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Class A Short Season

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Class A Short Season

Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A, Class A-Advanced (created in 1990), and Class A. Teams in Class A Short Season played about 75 to 80 games per season, compared to the 130- to 140-game seasons of most professional baseball minor leagues.

As part of the 2021 reorganization of the minor leagues, Class A Short Season was eliminated along with its two leagues, the New York–Penn League and Northwest League. Nine of the 22 active short-season teams were organized into new leagues at the High-A classification level.

In 1965, the Northern League of Class A started a 66-game season in late June, a departure from the league's previous "full season" schedules of about 120 games. In December 1965, the Northwest League announced that it would play an 85-game schedule starting in late June 1966, limiting teams to no more than two veteran players on their 25-man rosters.

After playing the 1966 season with two short-season leagues, the New York–Penn League also moved to a short-season format, playing an 80-game schedule beginning in late June 1967. The three leagues continued to play short seasons through 1971. In February 1972, the Northern League folded, due to reduced support from both fans and Major League Baseball (MLB) teams, leaving the New York–Penn League and Northwest League as the only two short-season leagues. Both leagues operated annually through 2019.

Class A Short Season was originally the fourth-highest level in the minor leagues; with the addition of Class A-Advanced in 1990, Class A Short Season became fifth in the overall hierarchy:

Before the 2021 season, MLB restructured the minor leagues, temporarily discontinuing the use of historical league names within Minor League Baseball and permanently eliminating Class A Short Season. This effectively contracted Class A from having three levels to two, with Class A-Advanced and full-season Class A continuing on as "High-A" and "Low-A", respectively.

When the classification was ended before the 2021 season, there were two leagues with a total of 22 active teams.

Of the 14 active teams in the New York–Penn League:

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defunct level of competition in Minor League Baseball
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