The Association of Independent American Professional Baseball is an independent professional baseball league established in 2005. It operates in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Texas, along with Canada's Manitoba province, mostly in cities not served by MLB teams or their minor league affiliates. Miles Wolff is the league commissioner. The league offices are located in Durham, North Carolina. Despite a separate entity, the league shares its commissioners and referees directors with the Canadian Professional Professional Baseball Association.
Video American Association of Independent Professional Baseball
History
The American Association was founded in October 2005 when St. Paul Saints, Lincoln Saltdogs, Sioux City Explorers, and Sioux Falls Canaries announced that they left the Northern League. Around the same time, the Central Baseball League announced its disbandment after four seasons. The Fort Worth Cats, Shreveport-Bossier Sports, Pensacola Pelicans, Coastal Bend Aviators, and El Paso Diablos join the four former Northern League teams and the St. Joe Blacksnakes to form the American Association as a ten-team league. The new league began playing in 2006, with a schedule of 96 matches, which has since grown to 100 matches.
2008 saw the league lose Blacksnakes and Aviators, with AirHogs Grand Prairie and Wichita Wingnuts joining in their place. In 2011 and 2012, the league underwent significant changes. Fort Worth leaves the league to join United League Baseball, while Shreveport and Pensacola are both relocated. Pelikan moved to Amarillo, Texas and became Amarillo Sox (later Amarillo Thunderheads) while Shreveport, who had changed their name to Captain Shreveport-Bossier, moved to Laredo, Texas and became Laredo Lemurs. In addition, four more Northern League franchises (Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, Gary SouthShore RailCats, Kansas City T-Bones, and Winnipeg Goldeyes) joined the American Association when the stability of the league began to be questioned.
For the 2012 season, the American Association began playing interleague with the Can-Am League. Both leagues are both based in Durham, North Carolina, and both have Miles Wolff as their commissioner. This is similar to an interleague game in Major League Baseball, but the American Association and the Can-Am League are separate legal entities and have separate playoffs/championships.
At the end of the 2013 season, as Tucson Padres moved into their city, El Paso Diablos ceased operations. The team was finally revived and moved, operating as Joplin Blasters. Blasters ceased operations after the end of the 2016 season.
On November 19, 2015, Miles Wolff announced that there would be no more interleague games. It was also announced that for Amarillo Thunderheads and Grand Prairie AirHogs will operate as a joint team (Texas AirHogs) play 25 games in Amarillo and 25 matches in the Grand Prairie to form a 12-team league. The team remains in full-time Grand Prairie in 2017, with Cleburne Railroaders joining the league in the same season. Shortly before the 2017 season, Laredo Lemurs withdrew from the league. They are temporarily replaced by Salina Stockade of the Pecos League for the season. The Chicago Dogs are joining for 2018.
Maps American Association of Independent Professional Baseball
Business model
Usually the American Association recruits students, former major players and former minor players. Former affiliated league players who are injured or have other circumstances join the AA as an opportunity to get re-signed by major league organizations. Other players are made up of college players who are not recruited into MiLB, but are looking for opportunities to be seen by the Premier League scouts and may be signed by major league organizations. Another former MLB player joined the AA as a way to stay involved in baseball after their career as a major league player, often as coach and manager.
In 2008, the salary limit for each team was $ 100,000, with a minimum salary of $ 800 per month. The expansion team's price is also about $ 750,000. This is a stark contrast to the minor and main leagues. Commissioner Miles Wolff stated in an interview that "We have to pay the salaries of the players, which they are not in the [affiliate] league.This is a far more risky business.Because of our longevity and tradition, we usually do not get the best cities, so some of the markets we are entering are not great markets, but as I said, I think this is a better product. "
Team
Current team
Future team
League Chronology
League Member Former Team
Former team
- Shreveport-Bossier Captains - move to Laredo, Texas to become Laredo Lemurs
- Coastal Bend Aviators - founding member of the league, coming from the Central Baseball League, folded after 2007
- Pensacola Pelicans - founding member of the league, from Central Baseball League, to Amarillo Sox
- St. Joe Blacksnakes - founding member of the league, folded after 2007
- Fort Worth Cats - the league's founding member, has been disqualified by the league on October 26, 2011, having failed to provide the league with a letter of credit Transferred to the Baseball League, then folded.
- El Paso Diablos - an operation suspended after the 2013 season to make way for Triple-A El Paso Chihuahua
- Amarillo Thunderheads - originally called Amarillo Sox; join AirHogs Grand Prairie (now Texas AirHogs) before 2016 season
- Joplin Blasters - Folded after season 2016
- Laredo Lemurs - Folded after season 2016
- Salina Stockade - Moved to the Can-Am League after 2017 season
Champions
All-Star Games
The American Association hosts the annual All-Star Game from 2006 to 2010. The first All-Star game in the league was played in El Paso, Texas, on July 18, 2006, which pitted the American Association All-Stars team against the All-Star. The star team of the Can-Am League. The format currently puts all the stars of each division against each other. There are no All-Star games in 2011, 2012 or 2013. The Winnipeg Goldeyes hosts the 2014 All-Star match.
- Game results
- 2006 - AA 5, Can-Am 3
- 2007 - 6 South, 4 North
- 2008 - South 11, 4 North
- 2009 - 6 North, 2 South
- 2010 - 12 South, 3 North
- 2011 - No games are played
- 2012 - No games are played
- 2013 - No games are played
- 2014 - South 7, North 0
- 2015 - No games are played
- 2016 - North 6, South 1
- Most Valuable Player
- 2006 - Jake Whitesides, (St. Joe Blacksnakes)
- 2007 - Jorge Alvarez, (El Paso Diablos)
- 2008 - Brian Fryer, (Fort Worth Cats)
- 2009 - Trevor Lawhorn, (Sioux Falls Canaries)
- 2010 - Chris Garcia, (Shreveport-Bossier Captains)
- 2011 - Lee Cruz, (Amarillo Sox)
- 2012 - Nic Jackson, (Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks)
- 2013 - C. J. Ziegler, (Wichita Wingnuts)
- 2014 - Devin Goodwin, (Laredo Lemurs)
See also
- A baseball-independent professional league award.
References
External links
- The official website of the United States Independent Professional Baseball Association
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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