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Just a few notes on our friends the Reading Phillies.

Noticed they signed a 4 year extension as an affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. That’s really a no brainer. They have been with the Phillies since the 60’s and are tied with one other team for the longest continuous affiliation in pro ball. Could the Reading franchise ever be anything other than the R-Phils?

There is also a lot of hoopla about the $10 million in renovations being made to the field out there too. I cringe every time I look at my memories being demolished. There are plenty of photos coming out.. check out the R-Phil’s facebook page or website and you can see them

I would almost guarantee that stadium renovations were part of the extension deal with the big team as it improves the locker room and training facilities.

They also provided drawings of what it will look like when it’s complete and as they tout themselves as “America’s Classic Ballpark”… I have to ask myself if these changes will take away from that good ole ballpark feel. I think it will, at least for me. Those tunnels may be an inconveniance for those who attend Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia… or those who see more of Coca Cola Park… but I will miss them.

Where else could you be in line next to the home team’s 2nd baseman?

Where else do they still have the classic “Main Gate”?

Where else is the focus completely on baseball and not on concessions or fan comfort?

I guess it won’t be in Reading anymore…

Not to make a hit on our friends out in Reading.. the love is still there… just going to long for the past a little more than I already do.

oink

Good for him!

Cody Ransom did not… well, hahahahahahaahahahaha.

Sorry, I couldn’t resist. It isn’t nice to laugh at someone’s misfortune.

A lot of these guys are working on building a pension and one game in a season at the Major League level makes that pension grow. I’m not 100% on percentages and/or time frames but I do know it is a considerable difference if you reach 6-10 years of service at the highest level.

So when a player is upset about not getting a call up during the season, you can understand that the season (in retirement terms) is a complete waste.

Oink

Not much going on in Ironpig land these days.

I’m going to keep the blog up and running over the winter… will try to post stuff now and then.

If you want to be notified about new posts via email, I believe there is a way to subscribe to the blog, I don’t see it as the blog owner, but if anyone could post a comment on how to subscribe.. the blog will email you each time I post something new.

Otherwise… have a great offseason.

Dan

Noise Nation member Jared had a great idea to create an online record of our favorite memories…

Comment away…

Remember.. memories, not player, team, management discussion. There are other posts for that.

That’s all I really have to say.

Tonight will be Dave Huppert’s last game as manager of the Ironpigs but it could be lasts for a lot of these guys.

Most of the Pig team will not return. There are prospects.. mostly in the bullpen and John Mayberry.. maybe even the rule 5 draft Herndon will be a Pig in 2011 but the one we will miss.. and most likely not see in an Ironpig uniform again will be Andy Tracy.

He’s 36.. was plagued by injuries this year.. and hasn’t gotten his call to the Phillies. My gut feeling is that he won’t be in tonight’s game either.

Last night’s game almost had a story book ending. Bottom of the ninth.. tie game.. the slugger in what could be his last at bat with the team… and he didn’t hit the home run. We’ve had a lot of good memories with Andy… but I think he’s ready to move on.

To distract ourselves from this thought.. enjoy the below video.

The Pigs won in a walk off finish giving a capacity crowd a thrill when Cody Ransom homered to beat the Yankees 2 to 1 tonight!

The bigger news comes via Twitter (Thanks to Dean for letting us know) from a Todd Zolecki tweet.

ToddZolecki – The Phillies have elected not to renew the contract of triple-A manager Dave Huppert.

So Huppert won’t be back… a lot of people have been calling for this and I suppose it is a bitter sweet moment. The question I ask myself is Who’s next?

We all know baseball is a business.. interns come and go.. execs move up and on.. who’s next?

The past two nights the fireworks shows have been better than normal. Accompanying movie skits pre-show led nicely into the fireworks themselves. Last night a Field of Dreams skit featuring James Earl Jones narrative about how timeless baseball is and tonight looked like a scene from the Natural… with a player hitting a fantasy home run to kick off the first explosion in the sky. Good stuff!

I also stayed to watch the kids run the bases. The line was by far the longest of the season. I really like to see the kids enjoy the game.

One particular funny moment was when a lady walking by the Noise Nation during a strikeout… Yelled “FIRE!!!” when she saw the coffee cup start steaming. It took a couple minutes to explain to her it was supposed to be smoking and I don’t think she was thoroughly convinced but did walk away less upset.

Tomorrow is the last game of the season… what to do during the winter?

