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Monday, February 28, 2011
NIAGARA METROS' 2011 SEASON STARTS IN EARNEST
With our start-up meeting (held last Thursday) now
in the books, the Metros annually begin their indoor workouts...and that is once again, the case this year. The
"Indoor Season" begins on Thursday March 3, at 9:00 PM...but this year, we have a bit of a surprise in store.
Instead of being at Thorold High School, where space and activities were limited, we have opted to move our indoors
to the Bullett-Proof Baseball Academy.
The Bullett facility is the premier facilty for baseball in
the Niagara area, and features a large "infield" area, batting cages (complete with Jugg's pitching machines) and
four indoor mounds, for the pitchers. Once again, the workouts begin at 9:00 and run to 11:00 PM. We have
scheduled four such indoor practices (March 3, March 24, March 31, and April 14) and there is a $10.00 fee for your workout.
All current or new "Metros" are urged to attend, and start to shake off the rust. The Bullett-Proof Academy
is located at 1100 Niagara Street in Welland, and is part of the Welland Fairgrounds complex.
By the way, the
Metros are very much into the "recruiting season" and have been talking to many potential new players. This
is always an exciting time of year for the Management team, and this year's prospects are shaping up to be a very impressive
crop. But we are still (and always) on the lookout for more talent! If you have played baseball at the Professional,
College, or Elite Junior level, and plan to be in Niagara for the summer, we'd love to hear from you. Just email or
call a member of the Coaching staff via the information on our "Contact Us" page. And if you're in the area,
please feel free to show up to our indoor workouts (listed above) and join in the fun. It's a great way to get ready
for tryouts in April, and perhaps "strut your stuff" for the coaches. It's never too early to try and impress.
NEW "BEST OF" BASEBALL FILM
FEATURE
By the way, did you check out our new "Best Of" Baseball Film, yet? This week
we go back to the one that started it all. In February of 2007, we started running our Baseball Film series with a short, priceless
film called "Clark, the Canadian Hockey Goalie". This is a look at what happens when you grow up in Canada,
and apply your well-honed hockey skills to the baseball diamond. "Clark" is a funny, yet uniquely Canadian
look at the two games we love. As mentioned, this film was the one that started it all for us here at metrosbaseball.ca,
and to date, we probably received more positive feedback on this film than any other film we've run since. Just
scroll to the bottom of the page, press "Play",
and enjoy.
That's about it for now. Hope to see everyone in Welland on Thursday
night. Till then...stay on the field!
10:40 am | link
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
HEATHER AND GRAHAM (PLUS GRANDPA) WELCOME A NEW BABY TO THE TEAM
The Niagara Metros' "family" got a little
bit bigger late last week! Former Metros pitcher (1997-07) Graham Bailey and his wife Heather welcomed a new "bundle
of joy" named Tessa Ann Bailey, to their home in Thorold. Tessa arrived on Friday February 18, at 1:59 PM,
and weighed in at 8 lbs. 8ozs. Both mom and baby are doing great.
Tessa represents a baby sister for
8 year old Jenna, and 4 year old Alicia...and since Friday, Grandpa Mark and Grandma Debbie Walters haven't been able
to wipe the smile off their faces. In fact, Metros' G.M. Walters plans to introduce a new category to his team's list
of trophies this season..."Most Loveable". Tessa can't lose! (although she'll be in a dogfight with Matt
Spillman)
To see a couple of the new baby pictures, please click on "Photo Album" to the left
of the page.
METROS START-UP MEETING...THURSDAY
FEBRUARY 24TH
Just a reminder that the Metros 2011 Informational startup meeting will be held Thursday
night (February 24th) at the Thorold Legion. The Branch 17 Legion is located at 3 Ormond Street South in "Canal
City". There is plenty of free parking behind the building, and the meeting will be held in the upstairs hall,
beginning at 7:30.
The Metros have traditionally gotten the year started with an informational meeting of
the players and management, to go over the plans and basic operations of the club, prior to the start of the indoor season.
We invite all current and prospective Metros to attend the meeting, and give us input on decisions that need to be made.
