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In a random game in 2008, I witnessed what I feel was the greatest catch in Coca Cola Park history. The game was pretty much meaningless, the 08 Pigs never leaving the International League North’s basement the entire season.

If you attended any number of games that first season you will remember the slight controversy regarding the placement of a stand of lights behind the grandstand that made catching fly balls in left field quite a challenge. This night was no different.
I don’t remember the date, the inning, the opposing team but I do remember Brandon Watson in left field frantically waving his arms indicating he didn’t see the ball. The whole stadium held its collective breath as the mile high fly ball quickly started towards the ground. If Watson didn’t find it soon it would have come dangerously close to hitting him on the top of his head. Then a flash appeared and T.J. Bohn, who started out from deep right center field, made a diving catch behind the wobbly legged Watson. Watching the replay on the scoreboard you see Bohn sprinting the entire way but the surprise it was for the crowd to see him dive out of nowhere to catch that ball was incredible. Every eye in the park was on the ball as if to will Brandon Watson to see and catch that ball.

It’s a shame Bohn didn’t develop as a hitter. He would have been a starter on any team with his defense if he had only achieved a .250 average.

34 days…

Ok, we’ve all seen the loudmouth drunk at the game and most of us agree that is unacceptable behavior at a ballgame, and we all have read the rules in the programs and posted around the stadium so we know most of the rules already.

If you need a refresher, the Ironpig’s Stadium rules can be viewed by clicking here.

Now that we’ve refreshed on the standard rules, let’s look at a few unwritten rules of being a baseball fan.

1. Stand for the entire singing/playing of the National Anthem and men remove your headgear. I say men as women are patriotically exempt from this tradition. Don’t believe me? Look it up. Also, don’t talk during this time either. It’s just rude. If you forget, it happens, I’ve done it, and someone reminds you.. thank them and correct yourself.

2. Do not leave or enter your seats while the ball is in play. Most stadiums and older ushers will not allow you in or out of the stands until an at bat is over.

I remember going to Reading Phillies games as a kid and this was strictly enforced. I also saw this at Citizen’s Bank and the old Yankee Stadium. Noone wants to miss a great hit or great play because you were standing in front of them trying to decide between a soft pretzel or nachos.

3. Tip the vendor’s in the stand. Chances are you will get better service and it’s just the right thing to do.

4. Get to the game on time and stay for the whole game (if you can). You paid to attend, get your money’s worth.

5. Throw away your trash. Each night the team employees get in line and have to clean up the trash. Be respectful. Coca Cola Park is beautiful, lets keep it that way.

6. If you do happen to get a foul ball or home run, give it to a kid. Really, what do you need a ball for? These balls won’t be on any ebay auctions so cough it up. If you have a kid at home, sure that’s ok, but don’t wrestle a kid to get it. Also, if the other team hits a home run… toss it back. Who really wants a ball that gave runs to the other team.

These are just a few that come to mind. Any other thoughts out there?

The Pawsox ended the 2009 season in 5th place in the IL North with a 61-82 record. The team that dominated the Ironpigs in 2008 was decimated by call ups and injuries. Always a big draw from local Red Sox fans, look for these to be some exciting games in 2010.

Who might appear at CCP:

Josh Reddick, OF – Splitting 2009 with AA Portland and Pawtucket, Reddick should have a shot at playing left field for the Red Sox this season. If not, he will be in a Pawsox uniform.

Ryan Kalish, OF – Reddick’s main competition for a spot on the Major League roster, Kalish also could show up in AAA.

Junichi Tazawa, RHP – The Red Sox want this guy to get more seasoning in the minors. Hopefully he will take it easy on the Pig hitters.

