The Lehigh Valley Ironpigs: Bringing Allentown ’s Baseball Heritage Into the 21st Century
Allentown, Pennsylvania much like several other towns and cities of the Eastern Seaboard have had a long and deep history with professional baseball dating back to the formation of the Allentown Dukes, an early professional ball club which played in the Eastern League in 1884.
Unfortunately, the Allentown Dukes only played one season before folding; however, during the 1890s, Allentown saw a several ball clubs come to the city – including the Pennsylvania League, Allentown Colts, which played during the 1892-1893 seasons. By 1894 the Allentown Colts were popularly known as Kelly’s Killers after their popular player-manager Mike “King” Kelly. Late in the 1894 season, Kelly moved the Binghamton (NY) Buffaloes to Allentown and they played the rest of that season as the Allentown Buffaloes – until disbanding after Kelly’s death from pneumonia at 35.
By 1896 the Allentown Peanuts brought Pennsylvania League baseball back to Allentown before disbanding and reforming again in 1898. Of course, by 1898, the Pennsylvania League had folded and the remaining teams formed the Atlantic League – until that league’s eventual collapse in 1900. Allentown went without a professional franchise until 1912 when the Tri-State League brought a club, which yet again folded two years later. But by the 1920s the Allentown Dukes name was revived for a semi-professional club, which played for four seasons at Edgemont Field, a new field completed for the club at Second and Susquehanna Streets. The new Allentown Dukes had some renown when Babe Ruth struck out with the bases loaded in the ninth inning in an 8-7 defeat of the New York Yankees. The success of the semi-professional Dukes led to the start of an Eastern League team with the same name, playing at Allentown ’s Edgemont Field in 1929. And by 1930 Allentown ’s club fielded a League Champion before being renamed the Allentown Buffaloes. Unfortunately, the team and the league collapsed in 1932. But a short three years later, Allentown managed to land its first major league farm club when the Brooklyn Dodgers moved their Reading team to the city, six games within their season. The newly renamed Allentown Brooks much like their predecessors played their home games at Edgemont Field, finishing up the 1936 season before disappearing.
The Boston Braves set up another minor league farm club in the Interstate League, using the Allentown Dukes name. Fairview Field, now known as Earl F. Hunsicker Bicentennial Park was specifically built for the new Allentown Dukes, and in their first season at Fairview Field, the Dukes won their league’s championship. The 1940 season brought a number of changes – the first being that the Interstate League’s status was upgraded from class C to class B, and the Dukes became an affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. The Dukes then changed their name to the Fleetwings. After a number of changing major league affiliations – at one point the Phillies and the Cardinals could claim having a team in Allentown – the Allentown team was renamed yet again to the Allentown Cardinals. When the Interstate League folded in 1952, the Allentown Cardinals managed to join the newly formed Eastern League, winning the league championship in 1955 and then folding. But in 1957, the Syracuse Chiefs moved their franchise to Allentown before being replaced shortly thereafter by a Red Sox affiliate, known as the Allentown Red Sox. The Allentown Red Sox played a couple of seasons at a relatively new stadium in nearby Whitehall Township before leaving in 1960. The stadium was demolished and later became the site of the Lehigh Valley Mall.
Almost forty years later, professional baseball returned with the formation of the Allentown Ambassadors, which played in the Northeast and Northern Leagues until 2003. And like their predecessors – the Dukes, the Fleetwings, the Cardinals and the Chiefs – the Ambassadors played their games at the newly renamed Bicentennial Park until 2003 when they too unfortunately folded.
But by 2008, the Philadelphia Phillies brought a Triple A affiliate to Allentown with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and with the construction of Coca-Cola Park; Allentown hopes to continue their connection with baseball into the next century.
For more information on Allentown, Pennsylvania visit http://www.allentownmicroblog.com. For more information on baseball, visithttp://baseballmicroblogging.com.
About the Author
South Carolina 2010 NCAA Baseball National Champions
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