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With the Lehigh Valley hosting the 2010 AAA All Star game between the Pacific Coast League and International League I thought it would benefit us all to look at details of the game.

The first AAA All Star game was held in Buffalo, NY in 1988.

The original format was American League affiliate players vs. National League affiliate players. (At the time there were 3 Triple A leagues. When the American Association folded after the 2007 season it became a head to head match between leagues)

The League who wins the All Star game gets home field advantage at the single game Triple A – National Championship game that showcases both League’s respective champions in one game to determine the overall AAA champion.

The Home team is determined by the stadium chosen. This year the International League will be considered at Home as the game with be played at Coca Cola Park.. home to our Ironpigs.

Each team is selected as voted on by fans, the media, team managers and general managers. (I haven’t seen the voting website yet, but will post as soon as I do. Last year there were 4 or 5 options for each position and a field for write ins)

• 1988–1997: American League vs. National League (Attendance)
  • 1988 – Buffalo, NY (19,500)
  • 1989 – Columbus, OH (14,131)
  • 1990 – Las Vegas, NV (10,323)
  • 1991 – Louisville, KY (20,725)
  • 1992 – Richmond, VA (12,186)
  • 1993 – Albuquerque, NM (10,541)
  • 1994 – Nashville, TN (11,601)
  • 1995 – Moosic, PA (10,965)
  • 1996 – Salt Lake City, UT (15,500)
  • 1997 – Des Moines, IA

  (11,183)

• 1998–present: International League vs. Pacific Coast League
  • 1998 – Norfolk, VA (11,049)
  • 1999 – Metairie, LA (8,895)
  • 2000 – Rochester, NY (12,810)
  • 2001 – Indianapolis, IN (15,868)
  • 2002 – Oklahoma City, OK (11,343)
  • 2003 – Memphis, TN (15,214)
  • 2004 – Pawtucket, RI (11,192)
  • 2005 – Sacramento, CA (14,414)
  • 2006 – Toledo, OH (11,300)
  • 2007 – Albuquerque, NM (12,367)
  • 2008 – Louisville, KY (13,131)
  • 2009 – Portland, OR

  (16,637)

American League vs. National League Results 88-97
1988 – AL 2 – NL 1
1989 – AL 3 – NL 8
1990 – AL 6 – NL 8
1991 – AL 5 – NL 6
1992 – AL 2 – NL 1
1993 – AL 3 – NL 14
1994 – AL 5 – NL 8
1995 – AL 9 – NL 0
1996 – AL 1 – NL 2
1997 – AL 5 – NL 3

International League vs. Pacific Coast League 1998 – Present
1998 – IL 8 – PCL 4
1999 – IL 5 – PCL 9
2000 – IL 2 – PCL 8
2001 – IL 5 – PCL 9
2002 – IL 0 – PCL 5
2003 – IL 13 – PCL 9
2004 – IL 4 – PCL 3
2005 – IL 5 – PCL 11
2006 – IL 6 – PCL 0
2007 – IL 7 – PCL 5
2008 – IL 5 – PCL 6
2009 – IL 6 – PCL 5

The current IL/PCL series is tied at 6 wins each.

Ok, we got all the stats and history out of the way. Let’s look at the teams themselves. Granted, each team will most likely have at least one representative. That’s just respect to the organization and marketing. No players on the team means less viewing of the game on hometown TV’s and less viewers equal less advertising.

The fans, managers, general managers and media all get votes. Who do we pick? Well, to me an All Star is the best player at that position up to the All Star game date. Voting in popular players because of past performance is not my idea of accurate selections. If someone plays well enough, regardless of past performance or future potential, they should make the team. Of course, there are folks who have a point when they say, at the AAA level, they want to see future stars and prospects out there. Being in the international league, us Pig fans don’t get the chance to see pacific coast league players often and to see their top prospects would be a treat. However, and this is where my opinion comes in.. it’s an All star game, not a Futures or Top Prospects game. Those do sound like a good idea though! So if a 35 year old AAAA level player hits .375 with 15 homeruns to make the squad… good for them. I would also like to see prospects but this is All Star time. I feel the same way about the MLB Hall of Fame. It’s not the Hall of Honor.. it’s a hall of fame. That’s a whole different topic but if you need ammunition, just compare someone like Ty Cobb to anyone else who has ever played the game and you will see that honor was not included in the initial criteria to be registered as a Hall of Famer.

