Triple-A (baseball)

Triple-A (or Class AAA) refers to the highest level of play in minor league baseball in the United States and Mexico.

Purpose

Triple-A teams' main purpose is to prepare players for the Major Leagues:^[1]

Winning is nice, but secondary. It's much more important for a young prospect like outfielder Xavier Paul to get regular at-bats against lefties, or work on dropping down sacrifice bunts with a runner on first, than it is to take three of four from the Portland Beavers.^[1]

Both young players and veterans play for Triple-A teams:

There are the young prospects speeding through the organization on the fastest treadmill, the guys who used to be young prospects who are in danger of topping out in Triple-A, the 30-somethings trying to get back to the majors after an injury or a rough patch, and the guys just playing a few more seasons because someone still wants them and they still want to.^[1]

Players at this level who are on the 40-man roster of a major league team can be invited to come up to the major league club once the major league roster expands on September 1 (though teams will usually wait until their affiliates' playoff runs are over, should they qualify). For teams in contention for the post-season, these players create the flexibility needed to rest regular starters in late regular season games. For those not in contention, recalling such players gives them an opportunity to evaluate their future players under game conditions.

Leagues

Teams at this level are divided into three leagues: the International League, the Pacific Coast League, and the MLB-independent Mexican League. Each of the 30 Major League Baseball teams has an affiliation with one Triple-A team in the United States. However, Mexican Triple-A teams are not included in the organized farm team system.

Current teams

See also: List of Triple-A baseball stadiums

International League

Division	Team	Founded²	MLB Affiliation	City	Stadium	Capacity³
North	Buffalo Bisons	1979	New York Mets	Buffalo, New York	Coca-Cola Field1	18,025
	Lehigh Valley IronPigs	2008	Philadelphia Phillies	Allentown, Pennsylvania	Coca-Cola Park	10,000
	Pawtucket Red Sox	1970	Boston Red Sox	Pawtucket, Rhode Island	McCoy Stadium	10,031
	Rochester Red Wings	1899	Minnesota Twins	Rochester, New York	Frontier Field	10,840
	Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees	1989	New York Yankees	Moosic, Pennsylvania	PNC Field	10,310
	Syracuse Chiefs	1961	Washington Nationals	Syracuse, New York	Alliance Bank Stadium	11,071
South	Charlotte Knights	1976	Chicago White Sox	Fort Mill, South Carolina	Knights Stadium	10,002
	Durham Bulls	1912	Tampa Bay Rays	Durham, North Carolina	Durham Bulls Athletic Park	10,000
	Gwinnett Braves	2009	Atlanta Braves	Lawrenceville, Georgia	Coolray Field	10,475
	Norfolk Tides	1961	Baltimore Orioles	Norfolk, Virginia	Harbor Park	12,067
West	Columbus Clippers	1977	Cleveland Indians	Columbus, Ohio	Huntington Park	10,100
	Indianapolis Indians	1902	Pittsburgh Pirates	Indianapolis, Indiana	Victory Field	14,500
	Louisville Bats	1969	Cincinnati Reds	Louisville, Kentucky	Louisville Slugger Field	13,131
	Toledo Mud Hens	1965	Detroit Tigers	Toledo, Ohio	Fifth Third Field	10,300

¹ Hosting the 2012 Triple-A All-Star Game

Pacific Coast League

American Conference
Division	Team	MLB Affiliation	City	Stadium	Capacity
North	Iowa Cubs	Chicago Cubs	Des Moines, Iowa	Principal Park	11,500
	Memphis Redbirds	St. Louis Cardinals	Memphis, Tennessee	AutoZone Park	14,320
	Nashville Sounds	Milwaukee Brewers	Nashville, Tennessee	Herschel Greer Stadium	10,700
	Omaha Storm Chasers	Kansas City Royals	Papillion, Nebraska	Werner Park	9,023
South	Albuquerque Isotopes	Los Angeles Dodgers	Albuquerque, New Mexico	Isotopes Park	12,379
	New Orleans Zephyrs	Miami Marlins	Metairie, Louisiana	Zephyr Field	10,000
	Oklahoma City RedHawks	Houston Astros	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	RedHawks Ballpark	13,066
	Round Rock Express	Texas Rangers	Round Rock, Texas	Dell Diamond	11,000
Pacific Conference
Division	Team	MLB Affiliation	City	Stadium	Capacity
North	Colorado Springs Sky Sox	Colorado Rockies	Colorado Springs, Colorado	Security Service Field	8,500
	Reno Aces	Arizona Diamondbacks	Reno, Nevada	Aces Ballpark	9,100
	Salt Lake Bees	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	Salt Lake City, Utah	Spring Mobile Ballpark	15,500
	Tacoma Rainiers	Seattle Mariners	Tacoma, Washington	Cheney Stadium	9,600
South	Fresno Grizzlies	San Francisco Giants	Fresno, California	Chukchansi Park	12,500
	Las Vegas 51s	Toronto Blue Jays	Las Vegas, Nevada	Cashman Field	9,334
	Sacramento River Cats	Oakland Athletics	West Sacramento, California	Raley Field	14,414
	Tucson Padres	San Diego Padres	Tucson, Arizona	Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium	11,500

