2006

In 2006, a seismic shift permanently altered the landscape of independent baseball. The Lincoln Saltdogs, Sioux City Explorers, Sioux Falls Canaries, and St. Paul Saints sent shockwaves by departing the Northern League to form a new league. They teamed up with five remaining members of the Central League: the Coastal Bend Aviators, El Paso Diablos, Fort Worth Cats, Pensacola Pelicans, and Shreveport Sports. With one more team needed, an expansion team was awarded to St. Joseph, Missouri, and the St. Joe Blacksnakes were born. When the dust settled, the Central League was dead, the Northern League was permanently hobbled (lasting five more seasons, fielding only six teams in four of them), and a new circuit carved a swath across mid-America.

The format would be basically identical to what the Northern League ran out in 2005: ten teams in two divisions, with a 96-game schedule and a two-half playoff system. The four Northern League ex-pats joined St. Joe to form the North Division, while the Central League leftovers formed the South Division. The geography was certainly odd, with a league stretching from the Florida Panhandle to Minnesota to the Mountain Time Zone. The footprint was big, but so was the vision, and with that vision, the league decided to adopt the name of one the great minor leagues of yore, resurrecting a name dormant since the Triple-A league of that name folded in 1997: the American Association of Professional Baseball.

With the hard part out of the way, the games began on May 11. Lincoln won the first game in AA history, which would be appropriate, as the Saltdogs posted the league’s best record and won both halves in the North. They edged St. Paul by two games in the first half, then ripped off a 34-14 second half. St. Paul again finished second and took a wild card spot. In the South, Shreveport won the last six games of the first half to overtake Fort Worth by two games. The Cats flipped the script in the second half, finishing three games ahead of the Sports with a dominant 32-15 finish.

In the postseason, Lincoln took Game 1 at home, but St. Paul blitzed the Saltdogs 25-5 over the last three games for a considerably upset in the first round. Shreveport took a 2-1 lead, but Fort Worth won the last two games at home to reach the Finals. The script was similar in the Finals: the Cats fell behind 2-1 (despite a league-record 11.1 innings from starter Cory Walters in a Game 3 loss), but won two one-run games, this time on the road, to steal the title from St. Paul. After winning the final Central League crown in 2005, the Cats now had the inaugural American Association title. They were the first team to raise the trophy that initially was unnamed but would eventually bear the name of the man who helped found the American Association: the Miles Wolff Cup.

Final Standings

North Division

Team	W	L	Win Pct.	GB	Runs Scored	Runs Allowed	Attend.
Lincoln Saltdogs-yx	65	31	.677	—	591	394	190,873
St. Paul Saints-z	54	42	.563	11.0	534	457	288,171
St. Joe Blacksnakes	49	46	.516	15.5	478	501	59,264
Sioux City Explorers	43	53	.448	22.0	496	572	86,823
Sioux Falls Canaries	34	62	.354	31.0	460	575	120,536

South Division

Team	W	L	Win Pct.	GB	Runs Scored	Runs Allowed	Attend.
Fort Worth Cats-y	56	39	.589	—	472	450	177,894
Shreveport Sports-x	54	39	.581	1.0	512	382	53,107
Coastal Bend Aviators	49	47	.510	7.5	459	507	85,682
Pensacola Pelicans	39	57	.406	17.5	477	509	78,765
El Paso Diablos	33	60	.355	22.0	515	647	155,651

y-First half winner x-Second half winner z-Wild card winner

Playoffs

First Round — ST. PAUL WINS 3-1

Date	Score	W	L	SV	Attend.
8/28/06	St. Paul 2 at Lincoln 4	L. Gulin	J. Lord	–	3,265
8/29/06	St. Paul 11 at Lincoln 2	A. Boughner	J. Blitstein	–	4,054
8/31/06	Lincoln 2 at St. Paul 10	C. Ruud	B. Rodaway	–	2,906
9/1/06	Lincoln 1 at St. Paul 4	J. Lord	B. Lincoln	M. Hammons	2,323

