Record 25 meetings slated for I-29 rivals
S.C. will host 11 games against S.F.
By Terry Hersom - Journal sports editor | Posted: Friday, November 03, 2006
Posted from 11/03/06:
The I-29 rivalry between the Sioux City Explorers and the Sioux Falls Canaries will be more important than ever when the 2007 American Association baseball season gets under way next May.
Sioux City's 96-game schedule will include a record 25 meetings between the clubs who were both formerly charter members of the Northern League.
The 15th season of independent professional baseball in Sioux City will see the Canaries visit Lewis and Clark Park 11 times while the X's will make 14 appearances at Sioux Falls Stadium, better known as "The Bird Cage."
Sioux City went 14-8 against the Canaries in the inaugural season for the 10-team American Association, which consists of two far-flung divisions, North and South. The X's have won the season series against the Birds five years in a row, charting a 50-26 record.
Sioux Falls last had the upper hand with a 10-4 advantage in 2001, the year the Canaries enjoyed their best finish ever, posting a Northern League-best record of 55-35.
Once again, the Explorers will have only limited encounters with the five teams from the South, facing North Division opponents 78 times. The breakdown includes 19 games against the St. Paul Saints, 18 with the Lincoln Saltdogs and 16 with the St. Joseph Blacksnakes.
The Sioux Falls rivalry, though, should be all the more interesting now that Steve Shirley, the Sioux City manager for the first 65 games of the 2005 season, was hired Oct. 18 as the Canaries' skipper. Shirley left the team with more than a month of games still remaining and was hired last season as the pitching coach for the Winnipeg Goldeyes.
With Manager Ed Nottle expected to return for a second season in his second tour of duty with the X's, the club will open its 2007 slate with a seven-game road trip. A four-game series at Sioux Falls kicks things off May 10-13 and is followed by a three-game set in St. Paul.
After that, the home opener Thursday, May 17, launches a seven-game homestand - four games with Sioux Falls and three with St. Paul.
Sioux City and Sioux Falls will not only meet eight times in the season's first 11 games, but the rivals are scheduled for 15 encounters in the first 27 games on the schedule.
The league's South Division again includes three teams from Texas (Coastal Bend, El Paso, Fort Worth) and one each in Louisiana (Shreveport) and Florida (Pensacola). All but Shreveport will visit Lewis and Clark for three games apiece. Meanwhile, the only southern road trip for the X's will involve three games at El Paso and three at Shreveport in mid-June.
The schedule once again includes popular home dates July 3 and July 4, both of which will feature post-game fireworks.
The Explorers are coming off a 43-53 season in which they lost 10 of their final 12 games. The club did chart a 27-21 home record, but went 16-32 on the road.
The I-29 rivalry between the Sioux City Explorers and the Sioux Falls Canaries will be more important than ever when the 2007 American Association baseball season gets under way next May.
Sioux City's 96-game schedule will include a record 25 meetings between the clubs who were both formerly charter members of the Northern League.
The 15th season of independent professional baseball in Sioux City will see the Canaries visit Lewis and Clark Park 11 times while the X's will make 14 appearances at Sioux Falls Stadium, better known as "The Bird Cage."
Sioux City went 14-8 against the Canaries in the inaugural season for the 10-team American Association, which consists of two far-flung divisions, North and South. The X's have won the season series against the Birds five years in a row, charting a 50-26 record.
Sioux Falls last had the upper hand with a 10-4 advantage in 2001, the year the Canaries enjoyed their best finish ever, posting a Northern League-best record of 55-35.
Once again, the Explorers will have only limited encounters with the five teams from the South, facing North Division opponents 78 times. The breakdown includes 19 games against the St. Paul Saints, 18 with the Lincoln Saltdogs and 16 with the St. Joseph Blacksnakes.
The Sioux Falls rivalry, though, should be all the more interesting now that Steve Shirley, the Sioux City manager for the first 65 games of the 2005 season, was hired Oct. 18 as the Canaries' skipper. Shirley left the team with more than a month of games still remaining and was hired last season as the pitching coach for the Winnipeg Goldeyes.
With Manager Ed Nottle expected to return for a second season in his second tour of duty with the X's, the club will open its 2007 slate with a seven-game road trip. A four-game series at Sioux Falls kicks things off May 10-13 and is followed by a three-game set in St. Paul.
After that, the home opener Thursday, May 17, launches a seven-game homestand - four games with Sioux Falls and three with St. Paul.
Sioux City and Sioux Falls will not only meet eight times in the season's first 11 games, but the rivals are scheduled for 15 encounters in the first 27 games on the schedule.
The league's South Division again includes three teams from Texas (Coastal Bend, El Paso, Fort Worth) and one each in Louisiana (Shreveport) and Florida (Pensacola). All but Shreveport will visit Lewis and Clark for three games apiece. Meanwhile, the only southern road trip for the X's will involve three games at El Paso and three at Shreveport in mid-June.
The schedule once again includes popular home dates July 3 and July 4, both of which will feature post-game fireworks.
The Explorers are coming off a 43-53 season in which they lost 10 of their final 12 games. The club did chart a 27-21 home record, but went 16-32 on the road.
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