By: Stephanie Sigafoos
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — For some, it’s about sitting in the lawn beyond the centerfield wall, just taking in a baseball game.
For others, it’s about the mascots and the atmosphere instead of the score or the players on the field.
Long-time fan Tom Di Martini was hooked by the post-game spectacle.
“I’ve lived in the greater Harrisburg area since 2015, after 13 years in the Lehigh Valley – but always drove back to Allentown for fireworks night,” DiMartini said.
And as the Lehigh Valley IronPigs face the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders on Tuesday, some fans even hope the fireworks will come from the bats.
But with the first pitch at Coca-Cola Park in this 2023 season, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs will celebrate 15 years in Allentown and the focus will be where it’s been all along – on the game day experience and the ballpark itself.
Fans will get a 15th anniversary T-shirt featuring the top 15 fan-voted players in IronPigs history. It also will be a Tail Waggin’ Tuesday, with all good dogs granted admission.
Hot dogs will only cost a dollar.
And from now until the end of September, the quirky promotions and a fun night out at the park will take precedence as the IronPigs become the Space Savers, the Coquis and the Mamajuana.
They’ll take the field in Mandalorian jerseys for Star Wars Night, and go under the sea for Mermaid Night.
It's all part of the appeal of Minor League Baseball.
But there also will be plenty of recognizable names in the lineup, including outfielder Dustin Peterson and infielder Scott Kingery. Five players rank among the Top 30 prospects in the Phillies organization, and seven are on the team’s 40-man roster, with 11 having spent time in the majors last year.
“When I first arrived, I thought we could do something special because we had, for all intents and purposes, a virgin market,” IronPigs President and General Manager Kurt Landes said. “So you could really dream of what you wanted to do in terms of branding and marketing.
“People had been to Reading or to see the [former independent league] Allentown Ambassadors, but people really hadn't seen our vision of what we wanted this place to be. So it was amazing, and a lot of work, to put that together at the time.”
The IronPigs moved to Allentown in 2008, and in that first year saw a capacity crowd in the home finale push the season attendance to 602,033 – the third-highest total by a first-year Triple-A franchise in 20 years.
They hit the 1-million mark in attendance in 2009, and were host to the Triple-A All-Star game in 2010. That summer, Landes became the fifth person in the award’s 46-year history to be named the International League’s executive of the year in back-to-back seasons.
Coca-Cola Park has withstood the test of time since then and the ‘Pigs have rolled on, with an ownership and management group focused on more than the bottom line.
“What I'm probably most proud of is that everyone has that success for a year or two or three years, but we've sustained – knock on wood – a high level of success that I think a lot of other teams in the industry are jealous of, because we've been able to kind of out-punch our weight class a little bit in terms of, ‘Hey, here we are in year 15,’” Landes said.
“And last year, we finished second in the country in overall attendance and second in the country in average attendance.”
One of the chief goals along the way was always to be a good community partner and make a lasting imprint on the Lehigh Valley.
“I'm proud of our staff we've had over the years, and that culture we've developed in terms of being creative and unique and bold,” Landes said. “I think we always wanted to have a Triple-A team with a Single-A attitude.
“We named ourselves the IronPigs, not the Phillies, because we wanted something that kind of represented us and what we want this organization to be, and IronPigs 15 years ago was well out of the box in terms of a name.
“And now you see all the time that teams are going very crazy and very unique and very different. And we were at the front edge of doing anything that was considered crazy, like IronPigs. And that was representative of what we thought was our attitude and our culture that we wanted to create.”
The mission statement has always been to provide affordable family fun, Landes said, highlighting ticket prices that are lower than the cost of going to the movies.
“We want to have success because of volume, as opposed to fewer [fans] for a higher price,” he said. “And part of that reason we’re able to keep ticket prices low or even concession prices low is because we have such great corporate support and this consistent level of business community support.
“That allows us to keep ticket prices low, and then having pricing low, our fans continue to come out and have an affinity with the team.”
Inventive promotions are the name of the game in the minor leagues, and fans have come to expect the added value of a special event or giveaway at almost every IronPigs game.
But some of them have had an impact far beyond expectations.
In 2013, Steve Paul, a 64-year-old Freemansburg resident, was chosen by the IronPigs as the winner of a free funeral package from Reichel Funeral Home valued at nearly $10,000 — the most valuable giveaway in IronPigs history.