Mexican League

Zone	Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
North	Vaqueros Laguna (Laguna Cowboys)	Torreón, Coahuila	Estadio Revolución	12,000
	Diablos Rojos del México (Mexico City Red Devils)	Mexico D.F.	Foro Sol	26,000
	Acereros de Monclova (Monclova Steelers)	Monclova, Coahuila	Estadio De Beisbol Monclova	9,000
	Sultanes de Monterrey (Monterrey Sultans)	Monterrey, Nuevo León	Estadio de Beisbol Monterrey	27,000
	Pericos de Puebla (Puebla Parrots)	Puebla, Puebla	Estadio de Béisbol Hermanos Serdán	12,112
	Broncos de Reynosa (Reynosa Broncos)	Reynosa, Tamaulipas	Estadio Adolfo López Mateos	7,000
	Saraperos de Saltillo (Saltillo Sarape Makers)	Saltillo, Coahuila	Estadio De Beisbol Francisco I. Madero	16,000
South	Piratas de Campeche (Campeche Pirates)	Campeche, Campeche	Estadio Nelson Barrera	6,000
	Petroleros de Minatitlán (Minatitlán Oilers)	Minatitlán, Veracruz	Parque 18 de marzo de 1938	7,500
	Guerreros de Oaxaca (Oaxaca Warriors)	Oaxaca, Oaxaca	Eduardo Vasconcelos Stadium	7,200
	Tigres de Quintana Roo (Quintana Roo Tigers)	Cancún, Quintana Roo	Estadio De Beisbol Beto Avila	9,000
	Olmecas de Tabasco (Tabasco Olmecs)	Villahermosa, Tabasco	Estadio Centenario 27 de Febrero	10,500
	Rojos del Águila de Veracruz (Veracruz Red Eagles)	Veracruz, Veracruz	Estadio Universitario Beto Avila	7,782
	Leones de Yucatán (Yucatan Lions)	Mérida, Yucatán	Estadio De Beisbol Kukulkan	13,600

Triple-A All-Star Game

Main article: Triple-A All-Star Game

The Triple-A All-Star Game is a single game held between the two affiliated Triple-A leagues. Each league fields a team composed of the top stars in their respective leagues as voted on by fans, the media, and club field managers and general managers.

The event has taken place every year since 1988 when the first Triple-A All-Star Game was played in Buffalo, New York. Prior to 1998, a team of American League Triple-A All-Stars faced off against a team of National League Triple-A All-Stars. Traditionally, the game has taken place on the day after the mid-summer Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

Triple-A Championship

Main article: Triple-A Baseball National Championship Game

Since 2006, the annual Triple-A Baseball National Championship Game has been held to serve as a single championship game between the champions of the International League and Pacific Coast League to determine an overall champion of Triple-A baseball. It was originally held annually at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; beginning in 2011, it will be held in a different city every year.^[2][3]

See also

• International League
• Pacific Coast League
• Mexican League

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Shelburne, Ramona (2010-09-01). "John Lindsey waits for his chance". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/columns/story?id=5510887. Retrieved 2010-09-28. 
2. ^ "Bricktown Showdown To Determine Triple-A Baseball Champion." Triple-A Baseball. Press Release. 12 July 2006.
3. ^ "Triple-A championship game renamed." Pacific Coast League. 7 August 2009. Retrieved on 8 August 2009.

External links

• Triple-A Baseball official website
• International League official website
• Pacific Coast League official website