We'll post some of the decisions and announcements that arise from the meeting...next week. Till then, stay
on the field.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
HAP WALTERS TOURNAMENT - BIGGER AND BETTER THAN EVER IN 2011
The
"Hap" Walters Tournament, hosted by the Central Ontario "AAA" Major Baseball League, has been scheduled
and invitations have been sent out to 25 of the best Senior "AAA" clubs in Ontario. Since it's inception in
2003, the "Hap" has become one of the highlights on the Senior Baseball calendar each season, and was previously
operated out of St. Catharines by the Niagara Metros. But this year's event looks to be bigger, and better than ever,
with the changes that the league has instituted.
Like last year, this year's "Hap" will be played
out of the Erindale/ Clarkson / and Etobicoke parks on the same weekend as it has been traditionally held...July 15 to 17.
The difference for 2011's tourney, is the fact that the league was able to secure Oakville Park for that weekend, as well.
With the extra park being used, the league decided to open up the field to include 20 teams, making it the biggest Senior tourney
this side of the Eliminations (which will be held in Windsor two weeks later).
While the tournament format
has not yet been finalized, there is a definite possibility that the tourney will feature a 5 Division round-robin, with each
division winner advancing to the playoffs. In addition, 3 "Wild Card" teams would advance, making the round-robin
games more meaningful, and hopefully not having the playoff teams decided until after the last pitch of the early round games.
This format would also require an extra round of playoffs, creating a quarter-final (to go with a semi and a final) which
would wrap up on Sunday afternoon. More teams, more games, more baseball!
Like last year, the tournament
will feature David Huctwith (Mississauga) as Convener, Greg Cranker (Erindale) as Head of Operations, and Michelle
Wood (Burlington) as Treasurer. Hap's son, Mark Walters (Niagara) remains the Tournament Chairman, and contact
person. As mentioned, invitations to the event have already gone out via email this week. Any team that is interested
in attending the 2011 "Hap" is urged to contact any of the above listed tournament officers, for information.
All of the details are available on this website, by clicking on the "Hap Walters Tourney" link...to the left
of this page.
ALSO THIS WEEK...
The Niagara Metros are busily getting ready for their annual season start-up meeting, which is scheduled
for later this week. The Metros have traditionally gotten the year started with an informational meeting of
the players and management, to go over the plans and basic operations of the club, prior to the start of the indoor season.
A few of the topics up for discussion at the
meeting are...
1. "The State of the Metros"
2. Fundraising and Registration 3. Changes to the Team 4. Changes to the League 5. Prospective Schedule and Tournaments 6. The newly reformatted "Hap Walters Tourney"
...as
well as any topics that arise out of the discussions.
The meeting will take place on Thursday, February 24
at the Thorold Legion, beginning at 7:30. The
Branch 17 Legion, for those who don't remember, was the location of our past few players get-togethers (including
the year-end meeting last November), and is at 3 Ormond Street South in Thorold.
We
invite all current and prospective Metros to attend the meeting...and bring your ideas and thoughts. This is an interactive
process, and as you know, most of the decisions we make as a team come from you. You must attend in order to be heard.
FINALLY...
We
have posted a new "Best of" weekly video in our "Baseball Film Feature" area. As you know, we are
into a "Top 10" countdown of the best baseball videos that have appeared on the website over the past 3 years.
This week we're featuring one of the funniest videos to ever make it's way onto the site. In February of 2009, we had a lot of response to the "Funny or Die" production of "The Baseball
Fantasy Camp" with the Phillies' Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins. This hilarious routine takes a look at what might
happen when a regular fan joins forces with a couple of super stars when they're "just chillin' at home. He
might be (like Howard says) "Livin' the Dream", but, it also might not be what he bargained for. And
it is an absolute classic! Just press
"Play", and enjoy.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
METROS' BRIAN ESSERY CALLS IT A CAREER
The Niagara Metros can mark February 6th, 2011 as the
end of an amazing era! It was on that date that the team's great veteran pitcher Brian Essery, notified them of
his retirement from competitive baseball, after an unbelieveable 12-year C.O.M.B.L. career. Not just a remarkable pitcher
and athlete, Brian was an incredible "team leader" and later on became a valuable veteran presence,
which the Metros will sorely miss, as they move into the future. To recap all of Brian's superlative accomplishments
would take up pages upon pages in this website, but we'll try to sumarize a few of his career highlights.
