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April 24, 1976
Baseball season is right around the corner!
The eight teams that make up the Berkshires Baseball League will begin spring training today. For a month, the league's players will be working the kinks out of their throwing arms, sharpening their batting eyes, and otherwise preparing for the 84-game season that awaits them.
Opening Day is exactly one month away, so let's take a look at each of the eight teams and meet some of their key players. First, the four teams that make up the North Division:
Dalton Millers
The Millers have recently enjoyed a great deal of success on the diamond, finishing no worse than second in each of the past three years and winning the league championship in 1974.
The team's star is Dominican righthander Ernesto Jimenez, whose arsenal includes a 100 MPH fastball and exquisite control. In four full seasons with the Millers, Jimenez has posted a 38-18 record and a 1.78 ERA, and he's averaged more than a strikeout per inning. The solidly built Jimenez is nicknamed "Anvil," partially because he's also a hard-hitting lineman on the town football team.
LF Ken Hayes, a slender speedster, and slugging RF James Parrish lead the Millers' offensive attack. Infielders Jose Gonzales and Allen Schmidt will also be counted on to produce, both at bat and in the field.
Outfielder Jose Ruiz and catcher Greg O'Kyan are the Millers' most promising prospects.
The team takes its name from one of the region's traditional industries. Millers fans hope their players will be as productive as the workers who made the area's many mills hum with activity in years gone by.
North Adams Presidents
The Presidents, named for the father-and-son Chief Executives who share their name with the town, struggled mightily during the 1975 baseball season. They'll be looking to turn things around in this Bicentennial year.
Stocky Manuel "Revenant" Martinez and hard-throwing Doug Thomas give the Presidents two good right-handed starters, and 21-year-old Larry Mathis is one of the league's most promising young pitchers. Mathis, a superb athlete, also stars in football and basketball.
Rodrigo Cuevas is perhaps the league's best catcher, and 2B Kelly Jones is also a solid player. The rest of the infield is sub-par, however, and the outfielders are mediocre, at best.
Pittsfield Catamounts
The Cats are the defending BBL champions, and there's no reason why they can't repeat in 1976.
Their pitching staff is the best in the league, with veteran Dan Young and crafty Jim Daniels leading the rotation. Young, a towering 6'7", is also the league's best big man during basketball season. Edgar "Bear" Lara, a 6'4" powerhouse, won the league's Outstanding Pitcher Award for his dominant work out of the bullpen.
Pittsfield boasts a productive offense as well, led by Outstanding Batter Award honoree Craig Smith and five-tool star Greg Miller. Smith, a first baseman, and Miller, who plays right field, are both in their prime.
A Catamount is a scrappy wildcat with a ton of attitude, and the Pittsfield club plays with the same kind of intensity, day in and day out.
Williamstown Scholars
The Scholars' nickname is a reference to Williams College, which has been the leading institution in Williamstown since 1793. And, while the Scholars played like bookworms in 1975, losing two-thirds of their games, they and their fans believe better days are right around the corner.
Powerful Roland Sloan takes full advantage of the power of his 6'4", 228-pound frame on the field and court all year long. During baseball season, he's a slugging outfielder who led the league in home runs in 1975 with 11. Second baseman Dave Williams and shortstop Derek Whitehead are best known for their work on the football field, but they're both solid baseball players, too.
Juan Valdez and Earl Starr are the best of an undistinguished group of pitchers, and Eugene John shows considerable promise. For the most part, however, Scholars fans are already looking forward to football season.
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