First Round — FORT WORTH WINS 3-2

Date	Score	W	L	SV	Attend.
8/28/06	Fort Worth 12 at Shreveport 7	B. Newman	T.J. Hendicks	–	717
8/29/06	Fort Worth 4 at Shreveport 7	B. Snow	K. Hull	–	1,070
8/31/06	Shreveport 4 at Fort Worth 2	D. Cunningham	J. Kirsten	–	1,817
9/1/06	Shreveport 4 at Fort Worth 8	D. Valentin	E. Wikstrom	–	2,166
9/2/06	Shreveport 2 at Fort Worth 4	C. Walters	T.J. Hendicks	S. Wilkerson	2,035

American Association Finals — FORT WORTH WINS 3-2

Date	Score	W	L	SV	Attend.
9/5/06	St. Paul 3 at Fort Worth 8	J. Kirsten	A. Boughner	–	1,177
9/6/06	St. Paul 7 at Fort Worth 2	C. Ruud	K. Hull	–	1,121
9/8/06	Fort Worth 2 at St. Paul 3 (12 innings)	M. Hammons	C. Walters	–	2,441
9/9/06	Fort Worth 4 at St. Paul 3	D. Valentin	A. Boughner	S. Wilkerson	2,139
9/10/06	Fort Worth 2 at St. Paul 1	J. Kirsten	C. Ruud	J. Montani	1,627

Award Winners

Player of the Year	Pichi Balet (Lincoln) 86 G, .378/.429/.528, 136 H, 78 R, 21 2B, 9 HR, 82 RBI
Right-Handed Pitcher of the Year	Cory Walters (Fort Worth) 14-4, 3.08 ERA, 19 G, 3 CG, 131.2 IP, 111 K, 1.086 WHIP
Left-Handed Pitcher of the Year	Lindsay Gulin (Lincoln) 13-2, 2.10 ERA, 19 G, 120.0 IP, 104 K, 0.917 WHIP
Rookie of the Year	Jimmy Mojica (St. Joe) 87 G, .299/.379/.367, 88 H, 10 2B, 0 HR, 32 RBI, 17 SB
Rookie Pitcher of the Year	Jason Howerton (Lincoln) 4-0, 2.61 ERA, 16 G, 20.2 IP, 12 K, 1.355 WHIP
Manager of the Year	Tim Johnson (Lincoln) 65-31 record, won both halves

Postseason All-Stars

Catcher	Chris Grossman (Sioux City 96 G, .305/.371/.521, 107 H, 61 R, 30 2B, 14 HR, 56 RBI
First Base	Pichi Balet (Lincoln) 86 G, .378/.429/.528, 136 H, 78 R, 21 2B, 9 HR, 82 RBI
Second Base	Alex Llanos (Sioux City) 83 G, .341/.418/.484, 107 H, 48 R, 13 2B, 10 HR, 43 RBI, 15 SB
Third Base	Trino Aguilar (Pensacola) 92 G, .322/.360/.468, 117 H, 59 R, 23 2B, 8 HR, 51 RBI, 12 SB
Shortstop	Carlo Mendoza (Pensacola) 68 G, .346/.436/.458, 90 H, 40 R, 20 2B, 3 HR, 34 RBI, 21 SB
Outfield	Brian Sprout (St. Paul) 91 G, .350/.429/.528, 118 H, 64 R, 28 2B, 10 HR, 59 RBI, 10 SB
Outfield	Chad Hermansen (Sioux Falls) 94 G, .317/.400/.579, 119 H, 77 R, 35 2B, 19 HR, 72 RBI
Outfield	Wil Quintana (St. Joe) 88 G, .271/.331/.534, 96 H, 63 R, 24 2B, 21 HR, 71 RBI
Designated Hitter	Jorge Alvarez (El Paso) 93 G, .330/.374/.470, 125 H, 68 R, 33 2B, 6 HR, 78 RBI
Right-Handed Pitcher	Cory Walters (Fort Worth) 14-4, 3.08 ERA, 19 G, 3 CG, 131.2 IP, 111 K, 1.086 WHIP
Left-Handed Pitcher	Lindsay Gulin (Lincoln) 13-2, 2.10 ERA, 19 G, 120.0 IP, 104 K, 0.917 WHIP
Relief Pitcher	Tony Pierce (Pensacola) 2-4, 1.83 ERA, 37 G, 21 SV, 34.1 IP, 53 K, 1.340 WHIP

All-Star Game (vs. Can-Am League All-Stars

July 18, 2006 at Cohen Stadium – El Paso, TX

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Can-Am	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	7	1
AA	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	4	X	5	13	1