American Association of Independent Professional Baseball


The American Association of Independent Professional Baseball is an independent professional baseball league founded in 2005. It operates in the central United States and Canada, mostly in cities not served by Major League Baseball teams or their minor league affiliates. Joshua Schaub is the league commissioner. League offices are located in Moorhead, Minnesota. Though a separate entity, the league shared a commissioner and director of umpires with the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball during that league's existence. The American Association of Independent Professional Baseball has 501 tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service.

History

The American Association was founded in October 2005 when the St. Paul Saints, Lincoln Saltdogs, Sioux City Explorers, and Sioux Falls Canaries announced they were leaving the Northern League. Around the same time, the Central Baseball League announced it was disbanding after four seasons. The Fort Worth Cats, Shreveport-Bossier Sports, Pensacola Pelicans, Coastal Bend Aviators, and El Paso Diablos joined the four former Northern League teams and the expansion St. Joe Blacksnakes to form the American Association as a ten-team league. The new league began play in 2006, with a 96-game schedule, which has since expanded to 100 games.
2008 saw the league lose the Blacksnakes and Aviators, with the Grand Prairie AirHogs and Wichita Wingnuts joining in their place. In 2011 and 2012 the league went through a significant shift. Fort Worth left the league to join United League Baseball, while Shreveport and Pensacola both relocated. The Pelicans moved to Amarillo, Texas and became the Amarillo Sox while Shreveport, who had changed their name to the Shreveport-Bossier Captains, moved to Laredo, Texas and became the Laredo Lemurs. In addition, four more Northern League franchises joined the American Association as that league's stability came into question.
For the 2012 season, the American Association began interleague play with the Can-Am League. The two leagues were both headquartered in Durham, North Carolina, and both had Miles Wolff as their commissioner. This was similar to interleague play in Major League Baseball, but American Association and Can-Am League were separate legal entities and had separate playoffs/championships.
At the end of the 2013 season, due to the Tucson Padres relocating to their city, the El Paso Diablos suspended operations. The team was eventually revived and relocated, operating as the Joplin Blasters. The Blasters ceased operations after the conclusion of the 2016 season.
On November 19, 2015, Miles Wolff announced that there would no longer be interleague play. It also was announced that for the Amarillo Thunderheads and Grand Prairie AirHogs would operate as a joint team, the Texas AirHogs, playing 25 games in Amarillo and 25 games in Grand Prairie to make up a 12-team league. The team remained in Grand Prairie full-time in 2017, with the Cleburne Railroaders joining the league the same season. Shortly before the 2017 season, the Laredo Lemurs withdrew from the league. They were temporarily replaced by the Salina Stockade from the Pecos League for the season. The Chicago Dogs joined for 2018 and the Milwaukee Milkmen joined in 2019, replacing the Wichita Wingnuts, who folded.
In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the league announced that 6 of its 12 clubs would play an abbreviated 60-game season beginning on July 3, 2020. Only four stadiums will be used for gameplay: Sioux Falls Stadium, Newman Outdoor Field, Franklin Field, and Impact Field. Players from non-participating teams will have the opportunity to be drafted by one of the six active clubs. A limited number of fans will be allowed to attend games, in accordance with local government guidelines and restrictions.

Business model

Typically the American Association recruits college, ex-major and ex-minor players. Former affiliated-league players that get injured or have other circumstances join the AA as an opportunity to get re-signed by major league organizations. Other players consist of college players who were not drafted into MLB, but seek the opportunity to be seen by major league scouts and possibly get signed by major league organizations. Other former MLB players join the AA as a way to stay involved in baseball after their career as a major league player, often as coaches and managers.
As of 2008, the salary cap for each team was $100,000, with a minimum salary of $800 per month. The price of an expansion team is also about $750,000. This is in stark contrast with the minor and major leagues. Former Commissioner Miles Wolff stated in an interview that "We have to pay the salaries of the players, which they don't in an affiliated . It's a much riskier business. Just because of the longevity and tradition, we usually don't get the best cities, either, so some of the markets we're in are not great markets. But as I say, I think it's a better product."

