A few days ago I overheard two old men talking about what I suppose all old men talk about.
“How are the grandkids?”, “eh, spoiled”
“Did that rash clear up?”, “still there”
“How are the IronPigs doing?”, “like the Phillies, they stink”
I chuckled and went on my way. Life has been distracting me from this season but I have been keeping an eye on how the team is doing and tune in to hear Matt Provence’s call of the game often.
The Pigs are right where they need to be. At 42-30 they find themselves just 2 games behind the 2011 Division champs in Pawtucket. While they rode the first place train for a long while last year the Pigs fell in the late weeks of the season before exacting revenge on the Pawsox in the first round playoffs with a sweep as the Wild Card team.
In the past 10 games the Pigs have shown some life winning 7 of the last 10. With the frequent changes to the roster as Phillies go on and come off of the disabled list the energy is there.
Our beloved Pigs are right where they need to be. 2nd place. That’s right, 2nd place. Stay hungry Pigs, stay hungry.
***
In other news, the SWB or Empire State Yankees or the Yankee’s AAA affiliate are getting more than just a stadium makeover. Baseball America is reporting that the Yankees are looking for a new name. Even holding a contest with prize pack for the winner.
My first thought was that the Yankees would pull out of SWB with this move. No idea on their contract status but it seems unlikely as they paid a lot of money into this renovation and may even have bought the team outright. (My memory isn’t doing great these days) Another thought leads me to the attendance at PNC Park. It wasn’t great and being a part of Pennsylvania you do have a lot of lot of Phillies fans up there. The SWB team was a Phillies affiliate for many years prior to the Yankees moving in. Kind of how that area is developing demographically as well… but that’s not something to address in a simple sports blog.
My submission… The SWB Miners. That area was huge in mining as the Lehigh Valley was to Steel. Could lightning strike twice in eastern PA? Another thought I had would be the Planters. (Planters Peanuts got their start in Wilkes Barre)
It’s late and to quote the most interesting man in baseball, “Cheer on Little Piggies.”
noisenation.mlblogs.com 
Coal Crackers?
I like both name ideas, BTW, but those old guys need to get it together. As poor of a season as the Phillies are having (vs expectations) the ‘Pigs are doing just fine. If you’re only paying attention to the home games, you’ve witnessed 26-9 baseball. Just two years ago that was unheard of. And as Dan describes, the ‘Pigs are in a spot to challenge for a playoff run again.
Plus, while we expect a cerain amount of roster turnover, the ‘Pigs are doing it without Luna. Without Galvis, Without Kratz for stretches. Without Brown mostly. Now, without Thompson. Without Mitchell. Sandberg gets these guys ready, and has them playing hard every night.
Good thing I didn’t overhear those old guys. I would have given them what-for. Stink? Go back to 2008 fellas.
Back in my younger days we used to go to Rockne Hall on a Saturday night to see the Allentown Jets play basketball. The old Eastern Basketball League was a great competitive league and every game at Rockne Hall was a virtual sellout. I don’t remember all the teams in the league but I do recall there was a team from Sunbury and a team in Williamsport. There was also the Camden Bullets, the Wilkes-Barre Barons (probably where the Red Barons name came from), and there was the Scranton Miners. One of the star players for Scranton was Jim Boeheim, now coach of Syracuse. If I remember correctly, the Scranton Miners later changed their name to the Apollos.
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The SWB team is owned half by Mandalay, a diversified entertainment company which finances and produces movies and TV in addition to holding a handful of sports teams, mostly in MiLB. The other half is held by the NY Yankees.
They just closed, early this season, the transfer of the franchise to them from the county-run entity that founded the Red Barons and commissioned the stadium, which is what’s held up the start of renovations to PNC Field.