By J.J. Cooper
November 10, 2005

The American Association has added a 10th team to its fold with the addition of Saint Joseph's, Mo. The team will play at Phil Welch Stadium, a park built in 1939 that holds 3,600 with additional room on a grass berm for another 1,000 fans.

The stadium has been the host for a college summer wood bat team, the Saint Joseph's Saints of the M.I.N.K. League, and is the home of the NCAA Division II Missouri Western State team.

"We are extremely excited to have St. Joseph as a member of the American Association," league commissioner Miles Wolff said in a statement. "This is a city with a great baseball history."

St. Joseph's, which hasn't had minor league baseball since 1954, will play in the American Association's Northern Division, joining Lincoln, St. Paul, Sioux City and Sioux Falls. Another five teams are in the league's Southern Division, composed of former Central League clubs: Coastal Bend, El Paso, Fort Worth, Pensacola and Shreveport.

Also, the Nashua Pride announced that it is switching from the Atlantic League to the Can-Am League for the 2006 season. The move eliminated the Can-Am League's travel team, the Grays, but also means that the Atlantic League will probably dust off its Road Warriors uniforms. The league disbanded its travel team in 2005 when Lancaster joined the league, but with Nashua's departure, the league already has made a new schedule with a traveling team.

Geographically and in market size, Nashua, located in New Hampshire, makes more sense in the Can-Am League. The team will have several rivals within an hour drive, while Nashua's average attendance (1,270 fans per game), means that it fits better with the Can-Am League's lower salary cap and shorter schedule.