1970 American Association season

BR minors page

The 1970 American Association season was the 63rd in the league's history, and ended with the Omaha Royals winning their second straight league championship. The Royals would go on to lose the Junior World Series.

With the addition of Evansville and Wichita as league members, the league decided to use a two-division format for the first time since 1959. The two division winners then played a best-of-seven series for the league championship.

Final standings

Playoff teams in bold.

East Division	W	L	Pct.	GB	Manager	Affiliation
Omaha Royals	73	65	.529	-	Jack McKeon	Kansas City Royals
Iowa Oaks	70	68	.507	3	Sherm Lollar	Oakland Athletics
Indianapolis Indians	71	69	.507	3	Vern Rapp	Cincinnati Reds
Evansville Triplets	67	71	.486	6	Ralph Rowe	Minnesota Twins

West Division	W	L	Pct.	GB	Manager	Affiliation
Denver Bears	70	69	.504	—	Del Wilber	Washington Senators
Tulsa Oilers	70	70	.500	½	Warren Spahn	St. Louis Cardinals
Oklahoma City 89ers	68	71	.486	2	Hub Kittle	Houston Astros
Wichita Aeros	67	73	.479	3½	Ken Aspromonte	Cleveland Indians

Championship Finals

Denver vs. Omaha Date Away Home September 4 Denver 4 Omaha 6 September 5 Denver 4 Omaha 8 September 6 Denver 4 Omaha 5 September 8 Omaha 3 Denver 8 September 9 Omaha 10 Denver 1 Omaha wins series 4-1 and advances to Junior World Series

League Leaders

Batting

• Batting Average Chris Chambliss, Wichita, .342
• Runs Scored Richie Scheinblum, Wichita, 79
• Hits Luis Meléndez, Tulsa & Scheinblum, 155
• Doubles Meléndez, 34
• Triples Rich Chiles, Oklahoma City, 11
• Home Runs Cotton Nash, Evansville, 33
• Runs Batted In Scheinblum, 84
• Stolen Bases George Spriggs, Omaha, 29

Pitching

• Wins Cisco Carlos, Denver, 13
• Earned Run Average Ross Grimsley, Indianapolis, 2.73
• Complete Games Chris Zachary, Omaha and Tulsa, 16
• Shutouts Milt Wilcox, Indianapolis, 5
• Strikeouts Vida Blue, Iowa, 165
• Saves Art Fowler, Denver; Garland Shifflett, Evansville; Bob Stickels, Iowa, 15

All-Star Team

• First Base Gonzalo Márquez, Iowa
• Second Base Jim Glover, Evansville
• Shortstop Frank Duffy, Indianapolis
• Third Base John Lowenstein, Wichita
• Outfield Luis Meléndez, Tulsa;Richie Scheinblum, Wichita; George Spriggs, Omaha
• Catcher Gene Tenace, Iowa; Ken Suarez, Wichita
• Pitcher Vida Blue, Iowa; Milt Wilcox, Indianapolis
• Manager Jack McKeon, Omaha

References

The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Lloyd Johnson and Miles Wolff, editors. Baseball America, 1993.

1971 Baseball Guide