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2023

Whether it be due to teams being displaced by new affiliated franchises, or simply going out of business, COVID-19, relocation, or expansion, the American Association had seen constant change almost from the day it was founded. However, 2023 was the first time since 2013 that the AA had fielded the exact same lineup as the year before, with all 12 teams coming back.

Fresh off a runner-up finish in 2022, Milwaukee claimed their first division crown, tying with Chicago, but taking the number one seed. Kane County filed in behind, while Lake Country seemed primed to earn a playoff berth in just their second season, they instead suffered maybe the biggest choke in AA history. The Hounds crashed and burned to a 3-14 finish, while Cleburne only went 6-11 in the same span, but managed to back their way in on a tiebreaker, taking the title of the worst playoff team (46-54) in AA history.

After being bounced in the West Division Finals in 2022, the Kansas City Monarchs claimed their third straight division title (fourth straight if you omit 2020), while Sioux Falls and Sioux City tied for second, with the Canaries finishing with their first winning record and playoff berth (outside of 2020’s shortened season) since 2010. Fargo-Moorhead was only one game behind the two Sioux’s, leaving KC with plenty of decisions for the first round draw.

Ultimately, the Monarchs chose (and swept) Sioux Falls, then came back from five runs down in the decisive Game 3 against Sioux City to win the West, while Chicago took down Cleburne and Milwaukee in a pair of series where the home team won all three games. Kansas City bounced back from a 16-inning loss in Game 1 of the Miles Wolff Cup Finals to win the final three games of the series and spoiling the Chicago Dogs’ first-ever trip to the Finals with a walk-off single in Game 4 from Brian O’Grady. The title was KC’s second title in three years and third since 2018, joining Winnipeg as the only AA clubs to win the Miles Wolff Cup three times.

Final Standings (Click on team name for full schedule)

East Division

Team	W	L	Win Pct.	GB	Runs Scored	Runs Allowed	Attend.
Milwaukee Milkmen-y	56	44	.560	—	595	479	85,318
Chicago Dogs-x	56	44	.560	—	572	498	206,258
Kane County Cougars-x	49	51	.490	7.0	476	466	261,836
Cleburne Railroaders-x	46	54	.460	10.0	620	587	58,817
Lake Country DockHounds	46	54	.460	10.0	552	575	92,914
Gary SouthShore RailCats	41	58	.414	14.5	457	575	148,354

West Division

Team	W	L	Win Pct.	GB	Runs Scored	Runs Allowed	Attend.
Kansas City Monarchs-y	59	40	.596	—	603	508	83,608
Sioux City Explorers–x	52	48	.520	7.5	493	478	54,899
Sioux Falls Canaries-x	52	48	.520	7.5	566	629	71,924
Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks-x	51	49	.510	8.5	507	519	155,331
Lincoln Saltdogs	48	52	.480	11.5	526	552	151,265
Winnipeg Goldeyes	43	57	.430	16.5	489	591	178,393

Playoffs

East First Round — CHICAGO WINS 2-1

Date	Score	W	L	SV	Attend.
9/6/23	Chicago 4 at Cleburne 7	M. Krauza	J. Cavallaro	J. Corbett	586
9/8/23	Cleburne 2 at Chicago 5	N. Green	J. Tripp	B. Schlitter	2,521
9/9/23	Cleburne 5 at Chicago 12	S. Lacey	K. Kalich	–	2,429

East First Round — MILWAUKEE WINS 2-1

Date	Score	W	L	SV	Attend.
9/6/23	Kane County 11 at Milwaukee 2	T. Beardsley	R. Zimmerman	–	513
9/8/23	Milwaukee 9 at Kane County 7	F. Bartow	C.J. Eldred	P. Gray	892
9/9/23	Milwaukee 4 at Kane County 0	K. Mora	K. Kowalczyk	–	822

West First Round — KANSAS CITY WINS 2-0

Date	Score	W	L	SV	Attend.
9/6/23	Kansas City 9 at Sioux Falls 1	A. Goudeau	T. Culbreth	–	936
9/8/23	Sioux Falls 0 at Kansas City 4	M. Hogan	A. Bostick	–	1,334

West First Round — SIOUX CITY WINS 2-0

Date	Score	W	L	SV	Attend.
9/6/23	Sioux City 8 at Fargo-Moorhead 6	A. Drury	K. McGovern	S. Rackoski	1,296
9/8/23	Fargo-Moorhead 0 at Sioux City 2	M. Verburg	C. Davis	S. Rackoski	533

