Local nine just wanna play ball

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This article was published 08/02/2021 (2054 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The American Association is preparing to play ball on May 18. 

The independent baseball league and the Winnipeg Goldeyes released the 2021 season schedule on Monday.

The Goldeyes will play opening day on the road against the Sioux Falls Canaries. The Goldeyes’ home opener is scheduled to take place three days later on May 21 against the Chicago Dogs at Shaw Park.

The AA will return to a 100-game season with the league being split into two divisions. The top two teams from each division, based on regular-season winning percentage, will meet in a best-of-five series. The winners will then advance to play a best-of-five series for the AA championship.

The Goldeyes remain in the North Division and will compete alongside the Chicago Dogs, Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, Gary SouthShore RailCats, Kane County Cougars, and the defending champion Milwaukee Milkmen. Located in Geneva, Ill., a western suburb of Chicago, the Cougars join the American Association after spending the previous 29 seasons in the Class-A Midwest League.

The South Division is comprised of the Cleburne Railroaders, Houston Apollos (travel team), Kansas City Monarchs, Lincoln Saltdogs, Sioux City Explorers, and Sioux Falls Canaries. The Kansas City T-Bones rebranded as the Monarchs, honouring the historic Negro League franchise. 

The Apollos will be made up of all-stars from the independent Pecos League. Their formation was necessitated by the departure of two AA clubs: the St. Paul Saints and Texas AirHogs. The Saints elected to become the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, while the AirHogs ceased operations.

The Goldeyes are scheduled to host all 11 AA opponents at Shaw Park at least once. With the Apollos being a travel team, the Goldeyes have 53 home games on the schedule. If a 14-day quarantine is required for opposing teams, assuming they can even cross the border, the Goldeyes will likely have a repeat of 2020 and be forced to play their home games elsewhere.

“When people come into the country, if they even can get in, and there’s a 14-day quarantine, (playing in Winnipeg) obviously doesn’t happen,” Goldeyes owner Sam Katz told the Free Press last week.

“With some other professional sports teams, they’ve made, shall we say, special considerations and they shortened the quarantine in certain situations, but we’re just gonna have to wait and see what it is and we’re still not at that point where anybody can tell us because we’re still months away.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31