Anyways, read this, enjoy… hope to see you at CCP on July 14th!

Luck finally fell the Ironpigs way as the defeated the Charlotte Knights 6 to 5 at Knight’s Stadium. The Pigs loaded the bases in the 9th with a walk, hit by pitch and a hard single off the backend of Knight’s pitcher Ryan Braun. John Mayberry came up and drove a ball well over the left field wall for a grand slam giving the Pigs their first lead of the night and with that lead Scott Mathieson closed the game out for his 2nd win of the season.

Good’s
Cody Ransom homered again. He also committed no errors and made it through the entire game. He leads the Pigs with 8 HR this season.

DeWayne Wise was hitting the ball hard tonight going 3 for 5 with 2 doubles.

Rich Thompson continues to show us why he should be in the All Star game here at CCP later this summer. Rich went 2 for 4 keeping his average at .350 even.

John Mayberry came through in the clutch (finally) and hit a go ahead grand slam in the top of the ninth with the Pigs down by 3 runs.

The Pig’s bullpen came through and tossed 6.1 scoreless innings

Not so Good’s
Ryan Vogelsong gave up 5 earned runs on 4 hits in 2.2 innings. He walked 3 and struck out 4 allowing 3 home runs.

Brian Bocock went 0 for 2 with a walk and 1 RBI. He is now hitting .150. Any bets on how soon he goes sub .100?

Side Notes:
Dane Sardinha was pulled from the lineup today. With an injury to Carlos Ruiz this afternoon in Colorado, it leaves Paul Hoover as the only catcher on the Phillies roster. Emergency catcher is rumored to be Jason Werth.

Wilson Valdez, who is playing with the Phillies in place of the injured Jimmy Rollins took a lot of blame in the Phillies loss today. Hopefully he can shake off the aggravation and continue to play well.

Everyone roots for an underdog. Especially when their team isn’t the opposing team and the opponent a great team. Where would expections for future success have been, had the Ironpigs been a winning team? Who would come to the games and cheer on our beloved Pigs?

Imagine if, in 2008, the Ironpigs finished above .500, qualified for the playoffs and/or won the AAA Championship. Success, right? Wrong. That first year would have seen the stadium sellout over and over. Money flying in left and right. Then a theoretical 2009 season would have been a complete disappointment had the new team not matched the success of 2008. The stands would have been lean.

Let’s take a look at the Pork Races held at every Ironpig’s home game. Who’s favorite is Diggity (the hot dog) or Chris P. Bacon (the Bacon)? Not many. Now that Hambone even has a “Fan Club.” Fans root on Hambone to keep trying and trying and never give up. His only win this season came with the assistance of a former pro wrestler. Hambone has exhibited vanity, promiscuity and lack of direction in most of his races and doesn’t win often.. yet the fans love Hambone! We love underdogs.

The USA hockey team beating the powerhouse USSR in the Olympics! (hockey reference for Rolf)

The Marlins beating the Yankees in the World Series!

The Bad News Bears making their championship game!

Almost everybody wants to see that hard work and effort allow anyone to compete and win and in the Ironpigs circumstances there is another factor that contributes to success.

The Phillies. Yes, the Phillies. How many people do you know that have dusted off their Phillies gear and become fans again? I know a few. How many times have you heard that Phillies tickets are hard to come by so they settled for Ironpig games?

