History of baseball in Allentown, Pennsylvania
Encyclopedia
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the 215th largest city in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 118,032 and is currently...
association with the national pastime
National sport
A national sport or national pastime is a sport or game that is considered to be an intrinsic part of the culture of a nation. Some sports are de facto national sports, as baseball is in the U.S., while others are de jure as lacrosse and ice hockey are in Canada.-De jure national sports:-De facto...
spans nearly 125 years, from the formation of the Allentown Dukes in the late 19th century to the startup of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs
Lehigh Valley IronPigs
The Lehigh Valley IronPigs are a minor league baseball team that plays in the International League. The IronPigs are the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. The team plays their home games at Coca-Cola Park, which is located in Allentown, Pennsylvania...
in the early 21st century.
Late 19th century
Professional baseball in AllentownAllentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the 215th largest city in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 118,032 and is currently...
dates to 1884, when the Allentown Dukes completed one season in the original Eastern League. Four years later, the city fielded a Central League team, the Allentown Peanuts, which also folded after a season. The 1890s brought a series of ball clubs to the city. The Allentown Colts played in the Pennsylvania State League from 1892-93. The next year, the team became Kelly’s Killers, named for its player-manager, future Hall of Fame
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in the United States and beyond, the display of...
member Mike "King" Kelly
King Kelly
Michael Joseph "King" Kelly was an American right fielder, catcher, and manager in various professional American baseball leagues including the National League, International Association, Players' League, and the American Association. He spent the majority of his 16-season playing career with the...
. Late in the season, Kelly moved the Eastern League’s Binghamton
Binghamton, New York
Binghamton is a city in the Southern Tier of New York in the United States. It is near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the confluence of the Susquehanna and Chenango Rivers...
Bingoes here as the Allentown Buffalos. Kelly, the era’s most flamboyant figure, died of pneumonia that fall at age 35, and the Buffalos were dissolved. In 1895, the Allentown Goobers returned Pennsylvania State League play to the city for one season. In 1898, yet another team was formed, re-using the name the Allentown Peanuts. The Peanuts played for three seasons in the Atlantic League, which succeeded the Pennsylvania State League in 1896. The league and the team were dissolved in 1900.
Early 20th century
Over the next two decades, Allentown hosted only one professional team, a Tri-State LeagueTri-State League
The Tri-State League was the name of five different circuits in American minor league baseball.-History:The first league of that name played for four years and consisted of teams in Ohio, Michigan and West Virginia....
club which played from 1912-14. Then, in the 1920s, the name the Allentown Dukes was revived for a semi-professional team that played four seasons (1923–26) at Edgemont Field, a new field at Second and Susquehanna Streets. On September 7, 1923 the Allentown Dukes defeated the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
by a score of 8 to 7 at Edgemont Field. Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
struck out at bat in the ninth inning, with bases loaded.
The semi-pro team led to the start of an Eastern League team under the same name in 1929. League champions the next year, the team was renamed the Allentown Buffaloes in 1931. At the end of the 1932 season, the league collapsed, and the Buffaloes folded.
Major League affiliation
In 1935, the city landed its first Major LeagueMajor League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
farm team, when the Brooklyn Dodgers moved their Reading
Reading, Pennsylvania
Reading is a city in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA, and seat of Berks County. Reading is the principal city of the Greater Reading Area and had a population of 88,082 as of the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown and Erie,...
Brooks franchise here just six games into the season. The Allentown Brooks, like the Dukes and Buffaloes, played their home games at the Allentown Fairgrounds. The club, which was in the New York-Pennsylvania League
New York-Pennsylvania League (early 20th century)
The New York-Pennsylvania League of 1923 through 1937 was an American minor league baseball circuit.The forerunner to the modern Class AA Eastern League, it was a Class B circuit through 1932 and upgraded to Class A for the final five seasons of its existence. It is actually the second of three...
(forerunner of today’s Eastern League), finished out the 1936 season, but did not return the next year.
In 1939, the Boston Braves established an Interstate League
Interstate League
The Interstate League was the name of five different American minor baseball leagues that played intermittently from 1896 through 1952. The longest tenured of these was the last incarnation, which played in the Middle Atlantic States from 1939 through 1952, and was one of the few mid-level minor...
club, again using the name the Allentown Dukes, and a new park was built on the city’s South Side, Fairview Field (now Earl F. Hunsicker Bicentennial Park
Bicentennial Park (Allentown)
Bicentennial Park is a stadium in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The park, officially named Earl F. Hunsicker Bicentennial Park, is primarily used for baseball and softball....
