AA St. Paul Saints

20th Season of Saints Baseball Begins at Home on May 17

Published on November 30, 2011 under American Association (AA)
St. Paul Saints News Release


ST. PAUL, MN (November 30, 2011) - When the St. Paul Saints began their first professional season in 1993 there were six teams, one division and they had a 72 game schedule. As the Saints enter season number 20 the league has expanded to 13 teams, with three divisions, 100 games and a little twist in 2012, interleague play.

The Saints 20th Anniversary season kicks off with a four game homestand beginning on Thursday, May 17 at 7:05 p.m. against the Gary SouthShore Railcats, the team they beat out for the wild card spot on the final day of the 2011 season. The Saints will play a 100 game schedule, 50 at Midway Stadium, with the season concluding on Monday, September 3. The Saints close the season with a three game series at home against the Wichita Wingnuts.

For the second consecutive season the American Association will have a revamped look. Two teams are no longer in the league, the Fort Worth Cats and Shreveport-Bossier Captains. The Captains players, however, will be assigned to the new team in the league, the Laredo (TX) Lemurs, giving the American Association a 13-team league. Along with the Lemurs the American Association will add interleague play with five teams from the Can-Am League: New Jersey Jackals, Worcester (MA) Tornadoes, Rockland (NY) Boulders, Newark (NJ) Bears and Quebec (QC, CA) les Capitales. Five American Association teams will play 10 road games against Can-Am League teams, with the Saints being one of those clubs. They will embark on a 10 game trip, visiting three Can-Am League teams, from May 29-June 7. The Saints will also host les Capitales from July 27-29 and the Boulders from August 20-22. While all the games against the Can-Am League teams will count in the standings, the leagues will hold separate playoffs.

The American Association will remain a three division league, North, Central and South. The Saints will remain in the North with the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, Sioux Falls (SD) Fighting Pheasants and Winnipeg Goldeyes. The Central Division consists of the Gary SouthShore (IN) Railcats, Kansas City (KS) T-Bones, Lincoln (NE) Saltdogs, Sioux City (IA) Explorers, Wichita (KS) Wingnuts. The South Division will have the Amarillo (TX) Sox, El Paso (TX) Diablos, Grand Prairie (TX) AirHogs and Laredo (TX) Lemurs. For the second consecutive year the season will be a continuous schedule, with no halves, and the playoffs will consist of the three division winners and a wild card team, which is the club with the best overall record among the non-division winners.

Saints home games will begin at 7:05 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 1:05 p.m. on Sunday with a handful of exceptions. The Sunday, May 20 game will begin at 1:05 p.m., Sunday, May 27 is 3:05 p.m., a 1:05 p.m. start on Wednesday, June 13, Wednesday, July 4 is a 3:05 p.m. start, Wednesday, July 18 begins at 1:05 p.m., a 12:05 p.m. start time for Wednesday, August 14 and the final day of the season, Memorial Day, Monday, September 3 will begin at 1:05 p.m.

The Saints home schedule is heavily loaded in the second half of the season playing just 16 home games from May 17-July 2, with 34 home games over the final 61 days of the season. The Saints will play seven home games in May, nine in June, 16 in July, 15 in August and three in September.

A rematch of the 2011 American Association Championship Series will take place between the Saints and AirHogs at Midway Stadium from July 16-18. The heated rivalry between the Saints and Goldeyes will take place only once at Midway Stadium from August 24-27, but fans will have a chance to check out their other rival, the RedHawks, twice from June 11-13 and July 30-August 2.

The Saints will draw their 5,000,000th fan on opening day needing just 957 people to enter the gate to reach the mark.

Group and specialty seating tickets will officially go on sale on Monday, December 12 at 9:00 a.m. by calling 651-644-6659. Individual game tickets will go on sale in March. For more information, visit saintsbaseball.com.

The entire 2012 schedule is below:

May July

17-20 vs. Gary SouthShore Railcats 1 @ Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks

22-24 @ Sioux Falls Fighting Pheasants 3-6 vs. Lincoln Saltdogs

25-27 vs. Sioux City Explorers 7-10 vs. Sioux City Explorers

29-31 @ Can-Am Teams* 12-15 @ Winnipeg Goldeyes

16-18 vs. Grand Prairie AirHogs

20-23 @ Sioux City Explorers

June 24-26 @ Kansas City T-Bones

1-7 @ Can-AM Teams* 27-29 vs. Quebec les Capitales

8-10 vs. Sioux Falls Fighting Pheasants 30-31 vs. Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks

11-13 vs. Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks

15-17 @ Sioux Falls Fighting Pheasants August

18-20 @ Lincoln Saltdogs 1-2 vs. Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks

22-24 vs. Sioux Falls Fighting Pheasants 3-6 @ Gary SouthShore Railcats

26-28 @ Wichita Wingnuts 7-9 @ Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks

29-30 @ Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks 10-12 vs. Amarillo Sox 13-15 vs. Gary SouthShore Railcats

17-19 @ Winnipeg Goldeyes

20-22 vs. Rockford Boulders 24-27 vs. Winnipeg Goldeyes

28-31 @ Gary SouthShore Railcats

September

1-3 vs. Wichita Wingnuts

*Destination for the Can-Am League roadtrip along with length of each series will be decided between December 5-9

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