The parent team of the Ironpigs has a lot to do with success at Coca Cola Park. Ok, yeah the team isn’t winning and that grates on any true baseball fan but the success I’m talking about it at the gates. The Lehigh Valley Fans currently lead the AAA in average per game attendance.

Not only are fans continuing to pack the stands at CCP.. they have been for 3 straight years! Would these fans still be showing up game after game if the Pigs were big winners or if the Phillies plummeted to the basement for a few season? I doubt it.

Now don’t get me wrong, I absolutely want that AAA trophy on display at our home park… I’m just looking at the (forgive the overused phrase) Perfect Storm that has helped our team and community to grow. I truly believe that keeping the attendance high will keep the prices low for us all.

Another factor, and yes this is already due for the conversation, is 2011. What questions could be asked for 2011?

Will Andy Tracy, “Mr. Ironpig”, return for another season? He is getting up in years.. maybe he will stay on as a coach?

Will other new attractions spark interest in the occasional fan and draw them somewhere else? You have to say Dorney Park, and many other businesses, has seen an impact on sales when the Pigs are in town.

Will those folks who signed 3 year season ticket contracts renew?

Good one right? Shelling out that cash was a no brainer in 2007 when most people had security in their jobs and living expenses hadn’t yet gone up as they did in 2008. I think the answer lies in Season Ticket holder benefits. The big draw for purchasing season tickets for more established teams is an extensive discount and great seats.

Look at the cost of a Reading Phillies season ticket.. in the Blue section normal price of $11 a game. Season pass costs $515 for 70 games, a cost of 7.36 a game. A savings of $3.64 a game. How soon will we see this at CCP? Unfortunately, the savings will most likely be subjected to us when normal ticket prices go up and Season tickets will stay the same. Keeping in perspective.. let’s not get ahead of ourselves. 🙂

So my whole point of this post is… can we, the Lehigh Valley, keep this park full for every home game? I hope so.

The Pigs lost today in a screamer of a game clocked at 2 hours and 2 minutes. The 1,111 fans in attendance must feel a little taken that the game went so fast.

Not much happened. I’m not a fan of Mazone.. he went 7 innings allowing 2 runs on 5 hits.

Rich Thompson extended his hitting streak to 9 games, an Ironpig season high for 2010.

Andy Tracy also had a hit raising his batting average to .229.

On another completely separate note.. off topic and since the game wasn’t too interesting I will hop up on my soapbox and share my dinner experience with you.

Yesterday, for those who frequent the Crest Plaza on Cedar Crest Blvd in Allentown, a new eatery opened next to Saladworks and Duncan Donuts. The place is called “Panino’s.” I thought I would give it a try. I went in to order at 5:25.

The place wasn’t too full.. maybe 10 people inside and in front of me was an elderly woman who asked at least two questions about every item on the menu, ultimately deciding not to order anything and left. The menu looked great. Cheesesteaks (claimed to be Philly style), italian hoagies and about 3 dozen other options both hot and cold.

At 5:33 I ordered a 12 inch cheesesteak, cost $9.21. A little pricey, but it might be a good product and I’m open to trying new foods. So I stand and wait. And wait. I notice about 8 of those customers in the place are also waiting. One by one the folks get called by name to pick up their order. About 5 minutes per sandwich. The apologetic staff kept thanking us for our patience on what they called “the busy time.”

I could go on and on with this experience but the bottom line was that I waited close to 45 minutes for a cheesesteak with only 10 people in the place. There were no platters or large orders clogging up the system nor a real sense of urgency to get the orders filled. I watched as one young woman stood happlessly over her box of aluminum foil.

The sandwich was ok. It had a nice roll and a good quantity of meat. The cheese could have been more. Tastewise.. well it could have been worse, but not much. The meat was tasteless and dry. I wonder if this company ever heard of salt and pepper…

It took 45 minutes to get a dry, tasteless cheesesteak.

Granted, it just opened a few days ago so I may try again in a few weeks.. but don’t count on it.

