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 four different balls. The primary differences are:
Ball 1: Features a “T” on the north panel; mixed-case cursive league name and south panel.
Ball 2: Features an “S” on the north panel; “Official” is cursive but league name is mixed-case block; south panel is all caps.
Ball 3: Slightly different font for the league name and features a “T” on the north panel.
Ball 4: The same as ball 3 except it features an “S” on the north panel and “A1010” has been added to the south panel.