Just checking in at the Ironpig’s website I was a little shocked to see.. well, what I saw.
I first thought I had missed the link on my favorites and ended up on the Minor league baseball homepage and I went back, clicked again.. and found myself at this page. I noticed a few familiar names and photos and then reality set in.
I had heard rumors of this happening and it finally came to be. Minor League baseball has assimilated the Ironpig’s website. The new look is as generic as any other minor league team site now and has a few differences… some good and some I could do without.
Added are news links, Phillies updates and a nice new format. The page is also heavy in Phillies red, which moves away significantly from the standard Ironpig blue that has been used for the past 3 years. The page appears more organized and has a better “official” feel to it.
The parts I could do without are the generic, national ads. The first ads I saw were for an auto insurance company and the ever so present, “Check your credit score for a fee.. I mean for free” links. The longstanding and stalwart local supporters of the team have been relegated to a small, merged, icon in the lower right corner of the page. Doesn’t seem right for the sponsors who have continued to provide the cash for us to enjoy ourselves so greatly here in the Lehigh Valley.
The page does not skimp on references to the MiLB website and links though. Also, multiple notes to check out social media sites are found throughout. (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
Altogether, it’s ok. I guess. I liked the feel good down home feel of the old page. Seems like the league has poked its collective finger into this pocket. Nothing the organization could have prevented but just another portion of individuality the team has, has found its way into the realm of “the greater good.”
View the Ironpig’s new website here.
I created a poll to hear what you have to say.. feel free to comment:
Also, check out the staff photographs. To get there choose Roster then Staff. Click on an employee name for an “image”
Now this is downright creepy.. LOL
OinK!
noisenation.mlblogs.com 
Check out Provence’s photo. He is winking at me ; )
Why do the IronPigs feel the need to F— with everything, all the time?
Who really wants to be like everyone else all the time except a drone?
What an f—ing turnoff.
PS — For all the Apologists out there – the IronPigs ‘new’ mascot uniforms STILL look stupid and WILL continue to do so…
Well, I do admit to being a card-carrying IronPigs apologist; however, I do not agree with everything they do (quiet fireworks, how they handle unruly fans, giraffe pigs, etc.). Here’s the thing: this one was out of their control. It was mandated by MiLB.
I met with some folks in the front office last year. They were VERY happy that they did not have to change to this design LAST year. I believe they got a 1-year extension because of advertising contracts that had already been written for ad space and the associated All Star stuff.
I think the “ironpigs” (read: management) would rather have the old site back with more space to sell ads. Of course, they’re going to spin it as “launch a new website.” What would you have them do, “sorry, it sucks now. we know.”? They’re going to make LESS money.
So, they’ll have to start selling the free giveaways. 😉
I stopped by to visit the park today and heard that FeFe indeed has had another make over. She was hiding in the offices and wouldn’t reveal herself to me, she must be shy in this cold weather. Perhaps she will be ready at Ferrous and FeFe’s Christmas Breakfast tomorrow… 🙂
They already removed the link to the staff images…probably a smart move, though on the old site it gave not only a brief biography but a real photo, so one could put a face to the name. If you’re a facebook fan they sent out a notice of the new webpage and ask for comments there….I too disagree with the banner ads on the page and giving the 8 long standing supporters the bottom right 1″x3″ corner. They sold out to MiLB by giving them control of the site.
my mistake…the links are still there…I must not have had my cursor on it…sorry.
NEW WEBSITE IS AS BAD AS SCRANTON STADIUM–IT SUCKS———————our website was awesome, but money, money, money, lee, lee, lee
Hey Dan…
I sent you an email with a source… I’m not sure if you know but you may have… Cody Ransom to the D’backs.
http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/NickPiecoro/108212
The new site is so overloaded with multimedia, widgets, ads and other stuff that, on my not too out of date computer, if I roll the wheel on my mouse to scroll to the bottom of the page, it takes almost 5 seconds of jerky scrolling to get there.
Where’s the link to the description of what an IronPig is? People still ask me where the name came from.
It’s too cold and corporate for me. Thumbs down from me.
I was ambivalent until I saw the staff pictures. They swung my opinion to a firm negative. LOL When I visited the website, I did find an interesting link regarding the upcoming move of the AA Carolina Mudcats to Pensacola and the accompanying move of the A level Kingston team to the current Carolina stadium. Franchises in this business can be as transient as players. The Mudcats were a long time Carolina tradition and in fact were one of the early teams to develop a cleverly memorable team logo. It appears that a Mudcats team will be recreated at the A level. Kingston also has a long tradition of minor league baseball but no new team is yet committed to play there. We are very lucky in the LV and Reading to have Craig Stein etal as owners. Let’s just hope that the stability of both of our franchises remains for many years to come.
We really are lucky. I’m going to tour the Reading stadium tomorrow morning, stay tuned for photos. On a personal note, I was stationed in North Carolina while in the Marine Corps and a few times each summer the morale, welfare and recreation officer would run trips to Kinston for games. It’s a nice little town. I never got to attend a game, luck of the draw on guard duty never fails, but occasionally I think back to that place. Good memories.
Boy, am I glad I picked up the PDF schedule from the old site before this happened!!
I wonder what InfinityProSports (former website host) have to say about this. I’ve gone to their contact page (http://www.infinityprosports.com/contact/) and asked what, if anything, MiLB/MLBAM have said to them about transferring info from old site to new. I’ll bet they don’t say anything just to me, but if a bunch of us let them know, then they will…