Category Archives: Coca Cola Park

Noise Nation Podcast HQ

So Kram and I did a little Podcast experiment a little while back. Took me long enough to get it up here but I think it turned out great for our first cast – Kram is the man! We hope to do it again soon and next time I’ll speak into the mic – lol.

Hope you enjoy (at least most) of it and stay tuned for more from the Noise Nation Podcast Network!

Click below for the stream

Or (right click) here to download.

Dishing out loud…

Free Contest Launched at BlueClawsRewards.com

IronPigs GM Kurt Landes recently dropped this tidbit and the whole thing sounds like fun to me!

I’m dreaming of cool prizes like delivering line up cards with Ryno, autographs, even taking over Tim’s announcing job for an inning over the PA or sharing the airwaves with The Voice on the IronPigs Radio Network! Or perhaps it wasn’t a dream at all?!?

Dishing  faceSquareTwit style

The Lehigh Valley IronPigs got their franchise record 4th shut-out in a row Friday night beating the Indianapolis Indians 3-0 to the first sell-out crowd at Coca-Cola Park in 2012.

The Indian’s last six games have been shutouts, and they have been on the short end of five of them.

It has been 40 innings since they last scored; that was in the fourth inning of Monday’s 1-0 win over Norfolk. That also is the lone run the Tribe has scored over the past 53 innings.  “Oy vey!”

Amazingly, Indianapolis (22-19) still leads the West Division by a half-game over Toledo (22-20).

The Pigs are 12-5 in the month of May and an astounding 16-3 in home games! “How do you like all that?”

Click the play button below to hear Matt Provence’s recap.

Stay tuned (hopefully) for a new addition to the Horn & Bell – live from Coca-Cola Park – If it all works out it will be fun.

Shut-out Dishing

Lehigh Valley won 1-0 tonight with strong pitching from Elarton (5-1) and Horst (first Save) resulting in back to back shut-outs all assisted by the first triple play by the IronPigs at Coca-Cola Park.

Kratz to Blanco to Frandsen – Triple Play – “How do you like all that?”

Dishing short and sweet….

I was in the middle of crafting a post about Richie T including the recent article from Matt Gelb of philly.com and words from The Voice Matt Provence last night when I received the sad (but hopefully happy) news that Rich had been traded to the Rays for 25 year old Kyle Hudson.

I say hopefully happy with the belief that Rich will be playing for the Rays and not just assigned to Durham. That would be disappointing and may cause inanimate objects to be destroyed. (no animals were hurt during the publication of this post)

At the beginning of this season Rich was 6th in AAA games played (439), 5th in AB (1569), 5th in Runs (238), 6th in Hits (425), 1st in 3B (24) and certainly first in SB (127) of which he holds 3 of the top 10 single season records including last years season leading 48. He will surely go down as the best and longest tenured player in IronPigs history.

Thing is and it was detailed in Matt Gelb’s article – with Richie T it wasn’t just about the player it was about the man – the family man – the teammate – the friend. What can you say about Richie T? Those that know are well aware of how Rich treated the fans, the kids and his friends and we can be thankful for the pleasure of meeting him.

“In the end, very few people will remember anything I have done as a baseball player. But hopefully they will remember what kind of person and teammate I am.”

One day when my grand kids ask who my favorite baseball player of all time is? My answer will be Rich Thompson, center-fielder for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and the first player inducted into the IronPigs Hall of Fame!

Good Luck Rich! We’ll miss you buddy! Hit ’em hard and run like the wind!

There is no joy in Pigville as the mighty Richie T has left the building…..

Dishing Sadly…

I arrived at the Park early this evening to take in some batting practice in addition to a photo op with my niece’s softball team. It was about the time during pre-game

FeRROUS entertains the Lehigh Township AA softball team.

warm-ups when the players are long tossing and I carefully tread my way behind them down the left field line keeping a watchful eye for any strays.

Phillippe Aumont was leaning along the wall in left by the PPL Picnic Patio. Standing next to him straining my neck looking up I asked how he was feeling. He said “Not good”. I asked if it was his back. He said “Yes”. I mentioned that the fans sure miss the 97 mile per hour fast ball we all hoped he was back soon. He said “Me too”. One could just tell Phillippe was not happy to be sidelined for any reason. At 6’7″ and 255 pounds I surely didn’t want to make the big man angry and wished him a speedy recovery and headed back toward the dugout.

It’s always a pleasure speaking with and listening to the media on hand. From Jeff Schuler to Micheal Lore to Doug Heater and Matt Provence the conversation is always insightful (and entertaining). As you may know the IronPigs (with Domonic Brown hurt) are playing with 22 players out of 25 and certainly need help in the ‘pen quickly. While it is not my desire to publish the rumor mill here, I

Ryne Sandberg

will say that if what was being tossed around comes true – we will all be surely pleased. Some moves are coming they have to be – but who and from where just may surprise all of us.

