Like every skipper who mounted the dugout steps and called the shots for the Santa Fe Fuego, Tom Fitzpatrick enters his tenure full of optimism and an ironclad belief that he can build a winner.

Hired this spring to replace the embattled Bill Rogan as the team’s manager, the 27-year-old New Jersey native — and devoted Yankees fan, to boot — arrived in town last week with the idea that he’s found exactly what he’s looking for.

Having previously played for three teams in the Pecos League, he always had an eye on landing a managerial spot somewhere in the Mountain Division. He got it when league President Andrew Dunn gave him a shot to build his own team as a player-manager with the Fuego.

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