2014

After two seasons rolling out an unusual 13-team lineup, the El Paso Diablos bowed out after eight seasons to make room for a new Triple-A club. Oddly enough, even though both leagues had an even number of teams, the American Association elected to continue interleague play with the Can-Am League, though on a more limited basis.

Winnipeg posted the second-most wins in club history in easily winning the North, while Wichita rode on of the top offenses in AA history to a then-record 73 wins in romping to the South Division crown, though Laredo cruised to the wild card spot with a comfortable second-place finish. The Central, meanwhile, was the closest division in AA history, with the entire group separated by just seven games. The division race was decided on the penultimate day of the season, with Lincoln edging Gary SouthShore by one game.

In the playoffs, Lincoln was the weakest team in the field, but they dealt an upset in the first round, winning the last two contests for a five-game series win over Winnipeg. Wichita, meanwhile, was in no mood for upsets. The Wingnuts didn’t show off their usual firepower, but won a tightly-contested four-game series with Laredo, then erupted for 28 runs in a three-game Finals sweep of the Saltdogs.

Four AA teams have won 70 games in a season (also St. Paul in ’15 and Sioux City in ’15 and ’18), but the 2014 Wingnuts can arguably take the mantle as the best team in American Association history, because they were the only one out of that group that hoisted the Miles Wolff Cup. As it turned out, even though Wichita was extremely successful during their 11 years in the league, this would be their only title.

Final Standings (Click on team name for full schedule)

North Division

Team	W	L	Win Pct.	GB	Runs Scored	Runs Allowed	Attend.
Winnipeg Goldeyes-y	63	37	.630	—	547	411	258,429
St. Paul Saints	48	52	.480	15.0	492	532	248,106
Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks	43	56	.434	19.5	455	503	186,306
Sioux Falls Canaries	33	67	.330	30.0	436	593	139,784

Central Division

Team	W	L	Win Pct.	GB	Runs Scored	Runs Allowed	Attend.
Lincoln Saltdogs-y	54	46	.540	—	515	489	166,503
Gary SouthShore RailCats	53	47	.530	1.0	524	481	164,286
Kansas City T-Bones	48	52	.480	6.0	488	577	248,929
Sioux City Explorers	47	53	.470	7.0	510	496	50,746

South Division

Team	W	L	Win Pct.	GB	Runs Scored	Runs Allowed	Attend.
Wichita Wingnuts-y	73	27	.730	—	618	420	147,706
Laredo Lemurs-x	58	42	.580	15.0	586	469	132,562
Grand Prairie AirHogs	40	60	.400	33.0	429	544	60,747
Amarillo Sox	37	62	.374	35.5	441	577	81,834

The American Association took part in interleague play with the Can-Am League, posting a 36-40 record as a league

Playoffs

First Round — LINCOLN WINS 3-2

Date	Score	W	L	SV	Attend.
9/3/14	Lincoln 4 at Winnipeg 6	C. Salamida	J. Bisenius	B. Lafferty	4,013
9/4/14	Lincoln 3 at Winnipeg 2	M. Fleming	E. Hollingsworth	M. Schuler	3,521
9/6/14	Winnipeg 7 at Lincoln 6 (10 innings)	B. Lafferty	T. Barham	C. Kissock	2,094
9/7/14	Winnipeg 2 at Lincoln 9	N. Green	M. Jackson	J. Flores	1,331
8/8/14	Winnipeg 0 at Lincoln 2	J. Bisenius	C. Salamida	–	2,284

First Round — WICHITA WINS 3-1

Date	Score	W	L	SV	Attend.
9/3/14	Wichita 4 at Laredo 2	T. Brown	C. Povich	D. Sattler	1,558
9/4/14	Wichita 2 at Laredo 3	C. Harman	A. Capra	C. Graham	1,135
9/6/14	Laredo 3 at Wichita 6	J. Van Skike	C. Carillo	–	2,060
9/7/14	Laredo 4 at Wichita 5	C. Polanco	J. Strawn	D. Sattler	1,031

American Association Finals — WICHITA WINS 3-0

Date	Score	W	L	SV	Attend.
9/10/14	Wichita 11 at Lincoln 7	T. Brown	M. Fleming	–	1,216
9/11/14	Wichita 9 at Lincoln 2	A. Capra	K. McGovern	–	1,106
9/13/14	Lincoln 3 at Wichita 8	J. Van Skike	J. Bisenius	–	2,528

Award Winners

Player of the Year	Brent Clevlen (Wichita) 94 G, .372/.447/.647, 134 H, 33 2B, 20 HR, 80 RBI
Pitcher of the Year	Nick Hernandez (Winnipeg) 12-2, 3.06 ERA, 20 G, 2 CG, 120.2 IP, 93 K, 1.152 WHIP
Rookie of the Year	Jeremy Strawn (Laredo) 9-0, 2.45 ERA, 14 G, 3 CG, 73.1 IP, 51 K, 1.186 WHIP
Defensive Player of the Year	Ryan Khoury (Wichita) 100 G, .976 Fld%, 12 Es in 502 chances at SS
Manager of the Year	Kevin Hooper (Wichita) 73-27 record, won Miles Wolff Cup

Postseason All-Stars

Catcher	Chris McMurray (Wichita) 83 G, .261/.330/.397, 81 H, 44 R, 19 2B, 7 HR, 60 RBI
First Base	Casey Haerther (Winnipeg) 98 G, .360/.390/.535, 140 H, 49 R, 29 2B, 13 HR, 72 RBI
Second Base	Travis Denker (Laredo) 99 G, .305/.408/.558, 113 H, 78 R, 17 2B, 25 HR, 85 RBI
Third Base	Abel Nieves (Grand Prairie/Wichita) 95 G, .354/.422/.445, 128 H, 52 R, 21 2B, 2 HR, 45 RBI
Shortstop	Tyler Kuhn (Winnipeg) 100 G, .360/.415/.482, 148 H, 70 R, 29 2B, 5 HR, 56 RBI, 11 SB
Outfield	Drew Martinez (Gary SouthShore) 100 G, .358/.406/.461, 153 H, 22 2B, 8 3B, 2 HR, 62 RBI, 25 SB
Outfield	Brent Clevlen (Wichita) 94 G, .372/.447/.647, 134 H, 76 R, 33 2B, 20 HR, 80 RBI, 14 SB
Outfield	Nick Van Stratten (Laredo) 97 G, .349/.410/.462, 145 H, 81 R, 19 2B, 6 HR, 49 RBI, 19 SB
Designated Hitter	Ian Gac (Lincoln) 83 G, .349/.416/.679, 112 H, 63 R, 25 2B, 27 HR, 77 RBI
Starting Pitcher	Nick Hernandez (Winnipeg) 12-2, 3.06 ERA, 20 G, 2 CG, 120.2 IP, 93 K, 1.152 WHIP
Relief Pitcher	Marshall Schuler (Lincoln) 4-6, 4.26 ERA, 50 G, 34 SV, 50.2 IP, 51 K, 1.362 WHIP

All-Star Game

July 29, 2014 at Shaw Park – Winnipeg, MAN

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
South	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	5	7	12	0
North	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0