I caught a few moments with Domonic Brown in the dugout just after warm-ups. After introducing myself and Domonic acknowledging that yes he’s heard the bells, I of course asked him how he was feeling. Domonic said he was feeling fine and it’s just a small strain just above the bend on the back of his leg. He said he’ll take a few days just as a precautionary measure.

For me, Domonic has been a different player than last year when the boo birds were in full flight. He didn’t look happy

Bill Butler expertly lines the field.

then. In fact, it appeared he didn’t want much of anything to do with baseball at one point. It was sad to see the young man with so much potential riding the pine. The subject was discussed often with many fans and friends around the Park. The consenus among most was of course the mental aspect and some were downright (surprisingly) bitter about the whole thing.

Which brings us to 2012 and despite a few mis-cues in the outfield, I’ve noticed something different with Domonic this year. He is hustling on and off the field, smiling in

Domonic Brown

the dug-out, laughing with his team mates, signing autographs for the kids and overall looks like he’s enjoying baseball again. As we talked a little more Domonic brought up that very fact when I mentioned “It seems like something has changed from last year”. He said “You know nothing’s really changed much, I’m just having fun – trying to show the fans another side of me they didn’t get to see before.” I mentioned that he was hitting better than some Philly starters and with a perfect response he said “I’m not even thinking about that – I’m just having fun – working on my game.” You can’t doubt the influence of Ryne Sandberg on the maturation of Domonic Brown.

Following warm-ups D. Brown remained near the dugout while his team mates were dressing in the club house and appeared to be contemplating his next at bat or who to pie during post – not sure. Regardless, he’s having fun! Domonic then made his way to the kids (and a few adults) and signed autographs for nearly every one of them. He then delivered the flowers to the lady’s night recipients. The young man is making progress – progress on his way to successful Big League career – watch and see.

Harry Kalas sculptor Lawrence J. Nowlan and son.

As I was awaiting the softball team’s arrival on the field, a gentleman approached me noticing my camera. As we exchanged cards, he casually mentioned he was Lawrence J. Nowlan the sculptor of the very Harry Kalas statue that appears at Citizen’s Bank Park and as tonight’s give-away. What a great idea it was for him to throw out the first pitch and his young son thoroughly enjoyed his time on the field. Later, I was fortunate to locate Mr. Nowlan (with a little help) and spend a few moments watching the game with him. What a pleasure it was speaking with what may be one of the greatest sculptors of our time and a genuinely nice guy on top of it. He and his family thoroughly enjoyed their evening and had nothing but the highest regard for the IronPigs organization, Coca-Cola Park and the fans.

Despite the frustrating loss, spending the evening with family and friends both new and old is what LHV baseball is all

Kevin Frandsen makes lawn art.

about. From the usher who gave me a bp ball to give to my nephew, to almost putting a launch-a-ball in the big bucket, it doesn’t get much better than IronPigs baseball! Oh and I also discovered a new color – Provence blue!

Click here for the game story and below to hear The Voice.

Pig Out!

“Dishing Daily”

Rich ‘Richie T’ Thompson created an ESPN top-10 virtually by himself today after replacing an injured Domonic Brown (who according to reports is day-today). After a previous 0 hits in 11 tries, Thompson went 2 for 2 with 3 RBIs but the stats don’t tell the whole story***.

Charlotte would begin the scoring in the 4th when Josh Phegley (DH) singled a full-count pitch to right scoring Conor Jackson (3B) who also singled and the ‘Dangerous’ Dan Johnson who was hit with a pitch.

The Knights would get two more in the 5th after a Jose Castro single (2B), Greg Golson would triple and then score on a “soggy dog slobbered tennis ball” throw by Andres Blanco and would lead the IronPigs 4-0 into the seventh.

The kids are always cheering no matter what the score and in the bottom of the 7th, LHV would hear them loud and clear. After just 18 at bats for the IronPigs in the first six innings, Andres Blanco (SS) would lead off with a deep shot off the Rothrock sign for a double. Kevin Frandsen then ripped the first pitch past Conor Jackson to put men at first and third bringing up Pig ‘O the Day,  Richie T who just did everything right today.

