# 2021 American Association season

The 2021 American Association season is the 16th season of professional baseball in the American Association of Professional Baseball (AA) since its creation in October 2005. There are 12 AA teams, split evenly between the North Division and the South Division.

## Season schedule

After the folding of the Texas AirHogs and the loss of the St. Paul Saints to the Minnesota Twins organization, the league added the Kane County Cougars as the 11th member of the AA with the Houston Apollos serving as the 12th team, operating as a road travel team for the season. Additionally, the Kansas City T-Bones rebranded to the Kansas City Monarchs to honor the original negro league team. The league was split up into two divisions, the North and South Division. The season will be played with a 100-game schedule, with two home series and two road series inside a teams’ division, and one home series and one road series against the clubs outside its division. The top three teams in each division will qualify for the 2021 playoffs.

## Regular Season Standings

Current through September 6, 2021.
North Division Regular Season Standings :
| Pos | Team | G | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| 1 | y – Chicago Dogs | 100 | 63 | 37 | .630 | -- |
| 2 | x – Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks | 99 | 61 | 38 | .616 | 1.5 |
| 3 | x – Milwaukee Milkmen | 100 | 59 | 41 | .590 | 4.0 |
| 4 | e – Winnipeg Goldeyes | 99 | 50 | 49 | .505 | 12.5 |
| 5 | e – Kane County Cougars | 99 | 44 | 55 | .444 | 18.5 |
| 6 | e – Gary SouthShore RailCats | 100 | 39 | 61 | .390 | 24.0 |
South Division Regular Season Standings :
| Pos | Team | G | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| 1 | y – Kansas City Monarchs | 100 | 69 | 31 | .690 | -- |
| 2 | x – Cleburne Railroaders | 100 | 54 | 46 | .540 | 15.0 |
| 3 | x –Sioux City Explorers | 99 | 53 | 46 | .535 | 15.5 |
| 4 | e –Lincoln Saltdogs | 100 | 53 | 47 | .530 | 16.0 |
| 5 | e – Sioux Falls Canaries | 100 | 36 | 64 | .360 | 33.0 |
| 6 | e – Houston Apollos | 100 | 17 | 83 | .170 | 52.0 |
* y – Clinched division
* x – Clinched playoff spot
* e – Eliminated from playoff contention

## Statistical leaders

as of September 6, 2021

### Hitting

| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| HR | Adam Brett Walker II | Milwaukee Milkmen | 33 |
| AVG | Manuel Boscan | Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks | 0.344 |
| H | Alay Lago | Cleburne Railroaders | 141 |
| RBIs | Kyle Martin | Winnipeg Goldeyes | 106 |
| SB | Logan Trowbridge | Milwaukee Milkmen | 40 |

### Pitching

| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| W | Myles Smith | Milwaukee Milkmen | 13 |
| ERA | Kyle Kinman | Lincoln Saltdogs | 2.90 |
| SO | Myles Smith | Milwaukee Milkmen | 134 |
| SV | James Pugliese | Lincoln Saltdogs | 25 |

## Playoff bracket

| Wildcard Game | Wildcard Game | Wildcard Game | Division Championship Series best of 5 | Division Championship Series best of 5 | Division Championship Series best of 5 | League Championship Series best of 5 | League Championship Series best of 5 |
| | | | 1 | Chicago Dogs | 2 | | |
| North Division | North Division | North Division | 1 | Chicago Dogs | 2 | | |
| North Division | North Division | North Division | | Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks | 3 | | |
| 2 | Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks | 5 | | Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks | 3 | | |
| 3 | Milwaukee Milkmen | 0 | | | | | |
| 3 | Milwaukee Milkmen | 0 | | | | Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks | 0 |
| | | | | | | Kansas City Monarchs | 3 |
| | | | 1 | Kansas City Monarchs | 3 | | |
| South Division | South Division | South Division | 1 | Kansas City Monarchs | 3 | | |
| South Division | South Division | South Division | | Sioux City Explorers | 0 | | |
| 2 | Cleburne Railroaders | 0 | | Sioux City Explorers | 0 | | |
| 3 | Sioux City Explorers | 4 | | | | | |

## Notable players

Former and/or future Major League Baseball players who played in the American Association in 2021
* Johnny Barbato (Lincoln)
* Cam Booser (Chicago)
* Michael Bowden (Chicago)
* Dean Deetz (Kansas City)
* Brian Ellington (Kansas City)
* Tyler Ferguson (Chicago)
* Johnny Field (Kansas City)
* Nick Franklin (Kansas City/Sioux City)
* Caleb Frare (Sioux Falls)
* Christian Friedrich (Chicago)
* Nick Gardewine (Cleburne)
* Gabriel Guerrero (Kansas City)
* Matt Hall (Kansas City)
* Donnie Hart (Winnipeg)
* Kevin Herget (Fargo-Moorhead)
* David Holmberg (Milwaukee)
* Brian Johnson (Milwaukee)
* Jacob Lindgren (Kansas City)
* Michael Mariot (Cleburne)
* Ozzie Martínez (Cleburne)
* Bud Norris (Winnipeg)
* Paulo Orlando (Kansas City)
* Jacob Rhame (Cleburne)
* Keyvius Sampson (Kansas City)
* Justin Shafer (Kansas City)
* Eric Stout (Kansas City)
* Darnell Sweeney (Kansas City)
* Joey Terdoslavich (Chicago)
* Logan Verrett (Cleburne)
* David Washington (Milwaukee)
* Zack Weiss (Kansas City)
* Vance Worley (Kane County)