Labor Day Weekend.

It’s finally here. It’s already here. Regardless, it’s here and the American Association regular season is winding down this weekend. Each team has only one four-game series separating them from the postseason or winter. There are still a few notable developments to look at, so why waste any more time?

Last Two Playoff Spots Up for Grabs

The East Division playoff picture has been pretty much set since Cleburne locked in the fourth spot on Sunday, but the West has been much different. Winnipeg became the second West team to clinch on Tuesday, but that’s it so far.

Fargo-Moorhead is next up, needing a win and a Sioux City loss (or two of either) to lock in their spot. Both of those squads have brutal series: F-M travels to Milwaukee, Sioux City treks out to Lake Country. If those two finish tied, the X’s have the tiebreaker based on a better intra-division record.

Meanwhile, Sioux Falls is trying to hold off Sioux City and the Canaries picked up two huge walk-off wins over Cleburne to stay one game in front. That lead is effectively two games because the Birds have the tiebreaker, but there is still work to do.

While the X’s trek to Oconomowoc, Sioux Falls will have a much more favorable final series, hosting Lincoln at the Birdcage to close the year

Division Titles in Reach

Both Division titles could be secured as early as tonight, as Milwaukee just needs a win or a Lake Country loss to wrap up their first-ever outright East Division crown (they tied in 2023). In the West, Kansas City gets it done with a win.

The West race is very straightforward: Kansas City is hosting Winnipeg. Simply put, if Winnipeg sweeps, they win the West. Anything else and KC wins their first division crown since 2023.

For planning purposes, teams would love to get the clincher out of the way so matchups can be set, pitching can be mapped out, and playoff tickets can start being sold in earnest.

Leaderboard Watch

Lake Country’s Joshua Mears has already set the American Association home run record, hitting his 34th last weekend in Winnipeg. He connected for his 36th last night, in the process giving him 105 RBI for the season. Next up is Kyle Martin’s AA record of 106 ribbies from 2021.

There is a possible chance that Fargo-Moorhead’s Jose Sermo could break both the AA’s home run and RBI marks as well, sitting at 32 homers and 101 driven in. He’s already broken the F-M single-season home run mark and is two RBIs away from matching Darryl Motley’s team record of 103 that’s stood since the club’s inaugural 1996 campaign.

It’s a two-horse race for the batting crown as Lake Country’s Dom Johnson sits at .376 and Fargo-Moorhead’s Tripp Clark is at .367. Should Johnson’s mark not drop, he would have the highest qualifying average in the AA since Blake Gailen’s record .406 season in 2011 and the sixth-highest in league history.

Milwaukee’s Jhordany Mezquita lost his bid for the first perfect season by a qualified starting pitcher, suffering his first loss last night to fall to 11-1. It’s tough enough to lose that mark in his final start of the season. The odder part? The man who outdueled him was Lincoln’s Graham Edwards, who has the highest qualified ERA in the league.

Sioux City’s Austin Davis already has the AA record of 77 stolen bases. Is 80 bags in sight? The X’s have also stolen 271 bags as a club, which means they’ll likely surpass their own record of 275 set just last season.

Lastly, Lake Country has a team on-base percentage of .399 and slugging of .517. Those would best the all-time team marks set by 2011 Wichita (.388 OBP) and 2022 Kansas City (.505 SLUG) in league history.

The DockHounds already broke the 2022 Monarchs’ old mark of 696 runs scored and have the league’s first-ever 700-run season.

Infamy Lurking in Chicago

The Chicago Dogs have had a terrible end to a terrible year, currently riding a nine-game losing streak into a final series with Gary SouthShore. Sitting at 29-67, a 70-loss season is still doable if they lose three of four.

There have been six 70-loss campaigns in AA history: the two travel teams in 2017 Salina (18-82) and 2021 Houston (17-83), plus the Texas AirHogs in 2015 (29-71), 2018 (25-75), and 2019 (28-72)…and the 2024 Gary SouthShore RailCats (30-70).

Could the RailCats drag down their rivals into the same club of infamy?

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