After years of being denied, Allentown, Pennsylvania will finally have an affiliated Minor-League Baseball team in the City.

In less than two weeks time, the City of Allentown, Pennsylvania, will witness its greatest moment since the hit song “Allentown” by Billy Joel was released in the early 1980s.

That’s when the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs baseball team will be making their debut on Sunday, March 30, at the city’s brand new stadium, Coca-Cola Park.

The Iron Pigs will be the Triple-A minor league franchise of the Philadelphia Phillies and compete in the International League.

Allentown close to Philadelphia

Allentown is just 60 miles north of Philadelphia up the northeast extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

The Phillies will help their farm team get off to a good start by playing the Iron Pigs in the first game at the new stadium.

Two days later on Tuesday, April 1, the Iron Pigs will travel west to play the Reading Phillies, the Philadelphia Phillies Double-A franchise of 40-plus seasons, at FirstEnergy Stadium.

The Allentown area -- which is part of the Lehigh Valley along with the cities of Bethlehem, Easton and Phillipsburg, N.J. and surrounding areas of Lehigh and Northampton Counties -- has been waiting to have affiliated minor league baseball since the Allentown Red Sox played between 1958 and 1960.

The area also had two independent league teams, the Allentown Ambassadors and the Lehigh Valley Black Diamond, play in recent years.

Lehigh Valley in Philadelphia market

The Lehigh Valley was always a big enough market to host minor league baseball, especially the top minor league level.

But the Phillies always had territorial rights to the area and up until recently, saw the existence of baseball in the Lehigh Valley as a threat to its own attendance just an hour’s drive south.

New York City is also just an hour’s drive east.

Everything changed when Citizen’s Bank Park was opened in 2004 with the Phillies attendance growing to 3 million fans per season.

Reading Phillies owner sees opportunity with Allentown

Craig Stein, the owner of the Reading Phillies, saw an opportunity and stepped in into the picture along with partner Joseph Finley to propose a team for the Lehigh Valley.

Stein felt confident of the move since the Reading Phillies regularly set attendance records with part of its fan base coming from the Lehigh Valley.

Since it was imperative that the new team be with the Phillies, there was only one obstacle to overcome.

Phillies had Triple-A team in Scranton/Wilkes Barre

The Phillies already had its Triple-A International League affiliate in eastern Pennsylvania with the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre Red Barons

The Red Barons had been with the Phillies since the team’s inception in 1989 and the opening of Lackawanna County Stadium. Attendance was good with the team’s proximity to Philadelphia and Reading.

However, northeastern Pennsylvania also has a sizeable baseball fan base for the New York teams, especially the Yankees.

During the 2006 season, Stein and Finley purchased the Ottawa Lynx of the International League with the intention of moving them to Allentown in 2008.

Since the New York Yankees wanted their top affiliate to be closer to its home base, they signed a working agreement with Scranton-Wilkes Barre for the 2006 season and beyond. The team is now called the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees.

Iron Pigs open on the road

The IronPigs will open the regular season at Scranton-Wilkes Barre on Thursday, April 3, and make is home debut on Friday, April 11 against the Richmond Braves.

The situation is a win for all Phillies fans in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The team will have four of its minor league teams within driving distance.

The Phillies also have a Class A minor league affiliate in Lakeland, New Jersey, in the South Atlantic League, and a short season Class A team in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in the New-York Penn League.

The IronPigs, whose name comes from the steel industry pig-iron, should have few problems and a lot to look forward to in their first season.