Lehigh Valley IronPigs
- Location: Allentown, PA
- League: International League 2008-2019, Triple-A East 2021; International League 2022-
- Affiliation: Philadelphia Phillies
- Stadium: Coca-Cola Park
Team Biography[edit]
The Lehigh Valley IronPigs, of the International League and briefly in Triple-A East, moved to Allentown, PA, from Ottawa, ON, before the 2008 season. The Philadelphia Phillies farmhands play their home games at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, PA.
A year before, in preparation for the move, the Ottawa Lynx had joined the Phillies' farm system. Taking a regional name and a club nickname saluting the steel industry, the IronPigs lost their first 11 games and ended 2008 with Triple-A's worst record - yet won Minor League Operation of the Year. They finally won a game on April 14th, 3-1, over the Richmond Braves. Fittingly for a team that had scored only 16 runs while batting .185, its first win was keyed by pitching when starter Ron Chiavacci threw six scoreless innings.
The 'Pigs began their inaugural season on March 30th by hosting an exhibition game with their parent Phillies. They began their IL season on April 3rd against their eastern Pennsylvania and IL North rival Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees at PNC Field - less than 80 miles away. Since then, the SWB-Yanks changed their nickname to RailRiders and the two teams started competing, based on their season series outcome, for the IronRail Trophy.
IronPig award-winning promotions include a long list of food-based ones that pre-date the current run of those. One well-known promotion was accidental: after a T-shirt typo, they played August 19th, 2019, as the IronPugs.
Allentown affiliated baseball history dates to the 1800s but had ended in 1960. The IronPigs were the first professional baseball team to play in Allentown since the departure of the independent and short-lived Allentown Ambassadors of the Northern League East following the 2002 season, and the first MLB-affiliated team since the 1960 departure of the Double-A Eastern League's Allentown Red Sox.
The 'Pigs play Copa de la Diversión Hispanic engagement campaign games as Coquís de Lehigh Valley (a coquí is a variety of tree frog that is endemic to Puerto Rico).
What is an IronPig?[edit]
"IronPigs" is derived from pig iron, a step in the process of turning iron ore into steel, one of the strongest metal alloys known to earth. The ore is smelted with coke and limestone in a blast furnace, changing into what is called "pig iron" because it is poured into rows of molds that make each resemble a row of iron pigs.
Much of America was built on steel produced in the Lehigh Valley.
Year-by-Year Record[edit]
Related Sites[edit]
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