The American Association is the third-longest running league in modern independent baseball, a run that began precisely 20 years ago tonight: May 11, 2006.

Okay, the real beginnings were in boardrooms and other meetings in the fall of 2005 (the league was first announced on September 30, 2005), kicking off an offseason of planning and a tricky process that involved shepherding five teams from a league on the verge of collapse (Central League), poaching four more from a stable league (Northern League), and launching a tenth team (St. Joe) from scratch. After all that, on the night of May 11, 2006, the American Association of Professional Baseball played their first game.

Actually on May 11, the first three games in AA history took place. That night, the Coastal Bend Aviators hosted the El Paso Diablos, winning 3-2, while the Fort Worth Cats hosted and defeated the Shreveport Sports 5-1. However, those games both started at (or a little after) 7:05 p.m.

The winner? The Pensacola Pelicans, who threw the first pitch against the Lincoln Saltdogs at 6:44 Central Daylight Time (yes, the Florida Panhandle is in the Central Time Zone), so their contest against the Lincoln Saltdogs holds the title of the first in AA history by starting 20 or so minutes earlier.

Eight years after he pitched in the first game in Arizona Diamondbacks history, 33-year-old right-hander Clint Sodowsky threw the first pitch in American Association to Lincoln centerfielder Cory Harris, an established Indy ball star at that point.

Among others, the lineups from the game feature those two, plus Saltdogs legend Bryan Warner fresh off a Northern League MVP season in 2005, plus Lincoln’s Pichi Balet, who went on to win the AA’s inaugural Player of the Year award.

Pensacola’s lineup features two men known more for their post-playing days: Pelicans catcher Jose Yepez has spent nearly a decade as the bullpen catcher for the Atlanta Braves and also doubled up as the General Manager for Team Venezuela, assembling the club that won their first World Baseball Classic title in 2026. More notably, starting shortstop Carlos Mendoza is in his third year managing the New York Mets these days (at least for the time being).

As for the game itself, it was a one-sided affair. Following two scoreless innings, Harris swatted a two-run home run in the third for the first runs of the game and the first homer in AA history. Lincoln scored two runs each in the fifth and sixth and one more in the seventh to cruise to a 7-0 win, much to the disappointment of the 1,854 fans at Pelican Park.

Pitching the fifth and sixth innings in relief for the Saltdogs, second-year right-hander Kyle Ruwe earned the win, one of 77 victories he racked up in a decade-long career spent entirely in the independent ranks.

That contest served as a harbinger of things to come for the 2006 season. Lincoln swept the four games in Pensacola as part of an 8-0 start. The Saltdogs won both halves in the North Division and finished with a league-beat 65-31 record, a mark that would not be bettered until Wichita won 68 games in 2013.

Pensacola, meanwhile, stumbled out of the gate to an 0-8 start, but recovered to finish the first half 24-24. However, being just two games out of first, the terrible start clearly cost them a playoff spot. The bottom fell out with a last-place finish in the second half and the Pelicans limped to a 40-56 final record. Nonetheless, they at least could take pride in hosting the game where it all began two decades ago.

Box score and game recap from the first game in American Association history, both courtesy of the May 12, 2006 Lincoln Journal Star

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