***Proving that he deserves more playing time (and perhaps a promotion at some point) Rich legged out a perfect drag bunt that scored Blanco for the ‘Pigs first run and brought Cody Overbeck to the plate.  Then when Overbeck slapped a grounder to second baseman Jose Castro, Thompson in a brilliant base running move, deliberately put himself in a run-down to break up the double-play and keep the inning alive. Hector Luna would then come on to sac fly in the second run for LHV. I can bet ya some Philly Pretzels there are many up in the “big show” who do not have the skills Rich Thompson does. {wink}

The Pigs would score again in the 8th when after a Mitchell lead off walk and with two outs, Andres Blanco would single to right. Kevin Frandsen would then do his best ‘Richie T’ impersonation and single another drag-bunt down the third-base line. ***Up comes the man himself who would promptly take the second pitch from Knight’s reliever Brian Bruney and slam it down the line scoring Mitchell and Blanco and tying the game with a pair of 4’s.

Lehigh Valley got 6 innings out of Dave Bush who gave up 6 hits, 4 earned runs with a walk and 3 strikeouts before yielding to B.J. Rosenberg. B.J. tossed two shut-out innings surrendering 3 hits with a walk and 2 strikeouts. Phillipe Aumont came on in the 9th and struck out the first batter, walked the next, struck out the next batter and proceeded to walk the bases loaded. I noticed Aumont staring in the dugout between pitches as if he was looking for someone to rescue him. Hopefully his back is not still injured and he just had one of the “Aum-outings”. Jake Diekman  replaced Aumont and faced the bases loaded, two outs and Charlotte’s leading hitter, Josh Phegley (.373) at the plate.  Phegley popped the second pitch to center fielder Derrick Mitchell to end the threat in the 9th and ultimately earn Diekman his first AAA win.

In the last chance before all the buses left, Hector Luna drew a walk followed by a wild pitch by Brian Bruney and advanced to second. Mike Fontenot would use yet another bunt to advance Luna to third and Tuffy Gosewisch with two outs in the bottom of the 9th would single to score Luna.  “Pigs FLY!”

A tale of two games

Last night LHV won the game on two, 2 run home-runs. Today they won without anything more than one double, some timely hitting, Richie T, and a bunch of bunts. Whichever method you may prefer both resulted in entertaining games. Hopefully, the ‘Pigs will continue their winning ways tomorrow when Austin Hyatt (2-2, 3.12) gets the nod for the ‘Pigs and Charlie Shirek (3-2, 4.40) for the Knights.

It’s Harry the K bronze statue give-away night – lines begin at 3:30 pm!

Oink On!

Dishing…

Power prevailed propelling the ‘Pigs to victory and what a great night it was for baseball.  Many were happy to enjoy some pleasant weather (for a change)  to go along with some ‘Pig Power’!  Both Erik Kratz and Andres Blanco each ripped two-run homers in the 2nd  that would lift LHV to victory and end their 3 game losing streak .

IronPigs employees are always on top of it! I asked a gentleman at Fan Services a question and he knew the exact answer and delivered it promptly and professionally. It’s small touches like that we sometimes take for granted and we are lucky to be close enough to visit Coca-Cola Park often. I spoke with a couple tonight who travels from Pike County and mentioned they wouldn’t travel anywhere else for a game!

The ‘Pigs will have another shot at a “brunch” game today (10:35 am) and will hopefully fair better then last Wednesday’s trampling by the Bisons 12-1. Righty Dave Bush (2-2, 3.05) takes the hill for Lehigh Valley and the Knights send up lefty Eric Stults (1-0, 1.13).

“Pork Rinds”

– Of the ‘Pigs 87 Runs, 52 have been scored in the first half of the game and 35 in the latter half.
– 6 of the 14 (total) HR have been hit by LHV catchers.
– LHV has scored first in 17 of 25 games and are 9-8 when scoring first and are 5-3 when their opponent scores first.
– Since his 5 run, 1 inning outing at Pawtucket on April 10th, Raul Valdes has given up 8 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, and 17 K for a 0.00 ERA during that span.
– Mike Fontenot is riding a 5 AB hit streak and leads the team in AVG, OBP, SLG, and OPS.

Off to the pix and The Voice – we’ll see you at the Park!

Dan* "Sonny Crockett" Johnson (1B) begins the second with a solo shot to right.
(*yes I know it was Don Johnson)
(Photo courtesy of Cheryl Pursell)

"Holy Kratz!" Erik Kratz answers Johnson with the game winner as he hits a two-run shot to left that scores Fontenot who previously singled.

Rynos like Power!
(Photo courtesy of Cheryl Pursell)

Andres Blanco touches 'em all with another two-run dinger to right following a Kevin Frandsen single.

Mike Fontenot (IS "FontenYES") and now has a 5 at bat hitting streak. That's right he's got a hit in his last 5 at bats (including 3-3 tonight) and is now hitting a blistering .407 in 8 games since joining LHV.

FeRROUS puts the whammy on the Knights who would not score again in this game!

