For the third year in a row, the American Association welcomed an expansion team into the fold, though for the second straight season it was at the expense of another team going out of business. After 11 incredible seasons of on-field success, the Wichita Wingnuts ceased operations to clear the way for a new Triple-A ballpark to be built on the previous site of Lawrence-Dumont Stadium for the 2020 season.
Entering the fray would be the Milwaukee Milkmen, who would be moving into a new ballpark in Franklin, Wisconsin…except that the ballpark was not ready for Opening Day. The Milkmen would be forced to play their first three home series in Kokomo, Indiana in front of comically small crowds before finally moving into Routine Field in mid-June.
On the field, the North saw an impressively strong division with four legitimate contenders and the league’s three best records. St. Paul barely edged out Fargo-Moorhead for the division crown, while Kansas City claimed their first-ever division crown in the South. The T-Bones stormed back from 10 games back of Cleburne with a month to play to knock the Railroaders out (and also scoot Sioux City into the postseason).
In September, Sioux City bounced the defending champion T-Bones, while St. Paul stormed back from a 2-0 series deficit (and a 4-0 hole in Game 3) to stun Fargo-Moorhead, then swept the X’s for their first championship since the 2004 Northern League crown. In true Saints fashion, they celebrated with a one-block-long championship parade that lasted all of three minutes.
FINAL STANDINGS (Click team name for full schedule)
Winnipeg’s Mitch Lambson led the league in wins (13), innings (150.2), complete games (4) and finished second in strikeouts (133) and third in ERA (3.11), earning Pitcher of the Year honors (Photo: Winnipeg Goldeyes)
Gary SouthShore’s Colin Willis took home MVP honors after going 2-for-2 with a double and two RBI in the North’s 7-3 win in the 2019 American Association All-Star Game (Photo: American Association)
League Leaders
Batting Leaders (Click to expand/collapse)
Batting Average – Minimum 3.0 PA/G
Alay Lago
Sioux Falls
.339
Jonathan Moroney
Texas/Winnipeg
.331
Daniel Robertson
Cleburne/Kansas City
.329
Dan Motl
St. Paul
.328
Nate Samson
Sioux City
.324
Leonaldo Pina
Fargo-Moorhead
.323
Tim Colwell
Fargo-Moorhead
.321
Brady Shoemaker
St. Paul
.319
Wes Darvill
Winnipeg
.317
Dylan Tice
Kansas City
.316
Games Played
Tim Colwell
Fargo-Moorhead
100
Garrett Copeland
Milwaukee
100
Michael Lang
Sioux City/St. Paul
100
Alex Perez
Winnipeg
100
Jose Sermo
Sioux City
100
Devan Ahart
Fargo-Moorhead
99
Dexture McCall
Sioux City
99
Brennan Metzger
Fargo-Moorhead
99
Nate Samson
Sioux City
99
10 tied
98
Plate Appearances
Brennan Metzger
Fargo-Moorhead
461
Tim Colwell
Fargo-Moorhead
459
