American Association

The American Association was founded in 1902 as an independent league, then was established as a Class A minor league with the formation of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (MiLB).

The league became Class AAA in 1946; went inactive from 1962 – 1969; and then was one of three Triple-A leagues until its teams were folded into the International League and the Pacific Coast League in 1998.

The “American Association” name was dusted off for an independent league by noted minor league executive Miles Wolff in 2006. You can see those baseballs here.

George Trautman 1936 – 1945

Frank C. Lane 1947-1948

Frank C. Lane was prez for just two seasons, and yet here are three different balls. The primary differences (aside from the fact that all three use a different font for the league stamp on the front panel) are found on the south panels: on the 1947 ball, the south panel stamp is exactly the same as the 1940s Trautman ball above; the stamping on the second ball contains the same info but is now in all caps; finally the third ball has the model number, A1010, added.