'Step up to the plate': Sports analogies continue as Manitoba chases Amazon

Days after Winnipeg's mayor used Wayne Gretzky's words to explain why the city ought to attempt to woo tech giant Amazon, Manitoba's premier likened the effort to baseball players who make it to the hall of fame.

The premier gathered members of what he calls his enterprise team a group of Manitoba business leaders to the Manitoba Legislature on Thursday for a closed-door meeting about the prospects of convincing Amazon to build its second North American headquarters in Winnipeg.

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Winnipeg falls short of some of Amazon's criteria for the new headquarters.For starters, Amazon is looking for a metropolitan area with more than one million people.

The Winnipeg Census Metropolitan Area which includes the city, 10 nearby municipalities and Brokenhead First Nation had an estimated population of 828,000 on Canada Day, according to Conference Board of Canada data.

Earlier the week, Mayor Brian Bowman dismissed the city's ineligibility by quoting hockey hall of famer Gretzky.

"You miss 100 per cent of the shots you don't take," Bowman said.

On Thursday, Pallister said Manitobans ought to be like baseball hall of famers.

"The reason they're in the hall of fame is because they had the courage to put a bat in their hand and step up to the plate," the premier said during a photo op.

"You're not going to win them all. But you better be willing to get up there and try. And this is the province we have, as far as I'm concerned. It's a province that has a willingness to try."

The premier did not take questions from the media about the Amazon bid at the morning event.