American Association SUNDAY Insider: Speaking in terms of "what if?"

 Kevin Luckow

(non member of IBWAA)

What was once a rumor passed between league colleagues, has now been reported by media. The story being the potential move of the Kane County Cougars and Cleburne Railroaders to the Frontier League, soon to be renamed National Association of Professional Baseball. The move would be made for the 2027 season. A real blow to an American Association that has ambitions of expansion. 

To get a real feel for what this would mean to AAPB, let's go all the way back to 2006. In the Fall of 2005, the St. Paul Saints, Sioux Falls Canaries, Sioux City Explorers and Lincoln Saltdogs all departed the Northern League. Philosophical differences between ownerships being cited as a major reason for the defection. But a four team league was not going to cut it. Enter the St. Joe Blacksnakes as a stopgap, a team that likely would not have long term stability but filled an immediate need. 

Enter Texas. The Texas-Louisiana League was winding down. So the five surviving times defected to provide a South Division and introduced inter division play. Texas had a strong strong presence although a spread out presence with Coastal Bend Aviators, Ft. Worth Cats and El Paso Diablos joining the Association along with other geographical outliers like Shreveport Sports and the Pensacola Pelicans. If the American Association was going to have a foothold in the South, it was important for Texas to be a strong market. There was a shakeup in 2008. The Corpus Christi Hooks started up shop running the Aviators out of business. Grand Prairie was the substitute, a more centrally located Texas team. A rival for the Ft. Worth Cats. Enter the Amarillo Sox in 2011, and you had four teams in Texas. The Texas foothold took a beating with the financial demise of the Ft. Worth Cats, the Cats were out of the league for the 2012 but the Laredo Lemurs joined, once again, a spread out South Division, even with Pensacola dropping out as they were to get a new ballpark and an affiliated team. In 2017 with the Texas AirHogs on life support, the Cleburne Railraoders set up shop. The first regional rival for the AirHogs since Ft. Worth left. After stumbing out of the gate the first two years, the Railroaders caught fire and contended for  a playoff spot, the AirHogs had become a landing spot for Chinese players looking to learn the game to play in international competition.  Then COVID happened. The AirHogs were no longer, the Railroaders were geographically isolated in Texas. 

With that sort of isolation, it can be tough to nurture a fan base when you are playing teams that have no regional significance to your team. There were rumors as the years moved on. Waco, another spot just outside of Houston. But nothing materialized, and eventually you heard nothing of them. Frankly, other that the first few years, the Railroaders have had trouble bringing in fans. Ownership has changed hands several times leading to little front office continuity. Nobody for the fans to connect with. As much as they try to tug on Rangers fans heartstrings by bringing in Rafael Palmeiro to play with his son on the Roaders, later bringing in Pete Incaviglia to manage, it didn't resonate with fans. The problem still was they were a small market with no regional rivals playing a sport that is a tough draw in the Texas heat. Seeing as they would be in a similar situation in the Frontier League as an outlier, I don't see a drop in attendance. 

 I want to however state this. Railroaders broadcaster Brad Allred has been a trooper through all of this. If there is a man that bleed Railroader, it's Allred. He has never backed down from his position as the #1 Cleburne Railroader booster. If the fans in Johnson County had the spirit of Brad Allred, La Moderna Field would be packed every night. If the move to the Frontier League goes through, the American Association has lost not just a great broadcaster, but a great ambassador of the Railroaders and the entire league. 

Without the Railroaders, the American Association would not have Texas representation for the first time in league history. Kansas City would become its most southern team. 

Then there is the story of the Kane County Cougars. The Cougars who were a Midwest League regular since 1991, got squeezed out of affiliated baseball. It seemed like a shame. A solid fanbase, a smoothly run organization, all getting cast aside because as a 30 year old ballpark, it lacked the amenities that Major League teams were requiring. The Midwest League's loss was the American Association's gain. After St. Paul left the league after 2020, the league was now without its top drawing team. The Cougars could not replicate what the Saints were drawing, but it was still good enough to be the top drawing team in the league immediately. George Tsamis was drawn to Kane County, but with only a couple of months to put a team together and losing his St. Paul crew, outside of Josh Allen, fulfilling players to be named later from St. Paul, it was a rough first season on the field. The thing that Joe Brand told Rob Pannier and I before that first season is that the entire area converged at Northwestern Medicine Field for weekend games. There was worry initially as Cougar fans were accustomed to seeing prospects on their way up to the Majors. But the Cougar fan base embraced the American Association immediately. They were eventually rewarded as Tsamis built the team around guys that were coming back every year. And in 2024 they won the Miles Wolff Cup, followed by a repeat in 2025. Kane County is one of my favorite spots in the American Association. However, 2027 would signify the third different league the Cougars will have been in since 2019. Will they be as accepting of the Frontier League style of play which would see a drastically changed Cougars roster?

 I made sure to really take it in while I was visiting in August just in case it was a last time. I was there for a Saturday night game. I took a walk around the ballpark. Families gathering to watch a pregame concert beyond right field. Fans decked out in Cubs and White Sox gear with the only common bond being their support for the Cougars. The smooth voice of Jim Leo, a true pro in the public address announcing game. The smells from the concourse of brats with peppers, a Kane County staple. The berms on each side of the field with the stream going through it on the third base side. Solid game promotions with the perky Emcee Kaylee Kowalski getting the crowd involved. Conor Clingen and Colin Rudicil on the call. And you cannot forget Joe Block from previous seasons. It was my comfort travel making the nearly six hour drive to Kane County. If this is indeed it, I'm going to miss everything about the Kane County Cougar baseball experience. 

For the second time im seven years the American Association would be losing its top drawing team.

I thought at one point when the Frontier League was announcing their name change to National Association of Professional Baseball, it was logical that there was going to be some sort of inroads made to merging the leagues. But with this move, we're seeing that the leagues are just as far apart as ever. 

A ten team league next season would put us right back to where we were in 2006, but this time if you're looking for positives, the geographical circle would tighten significantly. I see Kansas City making the move to the East Division, so their travel would be more difficult. 

I would hope that while we're at 10 teams that we would see the end of eight teams making the playoffs. Imagine playing 100 games just to eliminate two teams. It's worse than when the NHL was at 21 teams and 16 made the Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

It would hopefully be just a one year issue with Blaine joining the league in 2028. The hope being that there would be an expansion partner. The alternative would be a travel team. And frankly are any of us in the mood to see another Salina Stockade or Houston Apollos season?

Like I said though, let's wait and see when or IF this becomes official.