Lehigh Valley IronPigs

MiLB infobox
name = Lehigh Valley IronPigs
founded = 1993
city = Allentown, Pennsylvania
misc =

uniform
class level = Triple-A
past class level=
current league = International League
conference =
division = North Division
past league =
majorleague = Philadelphia Phillies
pastmajorleague =
uniform =
nickname = Lehigh Valley IronPigs (2008-present)
pastnames = Ottawa Lynx (1993-2007)
ballpark = Coca-Cola Park (2008-present)
pastparks = Lynx Stadium
leaguechamps = 1995
divisionchamps = None
misc6 =
owner = Joseph Finley, Craig Stein
manager = Dave Huppert
gm = Kurt Landes

The Lehigh Valley IronPigs is a Minor League Baseball team, serving as the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. The team plays its home games at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Previously, the team operated as the Ottawa Lynx (2007), in Ottawa, Ontario before moving to Allentown. Preceding the Lynx, the Philadelphia Phillies' Triple-A team was known as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons, which existed from 1987-2006, and played their home games at at Lackawanna County Stadium in Moosic, PA. Unhappy with the Lackawanna County, PA, management that owned the franchise, the Phillies decided to move the team to a brand new stadium in Allentown, PA and temporarily entered a one-year Player Development Contract (PDC) with the Ottawa franchise while Coca Cola Park was being constructed. The Ottawa franchise was then moved to the Lehigh Valley in 2008.

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.

History

The Lehigh Valley has not had a Major League-affiliated baseball team since 1960, when the Allentown Red Sox left for Johnstown, Pennsylvania. [cite web|title="Eastern League History"|publisher="Ballpark Digest"|url=http://www.ballparkdigest.com/leagues/eastern_league.htm|accessdate=2007-07-28] The Allentown Red Sox played at Breadon Field (later called Max Hess Stadium) from 1958-1960, at the site where the Lehigh Valley Mall stands today. [cite news|last= Dan|first=Sheehan|coauthors=Jay Hart|url=http://www.sonsofisrael.net/jlv/living/articles/070105.htm|title=Will baseball be very, very good to the Valley with a AAA team?|publisher="The Morning Call"|date=July 1, 2005|accessdate=2007-07-28]

The region was previously home to two 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 2004. The Black Diamonds moved from Newburgh, New York in 1999 and were expected to move into a new ballpark near Easton, but the project never came to completion and ultimately was terminated. While the Black Diamonds waited for their new stadium, they played as a traveling team.

In 2003, Joseph Finley and Craig Stein began actively pursuing their interest in bringing affiliated baseball to Allentown. Initially, the duo pursued a Single-A franchise when the Ottawa Lynx, the AAA affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, were rumored to be moving to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. When the city of Harrisburg did not upgrade Commerce Bank Park to AAA standards, the Baltimore Orioles shifted their interest to Allentown because of its proximity to the Mid-Atlantic. The Phillies also looked into moving their AAA operations to Allentown from the Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre region. For the 2007 season, the Phillies shifted their AAA affiliate to Ottawa, leaving Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre after 18 seasons, while the Orioles affiliated with the Norfolk Tides.

The move of the Phillies' Triple-A affiliate to Allentown has been extremely well-received, since the Phillies have a large fan base in the Allentown area, 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).

Television and radio coverage

The IronPigs franchise broadcasts all 72 of its home games on television, a rarity for a minor league team. Local cable outlet Service Electric TV2 carries IronPigs games; the station reaches nearly one million subscribers, predominantly in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. In addition, TV2 will feed its telecasts to Blue Ridge Cable TV-13. Selected Saturday night home games are telecasted over the air on WFMZ-TV 69, which also carries into the Philadelphia area as well as western New Jersey. All 144 IronPigs games are also covered on local Allentown radio.

2008 season

On Monday, April 14th, 2008 the Lehigh Valley IronPigs broke an 11-game losing streak by defeating the Richmond Braves 3-1 at their new home stadium Coca-Cola Park. This win was both the first home win for the team and also their first win ever as the IronPigs. In July 2008, Phillies ace pitcher Brett Myers was assigned to the IronPigs following several poor outings for the Phillies, becoming the most prominent Phillie yet to play for the IronPigs.

Logos and uniforms

Mascot

On December 1, 2007, the IronPigs selected "PorkChop" as the name of their mascot from 7,300 submitted names. On December 2, 2007, the name was changed to Ferrous, derived from the chemical name for iron, because of complaints from the local Puerto Rican population, who alleged that "Pork Chop" was a racist term. [ [http://www.nbc10.com/sports/14775652/detail.html IronPigs Hear More Complaints In 'PorkChop' Mascot Name Flap - Sports News Story - WCAU | Philadelphia ] ]

eason-by-season records

"* - Current season."

These statistics reflect games played through July 16, 2008.

Current roster

ee also

* History of baseball in Allentown, Pennsylvania

References

External links

* [http://www.ironpigsbaseball.com/ Lehigh Valley IronPigs Official Web Site] .
* [http://www.mcall.com/sports/baseball/ironpigs/ Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs at "The (Allentown) Morning Call"] .
* [http://blogs.mcall.com/ironpigs/ "The Hog Blog," a blog on the Lehigh Valley IronPigs by "The (Allentown) Morning Call"] .