Lehigh Valley IronPigs
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| Lehigh Valley IronPigs | ||
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| League | International League | |
| Division | North Division | |
| Year founded | 2006 | |
| Major League affiliation | Philadelphia Phillies | |
| Home ballpark | Coca-Cola Park | |
| Previous home ballparks | Lynx Stadium | |
| City | Allentown, Pennsylvania | |
| Current uniform colors | furnace blue, brick red, steel | |
| Previous uniform colors | black, red | |
| Logo design | A stylized pig head made of iron and the words “IronPigs” riveted together in bold letters. | |
| Division titles | None | |
| League titles | None | |
| Manager | ||
| Owner | Joseph Finley, Craig Stein | |
The Lehigh Valley IronPigs are a new Minor League Baseball team, serving as the AAA affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They will begin playing their home games at Coca-Cola Park, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in April 2008. Currently they are operating as the Ottawa Lynx in Ottawa, Ontario.
The name is a reference to pig iron, used in the manufacturing of steel, for which the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania is world renowned.
[edit] History
The Lehigh Valley has not had a major league-affiliated baseball team since 1960, when the Allentown Red Sox left for Johnstown, Pennsylvania.[1] The Allentown Red Sox played at Breadon Field (later called Max Hess Stadium) from 1958-1960, at the site where the Lehigh Valley Mall currently stands today.[2]
The region was home to a couple of independent baseball teams: the Allentown Ambassadors of the Northeast League and the Lehigh Valley Black Diamonds of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. The Ambassadors played at Bicentennial Park in Allentown until the team was disbanded in 2003. The Black Diamonds moved from Newburgh, New York in 2000 and expected to move into a new ballpark near Easton, until that project ran into some hurdles and ultimately was terminated. During the time the Black Diamonds waited for their new stadium, they played as a traveling team. The team assumed the name of the Pennsylvania Road Warriors when the ballpark was deconstructed and all chances to play in the Lehigh Valley were lost.
Since 2003, Joseph Finley and Craig Stein have been actively pursuing their interest in bringing affilitated baseball to the city of Allentown. Initially, the duo pursued a single-A franchise when the Ottawa Lynx were rumored to be moving to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. When the city of Harrisburg decided not to fund the effort to upgrade Commerce Bank Park to AAA standards, the Baltimore Orioles shifted their interest to Allentown. For the 2007 season, the Phillies, Orioles, Washington Nationals, New York Yankees, and New York Mets all shifted their Minor League affiliates. The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons (now the SWB Yankees) changed their affiliation from the Phillies to the Yankees, the Columbus Clippers from the Yankees to the Nationals, the New Orleans Zephyrs from the Nationals to the Mets, the Norfolk Tides from the Mets to the Orioles, and the Lynx from the Orioles to the Phillies. With declining attendance in Ottawa and its distance from the Mid Atlantic, the Orioles and the Phillies both desired to move the team to Allentown.
In 2008, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs will play their inaugural season at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown. The move of the Phillies AAA affiliate to Allentown has been extremely well received, since the Allentown region is comprised of enthusiastic Phillies fans and because the move to Allentown will permit Phillies players to rehab in Allentown without significant transportation time as compared to Ottawa (Allentown is just 60 miles north of Philadelphia).
The IronPigs will televise all of their home games beginning in 2008, a rarity for a minor league team. Local cable outlet Service Electric TV2 will carry IronPigs games; tbe station reaches nearly one million subscribers, predominantly in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. All 144 IronPigs games will also be covered on local radio.
| Philadelphia Phillies Franchise | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| AAA | AA | A | Rookie |
| Ottawa Lynx | Reading Phillies |
Clearwater Threshers Lakewood BlueClaws Williamsport Crosscutters |
Gulf Coast Phillies VSL Phillies |