The Pigs lost their opening game of an 8 game road trip today against the Charlotte Knights. The first inning saw Rich Thompson single and then get picked off of first base. Later in the inning, Sardinha’s throw to second went into centerfield allowing the Knight runner to third who eventually scored. Just more testimony to the Pig’s luck of late.

Good’s
Rich Thompson extended his hitting streak to 8 games, tying the team long streak with two other players. Rich also got a triple adding momentum to his cause to be a starting outfielder.

Andy Tracy went 2 for 3 with a homerun and a walk. Let’s hope this is the beginning of his return.

Not so Good’s
Errors and making the most of baserunners continue to be a problem for the Pigs. Still waiting for the team to come together and stop playing as individuals. I smell transactions coming soon…

I have to be honest.. the past two days have really kicked me. I am exausted. I made the trip to mom after yesterday’s game, had some fried chicken and came home to bed. That wind really does you in.. So to recap a little on the game and add some other side notes….

The Pigs lost the game 3 to 4 in 10 innings. I know the broadcasters announced that Rich Thompson was out on the force out in the bottom of the ninth, where had he been safe, the winning run had scored… but a similiar play in the 10th for the Clippers ended with a safe call allowing the Clippers to take 3 of 4 here in the Valley this weekend.

Former Ironpig Carlos Carrasco pitched 6 innings allowing 2 runs on 6 hits.

Jason Donald also had 3 hits including a triple.

Rich Thompson pushed his average to .338 after going 3-5 with a triple.

Andy Tracy had a hit and was robbed of a sure hit and 2 RBI when Clipper’s right fielder made a great catch of his fast sinking line drive.

Dane Sardinha hit a wind assisted home run into the Bud Light Trough.

Cody Ransom committed his 9th error of the season. No gold glove for this guy… however he had some terrible calls on him at the plate and he held his tongue. It makes you wonder if umpires talk and hold grudges..

Now quite possibly the most exciting thing to happen at CCP yesterday, possibly blown on to the field by that strong wind… a squirrel spent the better part of 4 innings in the outfield during the game. He seemed to enjoy Rich Thompson the most and was encouraged on by the Pig’s bullpen who were seen tossing him sunflower seeds. There were Richmond Flying Squirrels jokes tossed about and questions if security would taser it, but the squirrel was allowed to be the Pig’s 10th outfielder and no harm came to be.

Also, Brian Schneider was added to the Disabled list pulling Paul Hoover to Philadelphia and Kevin Nelson to the Pigs lineup yesterday. The Hog Blog reported that Nelson would be soon replaced by John Suomi.

8 days until the Pigs return home..

This past series we have heard a lot about ducks in Coca Cola Park. Each time former Ironpig Jason Donald came to bat the loud speaker emitted a loud duck call quacking away, possibly in homage to the Noise Nation’s former sub-group “Jason Donald’s Ducks.” Then last night, when Brandon Duckworth came on in relief the scoreboard played a clip from the movie, “The Mighty Ducks,” that resulted in a meek Quack chant amongst the remaining fans. This morning.. I have more Duck news for you!

Noise Nation favorite and former Scranton WB Yankee John Rodriguez has returned from his vacation in the Mexican League and has signed a contract with The Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks. Rodriguez hit the lineup the next day and went 2 for 5 in a 10-6 Duck victory.

The Long Island Ducks are a non-MLB affiliated team located in Central Islip, NY and have played their home games in Suffolk County Sports Park since 2000.

Some fun facts about the Ducks:
They have led their league in attendance since they entered the league in 2000.

John Rocker tried to revive his career with the team, surprisingly in NY.

Jose Offerman gained infamy while playing for the Ducks after attacking opposing players with his bat in response to a hit by pitch.

Robinson Cancel is currently on the Duck’s roster. You may remember seeing him visit Coca Cola Park last season.

Current Bench Coach is Bud Harrelson

And today would not be complete without mentioning mom. Thanks mom. You drove me to countless baseball practices and games. I would never know what baseball was if you hadn’t pushed a shy kid out of the car at that first T-ball practice.