Mr. Essery, a resident of St. Catharines, left the city's Junior ball program in 1993 to play for Glen Oaks Junior College,
in Michigan...where he put in two very good seasons. After graduating, Brian was approached to play Independent ball,
and began a short, but impressive professional career in the North Atlantic League. In 1995, he played a season with the Welland
Aquaducks, before joining the Altoona (Pennsylvania) Rail Kings in 1996 and the first part of '97. After dealing
with some arm problems in June of 1997, he returned home and signed with his hometown team, the St. Catharines Metros.
However, his lingering arm trouble limited him to just 16 innings that first season, and after going 1-0 with a 5.63
ERA, he was shut down in August. That was pretty much the last time Brian Essery was "sub-par" for the rest
of his career with the Metros. Without getting into too much detail, we can tell you that Brian went on to post an incredible
61-23 record (.726) as a Metro, along with a stellar 2.50 ERA (including 4 seasons of "aluminum bat" baseball) over
the course of his 627 innings. He added 526 strikeouts (7.6 per 9 innings), and allowed just 509 hits (7.3/9 innings),
and 196 walks (2.8/9 innings). His career WHIP is an outstanding 1.12. He also tossed 16 complete game shutouts,
which is an all-time Metros career record (one of his 21 Metros pitching records).
But those career numbers,
as impressive as they are, pale in comparison to some of his individual season numbers. Such as in 2001, when he
tossed 68 innings and posted a 13-1 record, and an 0.53 ERA. Or 2003, when he went 5-0 with a 1.26 ERA. Or 2007,
when he posted a 6-2, 1.40 mark. Or 2002, when his ERA was 1.07. Or his 10-1 record in 1999. The list
goes on and on.
His "highlight years" were probably from 2001 to 2003, when Brian was
quite possibly the best pitcher anywhere, in any league. During that 3-year stint, the totals that the 6'3" righty
put up were absolutely astounding...38 games, 187 innings, only 1 home run and 107 hits allowed, 50 walks and 144 strikeouts.
He threw 7 complete game shutouts (including 2 one-hitters, and 4 two-hitters) and allowed just 29 runs (19 earned).
His key stats are the most impressive of all...23 wins, 3 losses and an 0.91 ERA. Even as recently as 2009, Brian (now
well into his 30's) posted a 2.93 ERA, to go with a 1.04 WHIP...and was so impressive, the Ontario Champion Windsor Stars
picked him up to pitch at Nationals in Nova Scotia. He won two games for the Stars that weekend, including the bronze
medal game.
The accolades don't end there! In 2007, Mr. Essery went to a
tryout camp for the Great Britain national baseball program, and not only made the team...he became G.B.'s ace. He went
on to pitch at the European Championships and became one of the best pitchers in the entire
tournament. He started 3 games and threw 16 1/3 innings, allowing 17 hits and 4 walks...striking out 3. Brian
finished with a record of 1-1 and had a very good 3.31 ERA. He also allowed just 3 extra-base hits and a .279 batting
average against...all very good numbers at this high caliber of play.
In addition, he garnered the
respect of his C.O.M.B.L. adversaries, by being voted the league's "Pitcher of the Year" in 1999 and 2007...as well
as the League M.V.P. in 2001. The "icing on the cake" probably came near the end of his final season,
when Brian was named to the Metros 25th Anniversary All-Star Team...a team that acknowledged the best of the 163 players
(including 61 pitchers) that had donned the Metros jersey from 1985 to 2009.
But all good things must come
to an end...and the end came for Brian Essery in 2010. After sustaining a serious arm injury pitching for the Brits
at the World Championships late in 2009, he tried a comeback in 2010. However, after rehabbing all winter, his pain
wouldn't go away...and after one last try (pitching for Britain at the 2010 Euros) he managed to last 6+ innings before the
pain came back. Although he wanted to give it one more shot in 2011, he said he knew he was finished with that
final setback, and after 7 months of rest and contemplation, he called G.M. Mark Walters to make it official.
The Niagara Metros would just like to take this opportunity to wish Brian the best, in whatever endeavors he chooses
(which we understand includes coaching the St. Catharines Tyke travelling team in 2011). Best of luck, Brian.
Thanks for 12 incredible seasons...and please, don't make a stranger of yourself. We hope to see you at Community
Park every once in a while, just to say "hi". As we said, the Metros are going to miss you!