Michael Lang
Sioux City/St. Paul
459
Brett Vertigan
Sioux Falls
456
Brady Shoemaker
St. Paul
452
Chase Simpson
Cleburne
451
Devan Ahart
Fargo-Moorhead
447
Nate Samson
Sioux City
446
Zach Nehrir
Cleburne
441
Jose Sermo
Sioux City
437
At-Bats
Tim Colwell
Fargo-Moorhead
405
Michael Lang
Sioux City/St. Paul
405
Nate Samson
Sioux City
404
Brett Vertigan
Sioux Falls
401
Devan Ahart
Fargo-Moorhead
399
Brennan Metzger
Fargo-Moorhead
388
Correlle Prime
Fargo-Moorhead
385
Zach Nehrir
Cleburne
382
Reggie Abercrombie
Winnipeg
379
Clint Coulter
Sioux Falls
374
Hits
Nate Samson
Sioux City
131
Tim Colwell
Fargo-Moorhead
130
Alay Lago
Sioux Falls
125
Devan Ahart
Fargo-Moorhead
123
Brennan Metzger
Fargo-Moorhead
122
Correlle Prime
Fargo-Moorhead
120
Dan Motl
St. Paul
120
Leobaldo Pina
Fargo-Moorhead
119
Keon Barnum
Chicago
116
Brady Shoemaker
St. Paul
114
Runs
Correlle Prime
Fargo-Moorhead
78
Daniel Robertson
Cleburne/Kansas City
76
Kyle Wren
Sioux City
75
Dan Motl
St. Paul
74
Michael Lang
Sioux City/St. Paul
73
Tim Colwell
Fargo-Moorhead
71
Zach Nehrir
Cleburne
71
Brady Shoemaker
St. Paul
70
Clint Coulter
Sioux Falls
69
Brennan Metzger
Fargo-Moorhead
69
David Olmedo-Barrera
Chicago
69
Doubles
Zach Nehrir
Cleburne
34
Chase Simpson
Cleburne
32
Alay Lago
Sioux Falls
30
David Olmedo-Barrera
Chicago
30
Leobaldo Pina
Fargo-Moorhead
28
Keon Barnum
Chicago
26
Jordan Dean
Chicago
26
Casey Gillaspie
Kansas City
26
Clint Coulter
Sioux Falls
25
Correlle Prime
Fargo-Moorhead
25
Victor Roache
Chicago
25
Brady Shoemaker
St. Paul
25
Triples
Kyle Wren
Sioux City
11
Brennan Metzger
Fargo-Moorhead
9
Jonathan Moroney
Texas/Winnipeg
7
Colin Willis
Gary SouthShore
7
Tim Colwell
Fargo-Moorhead
6
David Olmedo-Barrera
Chicago
6
Nick Rotola
Cleburne
6
Nate Samson
Sioux City
5
Eight tied
4
Home Runs
Keon Barnum
Chicago
31
Victor Roache
Chicago
24
Adam Brett Walker
Milwaukee
22
Chase Simpson
Cleburne
20
Clint Coulter
Sioux Falls
18
Correlle Prime
Fargo-Moorhead
18
Brady Shoemaker
St. Paul
18
Josh Allen
St. Paul
17
Willy Garcia
Winnipeg
17
Chris Jacobs
Fargo-Moorhead
17
Max Murphy
St. Paul
17
Runs Batted In (RBI)
Chase Simpson
Cleburne
93
Keon Barnum
Chicago
90
Victor Roache
Chicago
79
Correlle Prime
Fargo-Moorhead
77
Jose Sermo
Sioux City
77
Chris Jacobs
Fargo-Moorhead
76
Willy Garcia
Winnipeg
73
Clint Coulter
Sioux Falls
72
Brady Shoemaker
St. Paul
71
Reggie Abercrombie
Winnipeg
70
Stolen Bases
Kyle Wren
Sioux City
27
Wes Darvill
Winnipeg
26
Dan Motl
St. Paul
24
Michael Lang
Sioux City/St. Paul
21
Daniel Robertson
Cleburne/Kansas City
21
Nate Samson
Sioux City
21
Jose Sermo
Sioux City
21
Tim Colwell
Fargo-Moorhead
20
Burt Reynolds
Sioux Falls/St. Paul
20
Dylan Tice
Kansas City
20
Extra-Base Hits
Keon Barnum
Chicago
58
Chase Simpson
Cleburne
54
Zach Nehrir
Cleburne
50
Victor Roache