Strong outing for Scott Elarton.
6 IP, 3H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1K
(Photo courtesy of Cheryl Pursell)

Perfect night for Baseball at Coca-Cola Park!

Raul Valdes slays the Knights.
2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4K
(Photo courtesy of Cheryl Pursell)

Jake Diekman saves the ninth after striking out 3 (with 1 HBP).

Click below to hear “The Voice” Matt Provence with the wrap-up.

Go Pigs!

The Dish

No words – just pictures – SMH…

(click any pic to enlarge)

Lehigh Valley IronPigs Yankees

So you’re probably asking yourself… “Has DiPro lost his mind? How is losing good news?”

Believe it or not most of my mind is still intact, but the fact is – it can’t get much worse…

And that my friends is the good news!

There was a bit of bad news tonight when reliever Phillippe Aumont left with was reported by Jeff Schuler at mcall.com as “middle back tightness”. Let’s hope he’s ok and returns soon.

International League Batting Rankings (14 teams)

Only two teams (Louisville and Norfolk) rank below Lehigh Valley in batting average in all of AAA Baseball. By the way, the Toledo Mud Hens are in first place in the IL West, followed by the Clippers of Columbus.Interestingly, the IronPigs have the least walks and also the least K's. 

With all that it can only go up from here!

The Last 10 (3-7)

First, it’s only April for starters. Second, there is no reason to believe that things won’t warm up once the weather does. Third, it’s only April. There is no reason for panic – Manager Sandberg has been keeping the line-up fresh, staying aggressive and preserving the bull-pen.  Finally, did I mention it’s only April?

Off to the pix and Many thanks to Cheryl Pursell for her excellent photographic contributions!

Oldhead rocked the Park and luckily they will be returning!
Friday, May 18 (Performance Time- 5:45-6:30 PM)
Saturday, June 16 (Performance Time- 5:15-6:00 PM)
Friday, July 20 (Performance Time- 5:45-6:30 PM)
Friday, August 10 (Performance Time- 5:45-6:30 PM)
Check 'em out at oldhead.us
(DiPro)

Another fine entertainment choice by the IronPigs - these guys rock - hard!
(DiPro)

Even FeRROUS was rockin'!
(DiPro)

Domonic Brown is ready!
Brown is 3rd in team BA (.266) and 2nd in RBI's (11) and Hits (21).
(DiPro)

Tough night for starter Pat Misch who was credited with the loss.
3 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 1 K.
(DiPro)

Following a Cody Overbeck fly out, Hector Luna is safe at 3rd after ripping a ball off the AmericanBank sign in left center.
(DiPro)

Erik Kratz who had 6 hits in his last 3 games - "cuuuut on and missed" for the 2nd out on a nasty slider away.
(DiPro)

Mike Fontenot grounds this one back to the pitcher stranding Luna at third and ending the second inning threat.
(DiPro)

In the second, The Yankees Steve Pearce slams one off the top of his foot...
(DiPro)

...and that's gotta hurt! Pearce would later leave the game.
(DiPro)

FeRROUS tossing Channel 69 Koozies.
(DiPro)

Derrick Mitchell smacks this one over the left center wall for his second HR of the year in the third inning.
(DiPro)

Jayson Nix brother of Philly outfielder Laynce Nix began the game 0 for his last 12 and finished up 2 for 4 with 2 RBI's including this double that...
(DiPro)

...scored Russo & Cervelli.
(Photo courtesy of Cheryl Pursell)

Kratz had a chance to get Cervelli but he just beat the tag. The Yankees would go on to score 6 in the third as they bat around.
(Photo courtesy of Cheryl Pursell)

B.J. Rosenberg replaces Misch in the fourth.
2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
(Photo courtesy of Cheryl Pursell)

LHV would score 3 in the sixth including Erik Kratz who ran around the plate as the ball gets past catcher Cervelli.
(Photo courtesy of Cheryl Pursell)

Kratzie dives back - SAFE.
(Photo courtesy of Cheryl Pursell)

Brian Sanches comes on in relief the 6th.
2 IP, 1H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K
(Photo courtesy of Cheryl Pursell)

Phillipe Aumont would come on in the 8th and walk the first two batters. He would then...
(Photo courtesy of Cheryl Pursell)

...leave the game with tightness in his back surrendering the hill to Jeremy Horst.
0 IP, 0 Hits, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 K
(DiPro)

Horst would finish up the 8th. Unfortunately, the two walks by Aumont scored. That was the end of the scoring for the Yankees total of 8 vs. the Pigs 4 run effort.
1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
(Photo courtesy of Cheryl Pursell)

Andres Blanco strikes out to end the game and has made the last out in the last two games.
(DiPro)

Click the play button below to hear Matt Provence tell you the rest.

The Dish