Also of note, mom’s favorite nick-nack theme… Pigs.

The Pigs pulled out a win against the hottest team in the International league tonight. The Clippers didn’t do themselves any favors, committing 4 errors in the crazy weather at Coca Cola Park today. I started the afternoon off by watching the movie Twister on TBS and I was ready to tie myself to the outfield railing a few times. The extremely high wind knocked over radios, soda and one unfortunate tray of nachos. It came close to knocking a few of the lighter Noise Nation members off their feet too. Add in the light mist, some very fine snow (Yes, we got some flurries there for a few minutes), a beautiful rainbow and a monsoon like downpour as the game came to an end. One of those game you talk about for years.. and not because of the play on the field.

Good’s
Every Ironpig on the team (minus a late addition to the lineup Sardinha). Heck even Bocock had a hit today!

Andy Tracy just missed a homerun that hit inches below the wall. A few came out and asked, and yes it was below the wall.

Not so Good’s
The weather played havoc with any ball hit in the air. These balls were moving all over the place.

Brian Schneider injured himself in today’s game, prompting Paul Hoover to be scratched from the lineup. If Schneider hits the DL.. look for Hoover to go up and either Gosewisch or Suomi to replace him in Allentown. Could Schneider possibly be on a rehab assignment for his bobble head day?

I saw a video this morning of a tall, mustached reliever coming in for the Round Rock Express and was surprised not to see Gary Majewski on the mound. Majewski, while still on the Round Rock roster, was not heading to the mound to face off against the Nashville Sound.

Instead was a character of a pitcher in Rojo Johnson. His story was given as a rough and tough reliever and this showed through when he cracked open a beer on the mound, wearing a large glittery necklace. After some wild warmups, Johnson’s first pitch sailed well behind the “Nashville batter” and he was ejected to a flurry of entertainment.

Well, it’s pretty obvious this was a stunt that Bill Veeck would have been proud of. Veeck, the longtime master of promotions in the Major leagues, was the mastermind behind the 70’s disco record disaster, the Eddie Gaedel at bat and aliens invading a stadium and taking players hostage during a game.

The mastermind in this case was Will Ferrell. Yes, you can tell pretty clearly that this was Will Ferrell and my first thought… that he was filming a minor league baseball movie, was incorrect. He was there to raise awareness for his charity event supporting cancer research. What a fun night.

While Gary didn’t pitch in last night’s game… his stats for 2010 are below:
1 win 1 loss
11 games
13.1 innings pitched
7 runs
15 hits
1 save
4.05 ERA

Tonight was one of those odd nights where not too much exciting happens. No really great catches, a couple runs scored and a bomb of a homerun. Kind of humdrum compared to last night’s game. Another sellout capacity crowd of 10,000.. and even that was expected with postgame fireworks on a Friday. Maybe I’m getting spoiled so far this year but nothing really jumped out at me tonight.

To whoever kept turning off my smoke machine.. knock it off. If I catch you there is the possibility of an atomic wedgie over the outfield wall. Really, each time it’s turned off it takes like 15 minutes to warm up again. Not cool.

Good’s
Andy Tracy had a “light assisted” double as Clipper’s left field Crowe lost a fly ball in the lights. He would have caught it… but the luck seems to be shifting Tracy’s way the past couple of nights.

Pig’s pitching staff added 14 K’s to the board tonight.

Not so Good’s
The entire batting lineup who scraped out 5 hits.

Maza let a burning ground ball ricochet off his glove and shoot between his legs with the bases loaded allowing a few runs to score. He fields the ball and turns two and this game has a different ending.

Mike Zagurski got tagged with the loss with 3 unearned runs. (see above)

We are all meeting out at Pitcher’s Sports Bar & Grill at 5:00pm tomorrow to join in the extended pregame radio show. Stop out and have some fun with us before the game!