2:49 pm | link
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
CENTRAL ONTARIO "AAA" MAJOR BASEBALL LEAGUE HOLDS FIRST MEETING OF 2011
Did you notice it? There is a small change to
the name of what was formerly the Central Ontario Major Baseball League. Because the O.B.A. made changes to it's Senior
classification system, our league is now "AAA", and that designation will henceforth be indicated in our league
name. That was just one of the announcements that came out of the league's first managers meeting of 2011, held last
night in Burlington.
In past years, the Senior Division has been broken up into classifications known as "A",
"B", "C", and "D". But these classifications were not consistent with the classifications
of their minor league system, from Pee Wee to Junior. So, this past off-season, the O.B.A. addressed the discrepancy,
and now the Senior division falls in line with the rest of the O.B.A. The result produced a classification system that
looks like this: "AAA", "AA", "A", and "B". With all 9 of the COBA Major
teams going to the Elimination Tourney, they are automatically declared "AAA", and our league name will from now
on reflect that fact.
Here are some of the other decisions that came down at last night's meeting:
1.
After much discussion this off-season, the league decided to maintain their 9-inning format for all league games...thus leaving
this issue unchanged from previous years. Although there was some merit to the change, most teams felt that the 7-inning
format would cut down on the actual baseball being played by their players, and would cause managers to reduce player rosters
to accomodate the change. The financial, logistical, and philosophical ramifications were thought to "not be in
the best interests of the league's membership". The issue was left open to re-visit in future years.
2.
The Hap Walters Invitational Tournament, hosted by the Central Ontario "AAA" Major League will be back in 2011...bigger
and better than ever. The league is looking at hosting a 20-team event this season, which would be the biggest
Hap Walters Tourney, in it's 7-year history. Once the park availability, and other logistical issues are sorted out,
invitations will be sent out to all "AAA" teams in the province. The invitations should go out by the middle
of February. Any "AAA" team representative that is interested in entering the tourney and has not received
an invite in the past, is asked to contact Mark Walters (his email address is on our "Contact" page). The
tournament will be played on the July 15, 16 and 17 weekend, and will once again, be based in the Mississauga-Oakville-Etobicoke
area.
3. Speaking of tournaments, this year's Senior Elimination Tourney will return to Windsor, and will
be hosted by Bernie Soulliere, and the Windsor Stars. The past two years, the classic has been graciously hosted (and
very well organized) by the Lakeside Lizards in the London and surrounding area. But the O.B.A. has decided that the
event will return to Windsor for the next two years, at least. Windsor had been the site of the tourney for 7 years
in the first decade of the 2000's and is always a very well-run event when Bernie and the Stars are hosting. The
Elims, will once again be held on the August 1st "Civic Holiday" weekend.
4. The league also announced
that their 2011 All-Star game has been scheduled. It will be on Sunday, July 24 at Nelson Park in Burlington and
will once again feature the All-Stars of the Johnson Division and the All-Stars of the Andrews Division in a head-to-head
tilt. Last year, the Andrews Division came out on top by an 11-1 score, so there will definitely be some motivation
to put on a good performance by the Johnson boys ths time around. The teams will be coached by the staffs of last year's
Division winners, so the Coaching staff of the Oakville A's (Rob Fisher and Dave Smallhorn) will take the lead for the
Andrews squad, while the same duties fall on Rick Ellis and Brock Marshall of the Glanbrook Grizzlies, for the Johnson team.
It is always a great day at the yard!
5. As for the C.O.B.A. "AAA" Major schedule and playoff
format, things will remain relatively unchanged for 2011. The league is looking at an unbalanced 28-game schedule,
with each team playing teams from the other division 3 times, while playing their own division 4 times each. The schedule
will get underway on the weekend of May 7th, and wrap up during the week of August 15th. That will set up all the
teams to begin a double knockout tourney on the weekend of August 19th. The 4 surviving teams from the first weekend
will then play a double knockout Championship weekend, which will wrap up on August 28th, when the league declare's it's
2011 Playoff Titlists.
That's about it for now. Check back again next week, to get your "baseball fix"
in snowy Southern Ontario...right here at metrosbaseball.ca. Till then, "stay on the field".
10:16 am | link
|
|
. 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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