). The team won the league championship that year. The next year, 1940, the league was upgraded from Class C to B, and the team became the Allentown Fleetwings, a St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
franchise. The Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
took over in 1941, playing a season as the Allentown Wings, but the franchise reverted to St. Louis the next year. Renamed the Allentown Cardinals
Allentown Cardinals
The Allentown Cardinals were a minor league baseball team. Affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals, they played in the Class B Interstate League between 1944 and 1952; then in the Class A Eastern League from 1954 to 1956....
in 1944, the team played at Fairview Field until 1948, when St. Louis Cardinals owner Sam Breadon
Sam Breadon
Samuel Breadon was an American executive who served as the president and majority owner of the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball from 1920 through 1947...
built a new park. Breadon Field
Breadon Field
Breadon Field was a minor league ballpark in Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania, located on the east side of MacArthur Road, about 0.5 mile north of the U.S. Route 22 interchange. It was named for St. Louis Cardinals owner Sam Breadon, who built the ballfield in 1948. In 1958, it was purchased by...
, a steel and concrete stadium that seated 5,000 fans, was located just north of the city in Whitehall Township
Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania
Whitehall Township is a township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is a suburb of Allentown, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the state.The population of Whitehall Township was 24,896 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
.
The demise of the Interstate League at the end of the 1952 season resulted in a one-year lull for the franchise. In 1954, the Allentown Cardinals returned as a member of the Class A Eastern League. The team won the league championship in 1955, but had its final season the next year, 1956. Midway through the 1957 season, the Syracuse
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
Chiefs, an unaffiliated Eastern League team, moved to Allentown on July 13 to finish out the season. The Allentown Chiefs
Allentown Chiefs
The Allentown Chiefs were a minor league baseball team. They played in the Class A Eastern League, and started the 1957 season in Syracuse, New York...
were replaced a year later by a Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
franchise. The Allentown Red Sox
Allentown Red Sox
The Allentown Red Sox were a minor league baseball team affiliated with the Boston Red Sox. They played in the Class A Eastern League and were based in Allentown, Pennsylvania....
played three seasons at the Whitehall ball park, which was bought by Hess's
Hess's
Hess's was a department store chain based in Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania in the United States.- History :The department store known as Hess Brothers was founded on February 19, 1897, by Charles and Max Hess. Max Hess came to Allentown in 1896 on a business trip and envisioned a...
department store owner Max Hess, Jr., and renamed Max Hess Stadium. When the Red Sox left at the end of the 1960 season, the stadium closed and was demolished in 1964. Today, the site is the home of the Lehigh Valley Mall
Lehigh Valley Mall
The Lehigh Valley Mall is an enclosed super-regional shopping mall located in Whitehall Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is the largest shopping mall in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania....
, which opened in 1976. The ballfield was located near the mall's entrance from MacArthur Road.
Return of professional baseball
Allentown Ambassadors
The Allentown Ambassadors were an independent baseball team that competed in the Northeast League and the Northern League from 1997 until 2003. They played their home games at Allentown, Pennsylvania's Bicentennial Park.- History :...
, an independent team that played in the Northeast and Northern leagues. The club, which had its last full season in 2003, was based at Bicentennial Park
Bicentennial Park (Allentown)
Bicentennial Park is a stadium in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The park, officially named Earl F. Hunsicker Bicentennial Park, is primarily used for baseball and softball....
.
Allentown unveiled Coca-Cola Park, a $48.4 million, 8,100-seat stadium, in 2008. The stadium was constructed in east-side Allentown to serve as the home field for the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
' AAA-level Minor League baseball
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
team, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs
Lehigh Valley IronPigs
The Lehigh Valley IronPigs are a minor league baseball team that plays in the International League. The IronPigs are the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. The team plays their home games at Coca-Cola Park, which is located in Allentown, Pennsylvania...
. The IronPigs, a member of the International League
International League
The International League is a minor league baseball league that operates in the eastern United States. Like the Pacific Coast League and the Mexican League, it plays at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball. It was so named because it had teams in both the United States...
, are the first Major League-affiliated club to play in the city since 1960.
During the summer of 2008, the Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum introduced an exhibit celebrating the history of baseball in Allentown and the Lehigh Valley entitled Play Ball! Baseball in America and the Lehigh Valley.