Watching the Southern Arms Race

A few key movements down south this week with the St. Paul Saints and the Sioux City Explorers. These two teams were big rivals for the 2015 schedule and are looking for another battle in 2016. The Saints lose their third player to the MLB system with the signing of Anthony Phillips to the California Angels of Anaheim, while the Explorers have signed 2015 All-Star Ryan Court for 2016. So far the Saints appear to be losing troops for all the right reasons (Vinny DiFazio, Noah Perio Jr. and Phillips all deserve another shot), but the way players like Court and Michael Lang have been playing for the Xs, they could be getting another look from the majors as well.

2015 American Association All-Star Team

A special wave of Digital Gum, on the heels of yesterday's 2015 All-Star team announcement. Sadly, this is an incomplete set: Outfielder Denis Phipps and the Laredo Lemurs never came through Winnipeg this year. And I struck out on both pitchers...Sioux City's Patrick Johnson and Joplin's Winston Abreu. Abreu did pitch an inning's worth of relief here, but this was pre-blog and I missed him on the mound. Johnson did not start in Winnipeg, but I borrowed a shot from xsbaseball.com for his card; if I can dig up shots of Abreu and Phipps, I'll include them here later.

Sioux City reaches a historic 74 wins

With their 5-2 win over Grand Prairie tonight (Sept. 4), the Sioux City Explorers have reached 74 wins, a new American Association record. (**Post-Script: the Xs ended the season with 75 wins altogether). Here's some of the crew that made it happen:

Ryan Court, Sioux City Explorers

#24 Ryan Court slides home, June 29 at Shaw Park, Winnipeg. Photo by Dan LeMoal