LONG BEACH (AP) - The 2010 season came down to the wire, and despite their loss in the last game of the year to the Rio de Jenerio Capybaras, the Long Beach Lobsters returned home to a crowd of 3,000 cheering fans at Long Beach Airport and two a record crowd of 60,000 screaming fans waving white and red towels at the Lobster Tank.

"What a reception!" said veteran Lobster Jason Schmidt. "The city of Long Beach is awsome, and we are sorry we could not give them what they deserved... another post-season party."

CF Wille Mays excited the crowd with his decleration of, "Watch out for the Lobsters in 2011! It will be a great year."

New pitching ace Russ Ford proclaimed, "One Rohem banner looks lonely up there. Llet's add another in 2011."

Manager Lucious Harris was taken aback with the reception his team got. "These guys left it all on the field. I am very proud of this team. We made up 6 games in the standings in two weeks, and needed to win one of our last two games in Rio to clinch it. Give Rio credit, they are a savvy veteran team and did what it took. Our hats go off to them.

"111 wins is nothing to sneeze at. We will work even harder in the off-season to try to take that next step."

Owner Ken Paplanus and GM Byron Russell both stated they would do everything possible to keep the team togehter for another run next year, but as Russell noted, "Some fine tuning may be in order."

Immediate concerns include improving the team's offense and dealing with unhappy veteran Ismael Valdes. Says pithcing coach Christy Matthewson, "We made great strides this year and I think another year of maturity will help. Ford had a tremendous first year, Wagner took his game to the next level, Schmidt was solid as usual, Englund pitched his mind out, and Andujar was solid. Even with his ups and downs, Valdes had a solid campaign. Add to that a soild effort from the pen, and this staff will continue to help our cause."

In an effort to help the hitting game, minor league coach Sting and his famous black bat have been promoted to the big league club as a hitting coach, and minor league manager Triple H will serve as bench coach to Manager Harris next year. "It is our hope that the 'ceberal assasian' will give the team that mental edge to win the close games next year."

The whole day was best summed up by owner Ken Paplanus. "This is another great chapter in the revitalization of this franchise. Though we are disappointed in not making ther postseason, we are looking long term, to making a team that will be a consistent Weaver contender. A team that the city of Long Beach can be proud of for years to come."