Cleburne
50
Clint Coulter
Sioux Falls
45
David Olmedo-Barrera
Chicago
45
Alay Lago
Sioux Falls
44
Correlle Prime
Fargo-Moorhead
44
Willy Garcia
Winnipeg
43
Brady Shoemaker
St. Paul
43
Total Bases
Keon Barnum
Chicago
237
Victor Roache
Cleburne
211
Correlle Prime
Fargo-Moorhead
201
Alay Lago
Sioux Falls
196
Chase Simpson
Cleburne
195
Clint Coulter
Sioux Falls
193
Brady Shoemaker
St. Paul
193
Zach Nehrir
Cleburne
187
Willy Garcia
Winnipeg
184
Jordan Dean
Chicago
183
Brennan Metzger
Fargo-Moorhead
183
Walks
Brady Shoemaker
St. Paul
80
Chase Simpson
Cleburne
72
Colin Willis
Gary SouthShore
69
Alex Perez
Winnipeg
66
Christian Ibarra
Lincoln
62
Jose Sermo
Sioux City
62
Brennan Metzger
Fargo-Moorhead
60
Jeremy Martinez
St. Paul
54
Keon Barnum
Chicago
52
Casey Gillaspie
Kansas City
52
Dexture McCall
Sioux City
52
Strikeouts
Burt Reynolds
Sioux Falls/St. Paul
132
Jose Sermo
Sioux City
114
Adam Brett Walker
Milwaukee
114
Cody Regis
Lincoln
110
Casey Gillaspie
Kansas City
109
Garrett Copeland
Milwaukee
108
Victor Roache
Chicago
106
Zach Nehrir
Cleburne
102
Chris Jacobs
Fargo-Moorhead
101
Chase Simpson
Cleburne
99
Hit By Pitch
Daniel Robertson
Cleburne/Kansas City
16
Marcus Mooney
Gary SouthShore
15
Dan Motl
St. Paul
12
Reggie Abercrombie
Winnipeg
11
Mike Hart
Sioux Falls
11
Burt Reynolds
Sioux Falls/St. Paul
11
Brady Shoemaker
St. Paul
11
Josh Allen
St. Paul
10
Christ Conley
Milwaukee
10
KC Huth
Cleburne
10
Chris Jacobs
Fargo-Moorhead
10
Randolph Oduber
Lincoln
10
On-Base Percentage (OBP) – Minimum 3.0 PA/G
Brady Shoemaker
St. Paul
.454
Daniel Robertson
Cleburne/Kansas City
.439
Colin Willis
Gary SouthShore
.429
Dan Motl
St. Paul
.416
Brennan Metzger
Fargo-Moorhead
.415
Jeremy Martinez
St. Paul
.404
Victor Roache
Chicago
.397
Keon Barnum
Chicago
.395
Marcus Mooney
Gary SouthShore
.393
Chase Simpson
Cleburne
.392
Slugging Percentage (SLUG) – Minimum 3.0 PA/G
Keon Barnum
Chicago
.635
Victor Roache
Chicago
.583
Willy Garcia
Winnipeg
.548
Brady Shoemaker
St. Paul
.541
Chase Simpson
Cleburne
.536
Alay Lago
Sioux Falls
.531
Correlle Prime
Fargo-Moorhead
.522
Clint Coulter
Sioux Falls
.516
Chris Jacobs
Fargo-Moorhead
.511
Colin Willis
Gary SouthShore
.506
On-Base Plus Slugging (OPS) – Minimum 3.0 PA/G
Keon Barnum
Chicago
1.030
Brady Shoemaker
St. Paul
.994
Victor Roache
Chicago
.980
Colin Willis
Gary SouthShore
.935
Chase Simpson
Cleburne
.926
Willy Garcia
Winnipeg
.924
Alay Lago
Sioux Falls
.917
Daniel Robertson
Cleburne/Kansas City
.904
Chris Jacobs
Fargo-Moorhead
.895
Brennan Metzger
Fargo-Moorhead
.887
Chicago’s Keon Barnum crushed a then-league record 31 home runs, while finishing second in RBI (90) and leading the league in slugging (.635), OPS (1.030), and total bases (237) as he was named American Association Player of the Year (Photo: Chicago Dogs)