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4th Annual Legends of Sports Dinner

02/15/2017 11:44 AM -

 

Lethbridge

February 14, 2017

Under the Lights Sports and Entertainment is pleased to present the 4th Annual Legends of Sports Dinner. It will be held on March 30th, 2017 at 6:30 pm at the Lethbridge Lodge Hotel and Conference Centre. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Blue Jays first ever World Series title and we will be honoring the anniversary by having the manager, Cito Gaston, and a player, Kelly Gruber, join us from that Championship team. With opening day just a couple days after the dinner what better way to kick off the baseball season then to celebrate the sport and its history.

 

As a special addition to the day, this year we will be hosting an exclusive Business Leadership Luncheon. Have the opportunity to sit in with them as they discuss the topic of leadership. This will be a town hall styled question and answer business opportunity with two Blue Jay all-time greats.

 

We will be partnering up with the Lethbridge Bulls, Prairie Baseball Academy, and Alberta Sport Development Centre – Southwest during this event. Proceeds from this event will be going towards Alberta Sport Development Centre – Southwest to help advance sport in Southern Alberta, the Prairie Baseball Academy Scholarship Fund, and towards maintaining the Lethbridge Bulls stability, specifically covering traveling costs, billeting, player support and community initiatives.


“We feel that Lethbridge is a great location for hosting and supporting top events. Anything from concerts, business conferences, or celebrity events, our city has proved to be successful time after time. For that reason the Bulls believe in this community and hope to pack the Lodge for yet another successful event reflecting on some of Canadian Baseball’s finest history.”

 

What: 4th Annual Legends of Sports Dinner

Where:  Lethbridge Lodge Hotel (320 Scenic Dr S)

When: March 30th, 2017 @ 6:30pm.

 

“We are once again bringing sports royalty to the city on March 30th. We hope to see many members of the business and sports community join us for a day filled with education and entertainment. The new luncheon will be a unique opportunity to have lunch and discuss leadership in a town hall setting to both Cito Gaston and Kelly Gruber.” Commented Bulls President and General Manager Kevin Kvame.

 

“We are extremely excited to have the opportunity to host both Cito Gaston and Kelly Gruber during this historic year. This year will mark the 25th anniversary of the Toronto Blue Jays first championship. This year’s Dinner will once again be a special night and our 2 speakers this year will help us to remember one of the biggest feats in Canadian baseball history when the World Series title came north of the border.” said Torey Scott, committee member.

 

Ticket Pricing

MVP Section:  $250.00/Ticket    $1800.00/Table 

- Front row seating

- Meet & Greet ticket included with every ticket purchased

- Special signed item

- Each table purchase will receive 2 tickets to the Exclusive Leadership Luncheon

 

Coporate Section:  $1250.00/Table    $600.00/Half Table

- Each full table purchase will receive 2 tickets to the Exclusive Leadership Luncheon & 2 tickets to the Meet & Greet.

 

Bleacher Section:  $95.00/Ticket    $800.00/Table 

 

CONTACT: TOREY SCOTT

MARKETING Coordinator, BULLS BASEBALL

(P) 403-320-2025

 

 

Cito Gaston played 11 season in the MLB from 1967 – 1978 and saw himself in 3 different jerseys throughout his career (San Diego, Atlanta, and Pittsburgh). Even though in he was named to the 1970 All-star team his playing days aren’t what he is most known for. Once Cito retired as a player his time with baseball was far from over as he saw himself become a hitting coach which would eventually lead to his first manager position with the Blue Jays in 1989. This is where he made his largest impact with baseball and it didn’t take long. In 1989 Cito took over a struggling Blue Jays team (12-24) part way through the season and turned the season around to end first in the AL East with a record of 89-73. After the Jays won the AL East division title in 1989, Cito was named Canadian Baseball Man of the Year from Toronto and Montreal baseball writers. Not only was he the first Blue Jays manager to bring a World Series to the organization (1992), he was also the first African-American manager to lead his team to a title. In 1993 Cito Gaston and the Blue Jays would win their second straight World Series title becoming the first team to win back to back titles since the Yankees did it back in 1977 and 1978. He managed a combined total of 12 seasons in his career all with the Toronto Blue Jays throughout two different stints. In those 12 seasons Cito managed to see himself climb all the way to the top of the wins list for Toronto Blue Jays managers. He has a career record of 913 wins and 851 loses giving him a .516 winning percentage and in his 12 years as a manager he had the honor of managing the AL All-star team in both 1993 and 1994. To cap off a very successful managing career Cito saw his name added to the Jays’ Level of Excellence in Rogers Centre in 1999.

Kelly Gruber was drafted 10th overall by the Cleveland Indians in 1980, but it wasn’t till 1984 with the Blue Jays that Gruber saw his first Major League Baseball Games. The Blue Jays picked Kelly up in 1983 in the Rule 5 draft.  Gruber spent parts of 10 seasons in the MLB with 9 of them as a Toronto Blue Jay as he managed their hot corner from 1984 – 1992. It didn’t take long for Kelly to become a fan favorite in Toronto and in 1989 became the first Blue Jay player to ever hit for the cycle. Gruber was a 2x All-star (89, 90), won a Silver Slugger (90), a Gold Glove (90), and won his only World Series title with the Blue Jays (92). Even with a successful career Gruber is still most known for “The triple play that wasn’t” in Game 3 of the 1992 World Series, in which a diving tag looked like he had the runner for the third out, but the runner was called safe. That would have been only the second triple play in World Series history and the first one since the 1920 World Series between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Cleveland Indians. After the missed call Kelly went on to hit the game tying homerun in the 8th inning of Game 3 and the Blue Jays would go on to win that game and eventually the series. He ended his 10-year career with 117 HR, 443 R.B.I., a .259 batting average, and Bill James had him ranked as the 103rd best 3rd baseman of all-time in his New Historical Baseball Abstract. Today you can find him hosting baseball seminars and speaking at Charity Events.