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April 1, 1907
The opening of another season brings a fresh sense of hope to the players, managers, and fans of all six Finger Lakes League teams.
In an odd turn of events, the Canandaigua Ice Cats and the Penn Yan Brawlers basically traded managers during the offseason. The Brawlers fired their skipper, Fernando Torres, after the club slid from second to fourth place in 1906. Two days later, Canandaigua handed a pink slip to young Donovan Ivey, who had failed to guide the Cats to a winning record in three seasons.
Canandaigua wasted no time in hiring Torres, and after searching for a month, Penn Yan could find no better man for their managing job than Ivey. Will a change of scenery lead to better results in both cases? We'll see.
Watkins Glen supporters have to feel good about their team’s chances to win a third Seneca Cup Series, after the Bucks rolled to an 18-6 spring training record. Veteran LF Ken Johnston hit a cool .491 and drove in 11 runs, while southpaw Howard Ross threw 16 scoreless innings. Jeff Jones also posted a sub-1.00 ERA for the Bucks.
Other Finger Lakes Leaguers who produced well during the spring included young outfielders Paul O’Connor of Waterloo (.400, 2 HR) and Jose Perez of Penn Yan (.333, 7 2B, 14 RBI), Seneca Falls ace Dennis Williams (4-0, 1.88, 0.79 WHIP), and rookie righthander Eric Cote of Canandaigua (2-0, 0.00, 0.58 WHIP).
The Brawlers will open the season without the services of star CF Francisco Rivera, who will be sidelined for up to two weeks with back spasms.
Waterloo RF Duane Blackburn, who is often mentioned along with Rivera on lists of the league’s best players, was banged up all spring long. Hopefully Blackburn, whose 1906 season was marred by injury, will have better luck in ’07.
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