1980 American Association season

BR minors page

The 1980 American Association season was the 73rd in the league's history, and ended with the Springfield Redbirds winning their first league championship.

The Redbirds upset the Denver Bears, who had won the most games in the AA since the 1959 Louisville Colonels, in the championship series.

Final standings

Playoff teams in bold.

East Division	W	L	Pct.	GB	Manager	Affiliation
Springfield Redbirds	75	61	.551	--	Hal Lanier	St. Louis Cardinals
Evansville Triplets	61	74	.452	13½	Jim Leyland	Detroit Tigers
Iowa Oaks	59	77	.434	16	Pete Ward	Chicago White Sox
Indianapolis Indians	58	77	.430	16½	Jim Beauchamp	Cincinnati Reds

West Division	W	L	Pct.	GB	Manager	Affiliation
Denver Bears	92	44	.676	--	Billy Gardner	Montreal Expos
Oklahoma City 89ers	70	65	.519	21½	Jim Snyder	Philadelphia Phillies
Omaha Royals	66	70	.485	26	Joe Sparks	Kansas City Royals
Wichita Aeros	61	74	.452	30½	Jack Hiatt	Chicago Cubs

Championship Finals

Denver vs. Springfield Date Away Home August 30 Springfield 7 Denver 2 August 31 Springfield 4 Denver 3 September 1 Springfield 6 Denver 9 September 3 Denver 3 Springfield 4 September 4 Denver 1 Springfield 4 Springfield wins series 4-1

League Leaders

Batting

• Batting Average Tim Raines Sr., Denver, .354
• Runs Scored Randy Bass, Denver, 106
• Hits Manny Castillo, Omaha, 173
• Doubles Tim Ireland, Omaha, 37
• Triples Elijah Bonaparte; Castillo; Raines, 11
• Home Runs Bass, 37
• Runs Batted In Bass, 143
• Stolen Bases Raines, 77

Pitching

• Wins Steve Ratzer, Denver, 15
• Earned Run Average Al Olmsted, Springfield, 2.77
• Complete Games Olmsted; Len Strelitz, Springfield, 8
• Shutouts Four tied with 3
• Strikeouts Bruce Berenyi, Indianapolis, 121
• Saves Geoff Combe, Indianapolis, 23

All-Star Team

• First Base Ken Phelps, Omaha
• Second Base Tim Raines Sr., Denver
• Shortstop Jerry Manuel, Denver
• Third Base Tim Wallach, Denver
• Outfield Dan Briggs, Denver; Art Gardner, Denver; Orlando Gonzalez, Oklahoma City; Paul Householder, Indianapolis
• Catcher Glenn Borgmann, Iowa; Don McCormack, Oklahoma City
• Utility Tim Ireland, Omaha
• Designated Hitter Randy Bass, Denver
• Pitcher Al Olmsted, Springfield; Steve Ratzer, Denver
• Manager Billy Gardner, Denver

References

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

1981 Baseball Guide

External Links

1980 AA - The Baseball Cube

1980 Denver Bears tribute – Minor League Baseball official site