At the end of 1906, Deneau signed for the following season with the Springfield (Illinois) Senators of the Class B Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League (often called "The 3-I League") "at one of the best salaries paid a pitcher in the organization."[REF] .
Deneau kept up his baseball even in the dead of winter, appearing in a baseball game on ice at a Detroit skating rink in February 1907 [REF].