Teams

Current teams

League timeline


DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy
ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:25
Period = from:01/01/2006 till:12/31/2020
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#
Colors = id:barcolor
id:line value:pink
id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a current league member
id:Past value:rgb # Use to indicate a former team
id:OtherC1 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another current league
PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:Past from:01/01/2006 till:12/31/2007 text:Coastal Bend Aviators
bar:2 color:Past from:01/01/2006 till:12/31/2013 text:El Paso Diablos
bar:3 color:Past from:01/01/2006 till:12/31/2011 text:Fort Worth Cats
bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:01/01/2012 till:12/31/2012 text:NAL
bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:01/01/2013 till:12/31/2014 text:ULB
bar:4 color:Full from:01/01/2006 till:end text:Lincoln Saltdogs
bar:5 color:Past from:01/01/2006 till:12/31/2010 text:Pensacola Pelicans
bar:5 color:Past from:01/01/2011 till:12/31/2015 text:Amarillo Sox/Thunderheads
bar:6 color:Past from:01/01/2006 till:12/31/2007 text:St. Joe Blacksnakes
bar:7 color:Full from:01/01/2006 till:end text:St. Paul Saints
bar:8 color:Past from:01/01/2006 till:12/31/2011 text:Shreveport Captains/Sports
bar:8 color:Past from:01/01/2012 till:12/31/2016 text:Laredo Lemurs
bar:9 color:Full from:01/01/2006 till:end text:Sioux City Explorers
bar:10 color:Full from:01/01/2006 till:end text:Sioux Falls Canaries
bar:11 color:Past from:01/01/2008 till:12/31/2015 text:Grand Prairie AirHogs
bar:11 color:Full from:01/01/2016 till:end text:Texas AirHogs
bar:12 color:Past from:01/01/2008 till:12/31/2018 text:Wichita Wingnuts
bar:13 color:Full from:01/01/2011 till:end text:Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks
bar:14 color:Full from:01/01/2011 till:end text:Gary SouthShore RailCats
bar:15 color:Full from:01/01/2011 till:end text:Kansas City T-Bones
bar:16 color:Full from:01/01/2011 till:end text:Winnipeg Goldeyes
bar:17 color:Past from:01/01/2015 till:12/31/2016 text:Joplin Blasters
bar:18 color:Full from:01/01/2017 till:end text:Cleburne Railroaders
bar:19 color:Past from:01/01/2017 till:01/01/2018 text:Salina Stockade
bar:20 color:Full from:01/01/2018 till:end text:Chicago Dogs
bar:21 color:Full from:01/01/2019 till:end text:Milwaukee Milkmen
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:01/01/2006
TextData =
fontsize:L
textcolor:black
pos: tabs:
text:^"American Association Timeline"
  1. > If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following three options Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space. <#

    Former teams

  • Shreveport-Bossier Captains – moved to Laredo, Texas to become Laredo Lemurs
  • Coastal Bend Aviators – founding member of league, originally from Central Baseball League, folded after 2007
  • Pensacola Pelicans – founding member of league, originally from Central Baseball League, became the Amarillo Sox
  • St. Joe Blacksnakes – founding member of league, folded after 2007
  • Fort Worth Cats – founding member of the league, had its membership revoked by the league on October 26, 2011, after failing to provide the league with a letter of credit Moved to United League Baseball, later folded
  • El Paso Diablos – suspended operations after the 2013 season to make way for the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas
  • Amarillo Thunderheads – originally called the Amarillo Sox; merged with the Grand Prairie AirHogs prior to the 2016 season
  • Joplin Blasters – Folded following the 2016 season
  • Laredo Lemurs - Folded following the 2016 season
  • Salina Stockade - Moved to the Can-Am League as a partial-schedule traveling team following the 2017 season
  • Wichita Wingnuts Suspended operations following the 2018 season as their ballpark was to be demolished to make way for a new ballpark and the Triple A Wichita Wind Surge

    Champions

All-Star Game

The American Association hosted an annual All-Star Game from 2006 to 2010. The league's first All-Star game was played in El Paso, Texas, on July 18, 2006, which pit a team of American Association All-Stars against an All-Star team from the Can-Am League. Its current format pits the all-stars from each division against each other. There was no All-Star game in 2011, 2012, or 2013.
;Game results
  • 1990 - North 0, South 4
  • 1991 - South 5, North 6
  • 1992 - North 9, South 3
  • 1993 - South 4, North 2
  • 1994 - USA 5, North 0
  • 1995 - South 4, North 2
  • 1996 - North 1, South 2
  • 1997 - South 4, North 1
  • 1998 - North 5, South 2
  • 1999 - South 10' North 1
  • 2000 - North 7, South 2
  • 2001 - South 5, North 6
  • 2002 - North 4, South 0
  • 2003 - South 11, North 3
  • 2004 - North 2, South 1
  • 2005 - WEST 4, Can-Am 1
  • 2006 – AA 5, Can-Am 3
  • 2007 – South 6, North 4
  • 2008 – South 11, North 4
  • 2009 – North 6, South 2
  • 2010 – South 12, North 3
  • 2011 – North 3, South 5
  • 2012 – South 5, North 4
  • 2013 – North 3, North 1
  • 2014 – South 7, North 0
  • 2015 – North 3, South 1
  • 2016 – North 6, South 1
  • 2017 – South 12, North 1
  • 2018 – North 3, South 4
  • 2019 – South 5, North 2
  • 2020 – N/A

    Most Valuable Players

  • 2006 – Pichi Balet,
  • 2007 – Jorge Alvarez,
  • 2008 – Beau Torbert,
  • 2009 – Greg Porter,
  • 2010 – Beau Torbert,
  • 2011 – Lee Cruz,
  • 2012 – Nic Jackson,
  • 2013 – C. J. Ziegler,
  • 2014 – Brent Clevlen,
  • 2015 – Vinny DiFazio,
  • 2016 – Nate Samson,
  • 2017 – Josh Romanski,
  • 2018 – Jose Sermo,
  • 2019 – Keon Barnum,

    League attendance