2009 Pitching Statistics
Player	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO
Enrique Gonzalez	8	11	5.12	26	23	0	0	139.0	159	85	79	20	53	99
Charlie Zink	6	15	5.59	27	23	1	0	135.1	134	88	84	10	93	47
Michael Bowden	4	6	3.13	24	24	0	0	126.1	106	47	44	11	47	88
Clay Buchholz	7	2	2.36	17	16	1	0	99.0	67	30	26	7	30	89
Kris Johnson	3	13	6.35	22	22	0	0	96.1	128	77	68	8	44	65
Billy Traber	7	8	3.52	38	7	0	0	84.1	88	36	33	8	25	33
Marcus McBeth	2	3	2.69	44	1	0	3	67.0	43	20	20	5	30	66
Jose Vaquedano	4	2	3.76	43	0	0	3	64.2	52	33	27	6	41	34
Rocky Cherry	3	1	2.57	38	1	0	0	63.0	63	22	18	1	36	44
Randor Bierd	3	1	4.55	25	7	0	0	61.1	68	37	31	7	21	55
Hunter Jones	4	3	4.25	36	0	0	2	53.0	45	27	25	7	24	39
Fernando Cabrera	0	3	1.71	43	0	0	22	52.2	40	11	10	3	22	51
Javier Lopez	1	1	3.18	38	0	0	0	39.2	35	15	14	2	13	23
Adam Mills	2	2	3.48	6	6	0	0	31.0	39	15	12	1	4	16
T.J. Large	3	4	7.04	22	0	0	1	30.2	38	26	24	1	22	10
Chris George	1	0	4.79	12	0	0	0	20.2	21	14	11	2	6	10
Daniel Bard	1	0	1.13	11	0	0	6	16.0	6	2	2	2	5	29
Daisuke Matsuzaka	0	1	2.25	4	4	0	0	16.0	13	4	4	2	6	17
John Smoltz	1	1	3.38	3	3	1	0	16.0	10	6	6	2	4	11
Junichi Tazawa	0	2	2.38	2	2	0	0	11.1	7	4	3	0	1	6
Paul Byrd	0	1	3.27	2	2	0	0	11.0	9	4	4	1	1	7
Dustin Richardson	0	0	1.69	7	0	0	0	10.2	8	2	2	1	2	16
Tim Wakefield	1	1	2.89	2	2	0	0	9.1	5	3	3	1	2	7
Robert Coello	0	0	0.00	1	0	0	0	1.1	1	0	0	0	0	1
Devern Hansack	0	0	9.00	1	0	0	0	1.0	2	1	1	0	0	0
Carlos Maldonado	0	1	#INF	1	0	0	0	0.0	1	2	2	1	1	0

2009 Batting Statistics
Player	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB
John Otness	.320	8	25	2	8	2	0	0	3	4	5	0
Mark Kotsay	.303	10	33	2	10	1	0	0	5	0	1	1
Chris Carter	.294	116	428	50	126	25	0	16	61	42	63	0
George Kottaras	.292	10	24	1	7	3	0	0	0	6	6	0
Jeff Natale	.282	58	170	23	48	9	1	3	19	31	26	0
Dusty Brown	.264	86	295	22	78	13	0	2	23	37	74	0
Jeff Bailey	.262	63	229	34	60	7	0	10	27	35	51	2
Chip Ambres	.259	52	185	18	48	9	1	3	18	21	38	2
Angel Chavez	.253	127	442	41	112	23	0	4	39	18	48	3
Sean Danielson	.240	52	154	18	37	6	1	1	19	21	33	9
Travis Denker	.238	117	400	43	95	25	1	5	43	48	85	3
Julio Lugo	.235	4	17	1	4	1	0	0	0	2	5	0
Paul McAnulty	.233	90	326	36	76	20	1	11	48	45	83	0
Freddy Guzman	.229	62	214	25	49	6	2	2	10	13	35	21
Ivan Ochoa	.227	45	128	25	29	3	2	2	8	20	22	9
Carlos Maldonado	.225	24	80	9	18	2	0	2	15	10	14	0
Jon Van Every	.215	20	65	7	14	4	0	4	10	16	25	0
Mark Wagner	.214	43	154	12	33	12	0	3	20	11	29	0
Aaron Bates	.213	76	272	28	58	10	0	5	18	22	59	0
Bubba Bell	.208	71	240	24	50	8	2	1	18	31	53	2
Brian Anderson	.200	24	80	9	16	4	0	4	8	7	22	0
Joey Gathright	.200	3	10	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Gil Velazquez	.193	93	290	26	56	13	0	3	18	19	49	3
Chris Duncan	.188	27	85	8	16	3	0	2	10	7	20	0
Jed Lowrie	.176	22	68	9	12	3	0	3	8	13	13	0
Zach Daeges	.172	9	29	1	5	2	0	0	1	3	6	0
Iggy Suarez	.167	20	60	5	10	2	0	1	8	8	16	1
Chris Woodward	.129	12	31	1	4	0	0	0	0	5	7	0
Jeff Corsaletti	.128	13	39	3	5	0	0	0	1	3	8	1
Josh Reddick	.127	18	71	1	9	0	2	0	6	6	13	0
Sandy Madera	.125	5	16	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	3	0
Brad Wilkerson	.111	2	9	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	4	0
Rocco Baldelli	.077	4	13	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	5	0
Kevin Youkilis	.000	2	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0
Zach Borowiak	.000	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0

Check out the Ironpig’s Examiner Blog by Stephen Gross!

http://www.examiner.com/x-18103-Lehigh-Valley-IronPigs-Examiner

Good information about the Ironpigs!

35 days…

The Phillies have signed infielder Keoni DeRenne.

DeRenne has spent the past 3 seasons in an Independant league and last played affiliated ball for Boston’s AAA team and International League rival, Pawtucket. If DeRenne is slated to play for the Phillies organization in 2010 he could likely fill one of the middle infield vacancies for the Ironpigs.

The Phillies also released RHP Reginal Simon.

