2017

After the Joplin Blasters crashed and burned late in 2016, the AA needed a 12th team, but luckily, the Cleburne Railroaders just so happened to be ready and able to join the league, ready to slide in and restore a third Texas team after Amarillo folded two years prior. Everything was going to work out, right? Wrong. Dead wrong.

Three weeks before the season began, a lawsuit between the owners of the Laredo Lemurs was resolved with…one group getting the team and the other getting the stadium lease. That was resolved about how you would think (it wasn’t). Combined with cratering attendance in their final two seasons, the Lemurs weren’t in great financial health and so they officially folded…15 days before the season started.

Enter the Salina Stockade. The Pecos League had folded a team in the Kansas town of that name the previous year, they had jerseys and hats sitting around, and they could get players quick and cheap. For the first time, the AA would field a travel team as the Stockade became nomads for the summer, posting the worst record in league history for their efforts (they did play seven games in Salina, all against Wichita…but were still the designated visiting team for those as well).

Amidst the weirdness of it all, the Wingnuts easily won an otherwise very weak South, Lincoln took the final Central Division crown, and defending champion Winnipeg’s second-best record ever won them the North. As for the wild card spot, a crazy final day saw Gary SouthShore walk off Lincoln and Fargo-Moorhead lose to Winnipeg. The RailCats, RedHawks, and Kansas City T-Bones all finished at 57-43, but Gary SouthShore held the tiebreakers over both clubs (Kansas City had neither, so they were already eliminated the day prior), so the RailCats snuck into the playoffs.

Gary SouthShore’s playoff run didn’t last long, as they were decisively swept by Wichita, while Winnipeg dispatched Lincoln in four games, coming back in the ninth inning to win Game 4. The most memorable game in league history took place in Game 4 of the American Association Finals, where the Wingnuts appeared to have won the title…only for a questionable balk call to wipe out the title-clinching out. Winnipeg then tied the game two pitches later, won in the 17th inning (after a league-record 5 hours and 59 minutes of play), then smashed the demoralized Wingnuts 18-2 in Game 5 to become the second repeat champion (after 2006-07 Fort Worth) in AA history.

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	62	38	.620	—	607	483	219,556
Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks	57	43	.570	5.0	457	422	176,086
St. Paul Saints	48	52	.480	14.0	518	524	406,501
Sioux Falls Canaries	45	55	.450	17.0	509	499	113,506

Central Division

Team	W	L	Win Pct.	GB	Runs Scored	Runs Allowed	Attend.
Lincoln Saltdogs–y	58	41	.586	—	480	368	172,712
Gary SouthShore RailCats-x	57	43	.570	1.5	442	444	181,612
Kansas City T-Bones	57	43	.570	1.5	507	481	211,599
Sioux City Explorers	46	54	.460	12.5	470	539	58,407

South Division

Team	W	L	Win Pct.	GB	Runs Scored	Runs Allowed	Attend.
Wichita Wingnuts-y	61	38	.616	—	617	397	157,995
Cleburne Railroaders	47	53	.470	14.5	389	441	103,264
Texas AirHogs	43	57	.430	18.5	392	466	65,672
Salina Stockade	18	82	.180	43.5	332	652	—*

*Salina served as a travel team to balance the schedule and played only road games

Playoffs

First Round — WINNIPEG WINS 3-1

Date	Score	W	L	SV	Attend.
9/6/17	Winnipeg 5 at Lincoln 4	M. Lambson	J.R. Bunda	R. Chaffee	1,195
9/7/17	Winnipeg 0 at Lincoln 13	D. Gordon	M. O’Brien	–	1,532
9/9/17	Lincoln 2 at Winnipeg 6	C. Rosario	B. Parry	–	3,861
9/10/17	Lincoln 9 at Winnipeg 10	R. Chaffee	M. Wagner	–	3,521

First Round — WICHITA WINS 3-0

Date	Score	W	L	SV	Attend.
9/6/17	Wichita 4 at Gary SouthShore 2	D. Gutierrez	A. Costa	R. Kussmaul	757
9/7/17	Wichita 5 at Gary SouthShore 2	A. Boshers	J. McKenzie	R. Kussmaul	815
9/9/17	Gary SouthShore 3 at Wichita 11	E. Medina	D. Minor	–	1,086

American Association Finals — WINNIPEG WINS 3-2

Date	Score	W	L	SV	Attend.
9/13/17	Winnipeg 7 at Wichita 12	D. Gutierrez	C. Rosaro	–	817
9/14/17	Winnipeg 7 at Wichita 1	E. Carl	A. Boshers	–	964
9/16/17	Wichita 5 at Winnipeg 3	J. Goossen-Brown	V. Capellan	R. Kussmaul	4,056
9/17/17	Wichita 3 at Winnipeg 4 (17 innings)	Z. Dodson	T. Kane	–	3,505
9/19/17	Wichita 2 at Winnipeg 18	E. Carl	T. Brown	–	6,363

Award Winners

Player of the Year	Josh Romanski (Winnipeg) 98 G, .324/.393/.473 131 H, 74 R, 27 2B, 11 HR, 81 RBI
Pitcher of the Year	Tyler Alexander (Fargo-Moorhead) 8-6, 2.07 ERA, 21 G, 4 CG, 148.0 IP, 167 K, 1.101 WHIP
Rookie of the Year	Colin Willis (Gary SouthShore) 92 G, .319/.407/.482, 96 H, 54 R, 15 2B, 8 HR, 49 RBI
Defensive Player of the Year	Tony Campana (Sioux City) 92 G, .992 Fld%, 2 errors in 244 chances in CF
Manager of the Year	Bobby Brown (Lincoln) 58-41 record, Central Division title

Postseason All-Stars

Catcher	Martin Medina (Wichita) 86 G, .314/.380/.425, 102 H, 51 R, 18 2B, 6 HR, 51 RBI
First Base	Matt Chavez (Wichita) 84 G, .330/.398/.539, 109 H, 55 R, 16 2B, 17 HR, 84 RBI
Second Base	Cesar Valera (Lincoln) 98 G, .327/.398/.442, 128 H, 70 R, 19 2B, 7 3B, 4 HR, 52 RBI
Third Base	Wes Darvill (Winnipeg) 100 G, .309/.354/.402, 116 H, 53 R, 19 2B, 4 HR, 49 RBI, 30 SB
Shortstop	Andrew Sohn (Winnipeg) 96 G, .302/.379/.436, 117 H, 88 R, 15 2B, 11 HR, 45 RBI, 30 SB
Outfield	Josh Romanski (Winnipeg) 98 G, .324/.393/.473 131 H, 74 R, 27 2B, 11 HR, 81 RBI
Outfield	Anthony Gallas (St. Paul) 79 G, .306/.373/.582, 93 H, 62 R, 17 2B, 5 3B, 19 HR, 65 RBI
Outfield	Richard Prigatano (Wichita) 95 G, .316/.406/.475, 107 H, 67 R, 26 2B, 8 HR, 61 RBI
Designated Hitter	David Bergin (Winnipeg) 100 G, .323/.430/.589, 118 H, 74 R, 33 2B, 20 HR, 77 RBI
Starting Pitcher	Tyler Alexander (Fargo-Moorhead) 8-6, 2.07 ERA, 21 G, 4 CG, 148.0 IP, 167 K, 1.101 WHIP
Relief Pitcher	Cody Winiarski (Kansas City) 5-1, 1.69 ERA, 47 G, 21 SV, 52.1 IP, 66 K, 0.994 WHIP

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

July 25, 2017 at RCGT Park – Ottawa, ONT

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