Well some of us Noise Nation members have decided to work on our own off season fitness program. Feel free to join us. There will be more info to come but have already gotten our favorite professional nutritionist to sign on to help us out. A friend is trying to convince me to do yoga.. I’m still not sure about that though…

To join in on the Noise Nation Weight Loss/Gain Challenge.. follow this link to Facebook and stay tuned to the blog.

http://www.facebook.com/?sk=events#!/event.php?eid=141769079198559

Also look for more volunteer and charity type events and opportunities. We aren’t going into the off season without something good to do!

See you tomorrow!

OinK!

From the Game Notes distributed this afternoon by the Ironpigs:

WITH A WIN TONIGHT, THE PIGS WILL…:
• Record their 100th all-time victory at Coca-Cola Park (entered today with a 99-115 all-time home record).
• Clinch their first-ever, winning season-series against SWB — which defeated LHV, 14-2, in 2009; and 10-6 in 2008.
• Avoid falling to a season-high 30.5 GB — which would be their largest deficit since they ended 2008 at 33.0 GB…
LHV never fell more than 12.5 GB in 2009 — which they were at 6 separate times.

99 win and 115 losses is only 16 games below .500. For a home record.. yeah it’s awful, but as awful as their 3 season records have been.. we have seen the Pigs win almost half their home games. Looking the other direction, we have seen them lose more than half of their home games. From my perspective, I really didn’t think they won that often. A win here and there add up…

Also, I remember a wager between Ironpig GM Kurt Landes and the Scranton WB Yankees GM who, after the final series, had a wager that whoevers team won the season series.. the other team’s GM would serve as batboy for a game in the opposing stadium. The Yankees stomped the Ironpigs in 2008 and 2009 however, this year the Pigs have a 8 games to 6 advantage over Scranton.

So there are two things us Pig Fans can say this season..

“At least we’re not Rochester”

and

“Eat it Scranton Yankees!”

🙂

OinK!

Well I made it to the game tonight. Bowling was ok.

My first game was embarrassing. Ever toss a 110 when everyone else is over 200? I did tonight. Second and third games were better.

Around the 5th frame of the third game my phone went crazy with text messages about Worley being pulled early and the scoop is that he will be in Philly soon, probably to make a start.

I got to the game at the top of the 6th with the Pigs up 4-0. By the bottom of the 6th they were down 4-5. Leave it up to me to bring in the bad luck.

So after all the jinx jokes from friends.. the Pigs did end up losing. The fireworks show has a cute skit with a James Earl Jones impersonator reciting lines from the movie Field of Dreams just prior to the fireworks that was pretty cool. It seems they usually save the best stuff for the end of the season. Also thought the sing along competition was pretty cool. Very active and energetic crowd tonight.

Heading to Pitchers tomorrow for the last pregame radio show there. Starts at 5:00 and you can meet the radio team and win some prizes with trivia. You can also treat me to a $5 pitcher of beer if you’d like.

See you tomorrow..

OinK!

Yeah, I’ve been to just about every home game the Ironpigs have played here in the Lehigh Valley.

In 2008 I missed 3. 2 and a half really. There was a real early make up game for a rain out and I got there about the 6th inning of the first game. My employer requires me to give at least a days notice for time off and I could only get there when I could. (The myth that I am an employee of the Ironpigs is just that.. a myth)

The other two games I missed that year were to meet with John McCain and Sarah Palin. One game each respectively. I have this thing where I want to meet those people who are on the ballot each time voting comes around. Sadly enough, I did not receive an invitation from Barack Obama nor Joe Biden. Their loss. All politics aside, I only missed 2 1/2 games in 2008 and attended every game in 2009 to include exhibitions with the R-Phils and Philadelphia Phillies. Also, a couple “away” games when Scranton’s field was submerged last summer.

So tomorrow will be the first game I miss in close to 3 years. I may not miss all of it. I plan to get there if time allows.

Why you ask? Well, baseball isn’t everything in life. Even a lonely fool like myself has outside interests. My bowling league starts tomorrow and I can’t let my teammates down. I could always play the ole Turf Toe injury and skip out.. but that’s just not me. Bowling should end around 9:00pm and if this week’s trend stays the course, the game should be in about the 3rd or 4th inning by then. So I might not miss all of the game and could easily claim I was in attendance… but I will know.

I will miss the National Anthem, my favorite part of the experience.

I will miss the All Star game of the kid running balls out to the umpires and yelling “Play Ball!”

I will miss the 30 or 40 odd first pitches.

I will miss the pregame footage of David Newhan’s home run ball knocking a K off the old OINK sign.

I will miss giving a wave to the brat and italian sausage stand crew.

I will miss just about everything that happens before the game.

Heck, that turf toe is kinda sore….

Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow, maybe I won’t.

OinK