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Iron Pigs Improve in May

Lehigh Valley Baseball Team Has A Good Month After Disasterous Start

Jun 2, 2008

The Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, the Philadelphia Phillies new triple-A minor league team in Allentown, goes 14-15 in May after a 3-24 start in April

There is hope for the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs.

The triple-A minor franchise had a good month of May that came to a close on Saturday.

The Iron Pigs actually started winning some games after a horrendous 3-24 record during the month of April.

Lehigh Valley rebounded to go 14-15 during May. The team is still in last place in the Northern Division of the International League. With a win to start the month of June, the Iron Pigs are now 19-39 and 17 games out of first place.

Iron Pigs Going Through Grace Period

The good people of Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton and surrounding area will forgive the team for its horrendous start.

The area hasn’t had affiliated minor league baseball in close to 50 years. Plus, the team is in the Philadelphia Phillies minor league system.

The Lehigh Valley is only 60 miles north of Philadelphia and in the city’s television market. The big league Phillies are a winning team, having won the 2007 National League East Division championship and the current first-place team in the division.

Iron Pigs fans are also Phillies fans. And the purpose of any minor league system is to develop players for the major leagues.

Phillies Have Good Year on Injury Front.

So far, the Phillies really haven’t had to dip into the Iron Pigs roster for players. Outfielder TJ Bohn was called up to the big leagues on May 24 when Jayson Werth went on the disabled list.

The organization has bounded players back and forth from double-A Reading, the Phillies Eastern League franchise 40 miles west of Allentown, which is also starting to struggle.

The Phillies also outright released several players and have signed minor league free agents who were playing in independent leagues.

Phillies Front Office Wants Iron Pigs to Sell

Lehigh Valley fans are beginning to understand how minor league baseball works and how winning games, while important, is not the utmost thing on the minds of the parent club.

The Iron Pigs will sell tickets this season because it has a state of the art stadium in Coca-Cola Park, which has all modern amenities, plenty of parking, and yet, quality professional baseball.

Lehigh Valley won’t contend in the International League in 2008, but it doesn’t have to be the worst team in the league.

They are only five games behind the Rochester Red Wings to get out of last place in their division. The Norfolk Tides and Charlotte Knights have just 21 wins each in the South Division.

With a decent June, the Iron Pigs can possibly move up in the standings.

The copyright of the article Iron Pigs Improve in May in Minor League Baseball is owned by John F. O'Connor. Permission to republish Iron Pigs Improve in May in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.