35 days to wait. The Park is almost ready. The players are warming up in Florida and we are waiting. Waiting. Waiting like a rain delay.

Anyone who attended the rehab start by Boston’s Dice K can recall the anticipation and the waiting. The monsoon that swept through Coca Cola Park that night left the fans wondering when the game would start and if Dice K would still take the mound. The crowd hung on through an almost 2 hour delay and a few power outages and we did enjoy a great game that day.

35 Days…

********

A little known fact about Coca Cola Park history…

… happened during the very first game played in the stadium. Before the Phillies/Ironpigs exhibition game, Jimmy Rollins was signing autographs for a large group of fans and got a big laugh from the crowd when he realized he had just signed the top of the fence. Chris Coste, not to be outdone, saw Rollins’ autograph and added his next to it. The photo isn’t great but this is one of those memories that gets lost in time.

I went out to Coca Cola Park this afternoon to pick up my season tickets. What a beautiful day! The sun was shining and the temperature was close to 60 degrees. You could smell baseball in the air. The grass on the field is getting greener. Friendly smiles from a brand new bunch of interns. The new Aw Shucks corn stand, (yes they are adding a second booth this year), looks to be under construction. I took a moment to stand at the front gate and just gaze at the field. The tarp was off of the infield and I passed a few minutes trying to figure out if any of the outfield signs had changed.

The Ironpigs took season ticket holder appreciation a step further this year. For each season ticket ordered a fan received a nice pint glass and a coupon book with offers from local businesses. I am usually a skeptic of coupon books but this one has a coupon for one free beer at the Pig Pen.. so I can’t say anything but good things about this!

36 days Pig Fans… 36 days.

I am really feeling spring training fever. The season is so close you can smell it in the air! 50 degree weather and a ball game on tv usually brings this out so when I longingly checked the Ironpig’s schedule this afternoon I had a revelation.

Why wait until April 14th to see the Pigs when I can drive to Syracuse and see them the 8th to the 11th! Great idea right? Ha! I looked up travel info just for kicks and what I found surprised me.

Yahoo Maps places the trip Allentown, PA to Syracuse at 209 miles with a 3.5 hour drive time. Not too bad. It’s mostly highway… the NE Extension PA Turnpike to Scranton then Route 81 the rest of the way. Highway miles could cut back that 3.5 hour drive.

Also, I noticed that about halfway is Binghamton, NY. Home of the Mets AA team who just happen to have a home stand that weekend! Could it be too good to be true to see the R-Phils in Binghamton? Yes, too good to be true. The B-Mets open the season at home against Akron.

Itinerary:
Friday, 9th
3:00pm – Leave Allentown
5:00pm – Arrive in Binghamton
7:00pm – Attend game in Binghamton
TBD – Find hotel

Saturday, 10th
10:00am – Leave Binghamton
12:00pm – Arrive in Syracuse
2:00pm – Gametime for Pigs at Syracuse
TBD – Depart for Allentown

Of course you could stay another night and catch the Sunday game too. Crazier things have happened.

I’m considering it.. it could be fun.

When I clicked on the link to start watching today’s spring training game between the Phillies and Yankees, it brought back memories of 2008.

The date was March 30th, 2008. Coca Cola Park opened its doors for the very first game to be played on the new diamond. Fans packed the concourse waiting to get in. Looking at online auctions, some fans paid as much as $200 for a single ticket to this game. I had seats in section 103, 3rd row. It was cold. It was really cold and windy. The Phillies fresh from Florida were all bundled up hiding in the outfield, shy to autograph requests that would require them to remove their gloves.

What I remember from that day:
– Geoff Jenkins dropping a ball into the centerfield mulch area.
– The elderly woman wearing pajamas two seats away who complained the whole 3 innings she stayed.
– How distant the Phillies team was towards the fans

Yes, those great Phillies of 2008. The World ^%$# ‘in Champions! Three players signed autographs that day. Cole Hamels (Who was he before 2008?), then reigning MVP Jimmy Rollins and Chris Coste. The rest stayed well into the outfield and avoided eye contact at all costs. You may think I sound bitter about this experience and you would be right. The game was fun, the fans were ready and the teams were not.

Predictably, the stars played the first few innings and then the Reading Phillies (in Phillies uniforms) took over for the remainer of the game. Understand you don’t want the stars to get hurt but its a rare season ending injury incurred by a sharpie.

Anyway, my point is that exhibition games should be about fun. In 2008 and 2009 the Ironpigs traveled to Reading to play the R-Phils to benefit Baseballtown Charities. The game was light hearted and fun. When an Ironpig home run lifted out of the park, at the players next at bat it was shown on the scoreboard as “Wind assisted HR”. It was a great time and could have become a nice friendly rivalry between cities and fans. Sadly, it will not become a tradition as the game will not be played this year. Who really loses here? The fans, the players or the charity. I think we all do.