East Finals — CHICAGO WINS 2-1

Date	Score	W	L	SV	Attend.
9/11/23	Chicago 3 at Milwaukee 4	J. Echevarria	B. Schlitter	–	491
9/13/23	Milwaukee 2 at Chicago 3	N. Green	F. Bartow	T. Lane	2,884
9/14/23	Milwaukee 2 at Chicago 3 (11 innings)	T. Lane	F. Bartow	–	1,704

West Finals — KANSAS CITY WINS 2-1

Date	Score	W	L	SV	Attend.
9/11/23	Kansas City 1 at Sioux City 8	A. Drury	Z. Grotz	–	420
9/13/23	Sioux City 0 at Kansas City 5	A. Goudreau	M. Verburg	–	914
9/14/23	Sioux City 6 at Kansas City 9	M. Hartman	S. Rackoski	P. Weigel	755

Miles Wolff Cup Finals — KANSAS CITY WINS 3-1

Date	Score	W	L	SV	Attend.
9/16/23	Kansas City 2 at Chicago 3 (16 innings)	B. Warzek	B. Rossman	–	2,449
9/17/23	Kansas City 8 at Chicago 4	Z. Grotz	A. Faith	–	2,159
9/19/23	Chicago 6 at Kansas City 9	A. Goudreau	J. Cheshire	P. Weigel	1,601
9/20/23	Chicago 6 at Kansas City 7	M. Hartman	J. Cavallaro	–	1,984

Finals MVP: Jan Hernandez (Kansas City) — .250/.455/.625, 4 H, 5 R, 2 HR, 6 RBI

Award Winners

Player of the Year	Chris Herrmann (Kansas City) 94 G, .355/.439/.617, 129 H, 26 2B, 23 HR, 88 RBI
Pitcher of the Year	Solomon Bates (Sioux City) 10-6, 3.57 ERA, 20 G, 126.0 IP, 124 K, 1.00 WHIP
Rookie Hitter of the Year	Dayson Croes (Winnipeg) 94 G, .351/.412/.423, 135 H, 15 2B, 3 HR, 67 RBI
Rookie Pitcher of the Year	Westin Muir (Kane County) 5-3, 3.51 ERA, 20 G, 100.0 IP, 62 K, 1.430 WHIP
Defensive Player of the Year	Sam Dexter (Fargo-Moorhead) 100 G, .987 Fld%, 6 errors in 476 chances at SS
Manager of the Year	Mike Meyer (Sioux Falls) 52-48 record, playoff berth, 19-game improvement

Postseason All-Stars

Catcher	Chris Herrmann (Kansas City) 94 G, .355/.439/.617, 129 H, 72 R, 26 2B, 23 HR, 88 RBI
First Base	Mike Hart (Sioux Falls) 85 G, .302/.438/.643, 88 H, 62 R, 21 2B, 26 HR, 69 RBI
Second Base	Bryan Torres (MIlwaukee) 91 G, .370/.464/.540, 133 H, 94 R, 24 2B, 11 HR, 67 RBI, 71 SB
Third Base	Dayson Croes (Winnipeg) 94 G, .351/.412/.423, 135 H, 61 R, 15 2B, 3 HR, 67 RBI
Shortstop	Josh Altmann (Chicago) 98 G, .290/.389/.595, 108 H, 73 R, 26 2B, 26 HR, 88 RBI, 21 SB
Outfield	Hill Alexander (Cleburne) 100 G, .286/.378/.528, 108 H, 78 R, 20 2B, 23 HR, 70 RBI, 14 SB
Outfield	Max Murphy (Winnipeg) 99 G, .289/.376/.545, 113 H, 66 R, 22 2B, 26 HR, 84 RBI
Outfield	Zach Nehrir (Cleburne) 99 G, .289/.367/.462, 117 R, 81 R, 21 2B, 15 HR, 80 RBI, 35 SB
Designated Hitter	Jabari Henry (Sioux Falls) 97 G, .265/.434/.502, 86 H, 78 R, 20 2B, 19 HR, 73 RBI, 89 BB
Starting Pitcher	Solomon Bates (Sioux City) 10-6, 3.57 ERA, 20 G, 126.0 IP, 124 K, 1.00 WHIP
Relief Pitcher	Charlie Hasty (Sioux Falls) 3-3, 2.28 ERA, 44 G, 22 SV, 43.1 IP, 48 K, 1.338 WHIP

All-Star Game

July 18, 2023 at Franklin Field – Franklin, WI

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
West	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	2	3	0
East	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	X	4	4	0