1983 American Association season

From BR Bullpen

The 1983 American Association season was the 76th in the league's history, and ended with the Denver Bears winning their second league championship in three years. The Bears would go on to finish third in the Triple-A World Series.

Also, the Louisville Redbirds became the first minor-league team to draw one million fans in total attendance.

This was the final season for the Evansville Triplets.

1 Final standings
2 Playoffs
- 2.1 First Round
- 2.2 Championship Finals
3 League Leaders
- 3.1 Batting
- 3.2 Pitching
4 All-Star Team
5 References
6 External Links

[edit] Final standings

Playoff teams in bold.

East Division	W	L	Pct.	GB	Manager	Affiliation
Louisville Redbirds	78	57	.571	-	Jim Fregosi	St. Louis Cardinals
Iowa Cubs	71	65	.522	7½	Jim Napier	Chicago Cubs
Indianapolis Indians	64	72	.471	14½	Roy Hartsfield	Cincinnati Reds
Evansville Triplets	61	75	.449	17½	Gordon Mackenzie	Detroit Tigers

West Division	W	L	Pct.	GB	Manager	Affiliation
Denver Bears	73	61	.545	-	Jim Mahoney	Chicago White Sox
Oklahoma City 89ers	66	69	.489	7½	Tom Burgess	Texas Rangers
Wichita Aeros	65	71	.478	9	Felipe Alou	Montreal Expos
Omaha Royals	64	72	.471	10	Joe Sparks	Kansas City Royals

[edit] Playoffs

First Round			Championship Finals

E1	Louisville Redbirds	3
W2	Oklahoma City 89ers	2
			E1	Louisville Redbirds	0
			W1	Denver Bears	4
W1	Denver Bears	3
E2	Iowa Cubs	1

[edit] First Round

Louisville vs. Oklahoma City
Date	Away	Home
September 2	Oklahoma City 3	Louisville 2
September 3	Oklahoma City 1	Louisville 2
September 4	Louisville 6	Oklahoma City 8
September 5	Louisville 16	Oklahoma City 2
September 6	Louisville 4	Oklahoma City 2
Louisville wins series 3-2

Denver vs. Iowa
Date	Away	Home
September 2	Iowa 15	Denver 2
September 3	Iowa 11	Denver 12
	11 innings
September 4	Denver 9	Iowa 5
September 5	Denver 5	Iowa 3
Denver wins series 3-1

[edit] Championship Finals

Louisville vs. Denver
Date	Away	Home
September 7	Denver 1	Louisville 0
September 8	Denver 9	Louisville 5
September 9	Denver 9	Louisville 4
September 10	Louisville 2	Denver 3
Denver wins series 4-0 and
advances to Triple-A World Series

[edit] League Leaders

[edit] Batting

Batting Average LaVel Freeman, Denver, .318
Runs Scored Billy Moore, Indianapolis, 88
Hits Luis de los Santos, Omaha, 164
Doubles Moore, 34
Triples Billy Bates, Denver, 12
Home Runs Van Snider, Nashville, 23
Runs Batted In De los Santos; German Rivera, Denver, 87
Stolen Bases Lenny Harris, Nashville, 45

[edit] Pitching

Wins Dave Johnson, Buffalo, 15
Earned Run Average Dorn Taylor, Buffalo, 2.14
Complete Games Johnson, 9
Shutouts Jeff Peterek, Denver, 3
Strikeouts Norm Charlton, Nashville, 161
Saves Drew Hall, Iowa, 19

[edit] All-Star Team

First Base Luis de los Santos, Omaha
Second Base Johnny Paredes, Indianapolis
Shortstop Felix Fermin, Buffalo
Third Base Tom O'Malley, Oklahoma City
Outfield Billy Moore, Indianapolis; Rolando Roomes, Iowa; Van Snider, Nashville
Catcher Bill Bathe, Iowa
Right-Handed Pitcher Dorn Taylor, Buffalo
Left-Handed Pitcher Norm Charlton, Nashville