, into the future.  Well, after a couple of months to distance ourselves and give us some perspective, we have written the story and added the pictures from our 2010 season. 

It was an interesting season to say the least.  And we have it for you, pretty much down to the last detail.  Do you remember our roster troubles back in March?  Our rough start to the year, when we couldn't hit a lick?  The Dave Davidson effect?  The amazing pitching performances?  The thrilling but disappointing Elims tourney?  All of the highs and lows are recaptured in this recap.  It makes for very interesting reading, and will also serve as a historical landmark from which future Metros teams can draw.
 
To view the "Look Back at 2010" story, and all of it's highs and lows, simply click on "Metros History" (to the left of this page) and then "2010".  Enjoy!


A QUICK NOTE 


To be honest, we didn't expect the San Francisco Giants to wrap up the World Series Championship so quickly.  We fully expected the series to go at least 6 games, which would have given us time to write something about it.  So, next week we promise to have something special to honour the Giants' Championship, and to recognize their long-suffering fans (of whom Metros' G.M. Mark Walters is one).  Maybe we'll get him to write something about it, and have it ready for next week.

In any event, we'll have a "Giant Party" next week, here at metrosbaseball.ca.  Until then, we'll just say congratulations to the San Francisco Giants and their fans.  It's long overdue.

Talk to you next week.