Paul submitted a 200-word essay about his diagnosis with ALS – commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease – that detailed the emotional and financial toll it was taking on his family.
“When his daughter spoke on his behalf about why he applied and when he won … I mean, I’ve never seen a stadium full of 10,000 people cry,” Landes said. “And that’s what happened that night because it was so emotional and impactful.”
Paul battled the disease for seven years – beyond the mean survival time of two to five years – and passed away peacefully on January 11, 2020. But the memory remains of his heartwarming essay read aloud, which received a standing ovation from the sold out crowd of 10,100 fans.
“We had a lot of media, regional and even some national, attend because it was funny,” Landes said. “You know, you’re giving away a funeral. But I told people, ‘Your story’s going to change.’ And that was a neat moment. Not that I’m trying to make 10,000 people cry.”
Other mini campaigns and promotions, from the Lehigh Valley Cheesesteaks to bacon-themed uniforms, allow the team to offer something for everyone and see how people respond.
Coca-Cola Park also was the first sports venue to feature urinal gaming, allowing fans to interact with a hands-free “pee-controlled” video game system featured in all men’s restrooms exclusively presented by Lehigh Valley Health Network.
The promotion not only served as a fun and unique opportunity to remind men about the importance of prostate health, Landes said it ended up being so much more.
“It was fun, it was goofy and just, ‘Oh my gosh. What’s happening?’” he said. “But then on the opposite side of it, Lehigh Valley Health Network had an increase of like 65 or 70 percent in visits from men to see their urologist to be checked.
“The numbers were through the roof and there was a healthy message behind it."
Beyond baseball, the IronPigs and Coca-Cola Park have been a boon to the City of Allentown and the Lehigh Valley.
Situated on the former Agere Systems property off Union Boulevard, the park opened near several major traffic arteries, including Route 22 and Airport Road.
In 2012, ground also was broken on a long-planned bridge to connect American Parkway over the Lehigh River to ease traffic flow in and out of the city. It officially opened on Nov. 24, 2015, and the eastern segment of the Parkway now provides easy access to the stadium.
On the opposite side, state Rep. Josh Siegel (D-Lehigh) has aspirations to redefine and rebuild Union Boulevard and make it a “true pedestrian corridor that’s walkable and accessible to all folks,” allowing the IronPigs to further cultivate relationships with businesses in the area.
“I think Union Boulevard is one of the most underappreciated and undervalued opportunities in the city in terms of creating a beautiful pedestrian and transit corridor into the city,” Siegel said.
“It’s a major artery flowing into the downtown, obviously, but right now it doesn’t make you feel like it’s a gateway toward Coca-Cola Park, one of the city’s key assets.”
His vision includes a Main Street vibe and connection to the stadium that encourages a true sense of community.
“Then the IronPigs could play a bigger role in cultivating some relationships with restaurants and businesses up and down Union Boulevard,” Siegel said. “I think the IronPigs have done a great job of advancing the city and serving the community, but I think a goal for the future should be to strengthen those relationships where they can.
“They’ve been a huge catalyst in terms of supporting local business vendors and bringing tourism and visitors into the city. In terms of being a positive force, I think their impact is pretty undeniable.”
For Landes, minor league baseball always will be about the experience: families, companies, corporate partners, Scout groups and church groups coming out to the ballpark and having a great time.
The overall experience is more than that, though.
“I think from Day 1, minor league baseball means something different in the community than other things,” he said. “It’s reflective and representative of the community.
“We talk about the importance of community support. Well, you have to give that and not just receive and it’s kind of reciprocal over the last 15 years. It’s important to give back. It’s important to be community partners.”
For Landes and the IronPigs, it’s also been a memory-making business.
“When people come here, it’s a mini-vacation for them. So someone will come up to me and say, ‘Hey, I hadn’t gotten my dad out of the house in years and then the IronPigs came. And now he has a reason to come outside and he wants to come to the games. It’s meant a lot to me and my family to see dad happy again.’”
Coca-Cola Park also holds events year round that bring the community together.
“It’s a community pillar, or a staple,” Landes said. “There’s a full responsibility to make this the best it can be. Not because you have your own pride but because you feel there’s a regional pride in what happens here.
“I enjoy that, but it also comes with a lot of pressure – and you put that pressure on yourself because you want this to be perfect.
“You want it to mean something to everybody, and you want people to have that same emotional attachment that you have because you have this pride in the facility and the team.”