New-Look Schedule for American Assn. Baseball Season

The American Assn. has announced a new-look baseball schedule for the 1985 season due to the addition of franchises in Nashville, Tenn., and Buffalo, N.Y., and the return of divisional play. In the schedule for the new season starting April 17, each team will play 142 games under the divisional setup which places Denver, Oklahoma City, Omaha and Iowa in the West and Buffalo, Indianapolis, Louisville and Nashville in the East. The addition of Nashville and Buffalo bring two high-powered minor league franchises into the Triple-A league. As a member of the Southern league, the Nashville Sounds were the top drawing Double A club in the nation, exceeding the 500,000 mark for five straight seasons (1979-1983). The Double A Buffalo Bisons led the Eastern League in attendance the last two seasons. American Assn. clubs already hold two minor league attendance records--the Denver Bears drew 65,000 on July 2, 1982 to set a single-game mark, while the Louisville Redbirds attracted 1,052,438 in 1983.