2009

The 2009 season was a welcome departure from the prior season, when two founding members of the American Association went under and were replaced by expansion teams. For this season, there was only one change of note: Shreveport dropped the oft-used (but outdated) “Sports” moniker and revived a former moniker used for three decades in the Texas League. Most notably, while 2009 marked the 94th season of minor league baseball in Shreveport, the club took the name of its sister city, Bossier City, for the first time ever, with the club officially being rechristened as the Shreveport-Bossier Captains.

In just their second year of operation, Wichita romped to the first half crown in the North by nine games, while Fort Worth cruised six games ahead of Pensacola. The Pelicans flipped the script in the second half to win the South, while the North went down to the last day of the season. St. Paul and Lincoln were tied for the second-best overall record (Lincoln held the tiebreaker), while the Saltdogs and Wingnuts were tied for the second-half crown. Lincoln and St. Paul both won, but Wichita lost, giving Lincoln the outright second-half title.

In the postseason, Wichita took a 2-1 lead in the first round, but Lincoln allowed just two runs in the final two games on the road to take the series. Pensacola, meanwhile, took down Fort Worth in four games in what wound up as the original AA dynasty’s final playoff series in the league. In the Finals, the series dragged out to five games, with Lincoln winning a tight pitcher’s duel in Game 5 for their first and only title to date.

Final Standings

North Division

Team	W	L	Win Pct.	GB	Runs Scored	Runs Allowed	Attend.
Wichita Wingnuts-y	58	38	.604	—	508	382	161,710
Lincoln Saltdogs-x	49	47	.510	5.0	481	493	172,445
St. Paul Saints	49	47	.510	5.0	499	453	267,398
Sioux City Explorers	40	56	.417	18.0	473	499	70,978
Sioux Falls Canaries	40	56	.417	18.0	442	558	132,529

South Division

Team	W	L	Win Pct.	GB	Runs Scored	Runs Allowed	Attend.
Fort Worth Cats-y	53	43	.552	—	508	461	177,807
Pensacola Pelicans-x	53	43	.552	—	550	527	71,797
Shreveport-Bossier Captains	48	48	.500	5.0	493	521	86,635
Grand Prairie AirHogs	48	48	.500	5.0	589	569	141,132
El Paso Diablos	42	54	.438	11.0	524	604	200,323

y-First half winner x-Second half winner

Playoffs

First Round — LINCOLN WINS 3-2

Date	Score	W	L	SV	Attend.
9/1/09	Wichita 6 at Lincoln 2	W. Savage	J. Gardner	–	1,382
9/2/09	Wichita 1 at Lincoln 4	J. Paduch	A. Cowart	C. Thompson	1,543
9/4/09	Lincoln 1 at Wichita 5	D. Blacksher	T. Brown	–	2,038
9/5/09	Lincoln 3 at Wichita 1 (11 innings)	A. Daniels	J. Dowdy	C. Thompson	2,891
9/6/09	Lincoln 6 at Wichita 1	J. Gardner	W. Savage	–	1,207

First Round — PENSACOLA WINS 3-1

Date	Score	W	L	SV	Attend.
9/1/09	Pensacola 7 at Fort Worth 0	A. Jackson	L. Gwaltney	–	1,531
9/2/09	Pensacola 2 at Fort Worth 8	R. Beam	J. Kirsten	–	1,352
9/4/09	Fort Worth 4 at Pensacola 12	K. Mattison	J. Jung	–	1,543
9/5/09	Fort Worth 6 at Pensacola 7	F. Butto	S. Vander Weg	H. Davis	–

American Association Finals — LINCOLN WINS 3-2

Date	Score	W	L	SV	Attend.
9/8/09	Pensacola 7 at Lincoln 6 (11 innings)	T. Wilson	A. Daniels	H. Davis	1,567
9/9/09	Pensacola 1 at Lincoln 6	J. Paduch	K. Mattison	–	1,833
9/11/09	Lincoln 14 at Pensacola 7	J. Knoff	A. Jackson	–	1,818
9/12/09	Lincoln 2 at Pensacola 7	R. Hill	A. Daniels	–	–
9/13/09	Lincoln 2 at Pensacola 1	J. Paduch	K. Mattison	C. Thompson	1,063

Award Winners

Player of the Year	Greg Porter (Wichita) 95 G, .372/.453/.617, 140 H, 67 R, 25 2B, 21 HR, 86 RBI
Right-Handed Pitcher of the Year	Derek Blacksher (Wichita) 11-2, 3.38 ERA, 20 G, 125.0 IP, 93 K, 1.304 WHIP
Left-Handed Pitcher of the Year	Brad Davis (Wichita) 8-7, 3.35 ERA, 18 G, 104.2 IP, 57 K, 1.347 WHIP
Rookie of the Year	Chase Burch (Pensacola) 90 G, .341/.442/.488, 114 H, 60 R, 20 2B, 9 HR, 65 RBI
Rookie Pitcher of the Year	Jimmy Heard (Shreveport-Bossier) 7-1, 1.76 ERA, 11 G, 66.1 IP, 50 K, 1.191 WHIP
Manager of the Year	Kevin Hooper (Wichita) 58-38 record, North Division title

Postseason All-Stars

Catcher	Joe Muich (Wichita) 76 G, .260/.327/.367, 73 H, 32 R, 9 2B, 7 HR, 31 RBI
First Base	John Allen (Fort Worth) 96 G, .300/.359/.472, 117 H, 60 R, 27 2B, 12 HR, 72 RBI
Second Base	Antoin Gray (Pensacola) 96 G, .309/.379/.466, 122 H, 70 R, 20 2B, 14 HR, 84 RBI
Third Base	Cesar Nicholas (Grand Prairie) 96 G, .335/.447/.536, 120 H, 83 R, 30 2B, 14 HR, 103 RBI
Shortstop	Josh Horn (Wichita) 93 G, .310/.393/.368, 113 H, 68 R, 12 2B, 3 HR, 43 RBI, 19 SB
Outfield	Brent Krause (St. Paul) 96 G, .300/.415/.484, 104 H, 63 R, 23 2B, 11 HR, 59 RBI, 15 SB
Outfield	Brian Fryer (Fort Worth) 96 G, .307/.346/.368, 130 H, 60 R, 21 2B, 1 HR, 48 RBI, 38 SB
Outfield	Greg Porter (Wichita) 95 G, .372/.453/.617, 140 H, 67 R, 25 2B, 21 HR, 86 RBI
Designated Hitter	Chase Burch (Pensacola) 90 G, .341/.442/.488, 114 H, 60 R, 20 2B, 9 HR, 65 RBI
Right-Handed Pitcher	Derek Blacksher (Wichita) 11-2, 3.38 ERA, 20 G, 125.0 IP, 93 K, 1.304 WHIP
Left-Handed Pitcher	Brad Davis (Wichita) 8-7, 3.35 ERA, 18 G, 104.2 IP, 57 K, 1.347 WHIP
Relief Pitcher	Chris Thompson (El Paso/Lincoln) 1-2, 2.38 ERA, 42 G, 30 SV, 41.2 IP, 51 K, 1.392 WHIP

All-Star Game

July 21, 2009 at QuikTrip Park – Grand Prairie, TX

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
North	2	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	6	10	0
South	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	4	1