Lehigh Valley IronPigs
We make one of our most anticipated stops: Coca-Cola Park and the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, a Minor League merchandising powerhouse and the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies.
After a nap for Dad and some laundry — after all, this was a three-week trip — we drove from our hotel out to Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, home of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They would be hosting the Syracuse Mets, whose affiliation is right there in the name.
We entered the ballpark through the center-field gate. I dropped Dad off at the team store and walked to the main entrance down the right-field line, an area with wide plazas on both sides of the gates.
Completed in 2008 for the inaugural season of the IronPigs, Coca-Cola Park cost $50.25 million and has a capacity of 10,178, with 8,278 seats. In 2018, Baseball America named it one of the three best ballparks (out of the 160, at the time) in Minor League Baseball.
The Lehigh Valley IronPigs have this Minor League Baseball thing figured out. The name is wonderfully regionally appropriate — derived from Pig Iron, a product of smelting iron ore in a blast furnace that is used in steel-making. The team leans into the pig, as it were, with a strip of bacon on their Saturday hats and a pork-heavy concessions menu. They also have a constantly evolving array of alternate, non-pork identities that pay homage to the region, such as the Hoagies, Scrapple, IronHorses, and Strawberry Pie. This franchise never stops looking for ways to have some fun at the ballpark.
Allentown pro baseball first began in the late 19th century with teams called the Dukes, Peanuts, Colts, Buffaloes, and Kelly’s Killers. Its first Major League affiliation came in 1935 when the Reading Brooks moved to Allentown and signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers. The city’s ballclubs changed names and affiliations frequently over the next 25 years, with six different teams representing Allentown until 1960. Then, professional baseball left town for 37 years, revived for just a few seasons by the independent Allentown Ambassadors and Lehigh Valley Black Diamonds.
Since 2008, when the Ottawa Lynx relocated to Lehigh Valley, it’s been all IronPigs. The club’s acumen with marketing, merchandising, and concessions has literally paid off, with an average attendance of 7,990 in 2023 — tops in all of Minor League Baseball. However, the franchise has yet to win an International League title.
It was time to explore the team store and find my Perfect Hat. For a franchise that has a dozen identities in play at any time, it could have been a time-consuming decision if I had entered the store cold. But I had weighed my options before the trip and went directly for the gray bacon hat.
Lehigh Valley has honored various dog breeds by wearing special jerseys over the years, appearing as the IronPugs, IronWeiners, and IronMutts. In 2023, they dressed up as the Lehigh Valley Corgis and were the butt of many jokes.
About a dozen people threw out the first pitch before the game — a number that begins to stretch the concept of a “first pitch.” Mascots Ferrous and FeFe took to the field during the ceremonies. Ferrous, which means “containing iron,” wears number 26, iron’s atomic number; “Fe” is the symbol used for iron on the periodic table.
Shaun Anderson started the game for Lehigh Valley. A former Major Leaguer with five different teams, Anderson had been signed as a free agent by the Phillies just a week earlier and was making his second appearance for the IronPigs. He served up a one-two-three first inning.
The Iron Pigs were playing as their Copa de la Diversión alternate identity, the Lehigh Valley Coquis. The Copa program is an effort by Minor League Baseball to extend its fanbase to the Hispanic and Latino communities, and the Coqui — one of the largest frog species in Puerto Rico — pays tribute to Allentown’s significant Puerto Rican population.
Throughout the game, the sound operator randomly played the two-toned chirp Coqui males emit while showing off for potential mates.
A double and a single in the bottom of the second put the IronPigs up 1-0. In the third, Venezuelan outfielder Simón Muzziotti ripped a deep fly to right-center field that deflected off the glove of Syracuse right fielder Carlos Cortes, sending Muzziotti to third with a triple. He scored on a sacrifice fly, and the IronPigs extended their lead to 2-0.
It was time to grab some dinner, and I could not have been more excited. The IronPigs go big on their concessions, with a huge number of creative options, especially when it comes to pork. There’s the Pork Racer, an all-beef bacon-wrapped hot dog topped with BBQ pulled pork and candied jalapenos; or the Porker Sandwich, with a huge dollop of pulled pork. You can get a grilled pork belly, candied bacon on a stick, or even the Pork Parfait, with pulled pork, mashed potatoes, and bacon.
And there are many more alternatives outside the ballpark norm: pierogies, walking tacos, gyros, pulled turkey sandwiches, Pennsylvania Dutch turkey BBQ sandwiches, turkey legs, beef brisket waffle bowls, burgers with mac and cheese and bacon, fried ravioli, fried cheese curds, poutine, and fries with cheese and meat options. General Manager Kurt Landes likes to say that the ballpark is the largest restaurant in the Lehigh Valley, and he is not kidding.
Months before our trip, I knew what I would be eating at a Lehigh Valley IronPigs game. I went straight to the Blast Furnace Grill in the right-field corner and ordered the Three Little Pigs Sandwich, the ultimate in porcine bliss: ham, BBQ pulled pork, and bacon on a Kaiser roll. So. Freaking. Good.
Luke Voit led off the top of the fourth for the Mets. The big-swinging first baseman had performed at the Major League level for nine seasons, finishing ninth on the 2020 American League MVP ballot while playing for the New York Yankees. But Voit was now with his fourth Major League organization in two seasons, having made brief stops in San Diego, Washington, and Milwaukee before being signed as a free agent by the New York Mets six weeks earlier.
Shaun Anderson
Luke Voit
Anderson nibbled around the plate against the power-hitter, then served up a 3-1 fastball that Voit hammered over the center-field wall, his 13th bomb of the season. Voit would pick up another hit later in the game but would be released by the Mets just a week later.
Anderson gave up a single and a walk to the next two batters and was pulled from the game. Another single brought one of the Syracuse runners home, and it was tied 2-2.
The skies had changed dramatically in the course of a half-inning, turning from breezy blue to a swirling cauldron of orange and gray. There was no denying it now: Rain was coming.
I walked up to the second level of the ballpark to the club bar and ran into Mark, a season ticket holder who also goes to Reading Fightin Phils games. He had given me food recommendations for both ballparks on Twitter and had stopped by to see us in Reading. Mark agreed that rain was coming soon and returned to his seat to enjoy what he could.
In the hallway near the bar, I found a big display of Lehigh Valley alternate jerseys from the past, showing off the constant flow of creativity coming from this franchise.
Back outside, the sky had turned even more ominous and alive. Thunder roared at regular intervals, and louder each time. I decided to make a trip around the outfield while I still could.
The rain started in the top of the fifth, when IronPigs reliever Braden Zarbnisky took the mound. He gave up two singles and a walk, the rain intensifying with each batter.
I hurried past the massive acoustic guitar and airplane propped up in right-center — advertisements for Martin Guitars and the Allentown International Airport that have little viewports cut into them. I reached the bar in right field and sought shelter in a tight space as the rain started pouring down. It was time to pull the tarp.
Fans moved out of the storm and onto the concourse, shaking off their jackets and finding places to wait out the weather. There is always some shared conviviality in situations like this — when people are forced out of their comfort zones into a common space without being too terribly inconvenienced — especially with brews on tap just steps away.
But as time passed, and a widening ribbon of water formed around the edges of the field, it was clear the game would be postponed, and so it was. The teams would pick things up the next day, with the Mets bringing two of their runners home in the fifth and adding three more in the sixth on their way to a 9-6 victory.
We enjoyed our night but were short-changed by Mother Nature. It wouldn’t be the last time.
