Fans, former players embrace late "Pigapalooza"

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Kurt Landes said he wished he could turn the heat down a few degrees, but then quickly added, "But it's better than rain."

Landes, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs general manager, was beaming while talking on the busy concourse level of Coca-Cola Park Sunday afternoon as the organization finally got to hold its "Pigapalooza Fanfest" celebration seven weeks and one day later than scheduled.

It was originally set for July 10 and was supposed to serve as the lead-off event for the Triple-A All-Star Game.


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Mother Nature ruined those plans, and Landes admitted that Sunday's gathering had more of a "Fan Appreciation," end-of-year feel to it rather than the start of a celebration as it was intended.

Still, the area's love affair with baseball, the IronPigs and Phillies was all on display throughout the nine-hour event which included attractions throughout the ballpark, even the parking lot.

The IronPigs are the top drawing minor-league team in all of baseball, drawing 9,206 fans per night to a ballpark that has about 8,100 permanent seats. With six home dates left, they are on target to set another attendance record, even though the team has never spent a day above .500.

The passion remains palpable.

"In the first half-hour, we had already had 2,500 in the ballpark," Landes said. "We'd love to keep it at that level throughout the day."

More than 10,000 tickets were sold for the event, which was packaged with the other All-Star attractions. After six hours, more than 6,000 had come through the gates with a late push expected for the fireworks show.

There was no game to watch —considering the IronPigs were 53-82 entering play on Sunday a few wise guys might have considered that a blessing — but still plenty to do.

"The activities are all the same," Landes said. "We have the same number of autograph signers, but the lineup changed because the Phillies are in San Diego and not at home as they would have been back in July."

Sunday's lineup of former Phillies featured Darren Daulton, Ricky Botallico, Tommy Greene, Milt Thompson, Marty Bystrom and Dickie Noles.

Daulton, a recent inductee into the Phillies Wall of Fame, was particularly popular with many female autograph-seekers, one of which wanted her shirt signed in the, a-hem, neck area.

"Everybody's in a good mood," Daulton said. "This is a nice place, the weather's great and people are having a good time."

It was Daulton's first visit to Coca-Cola Park and he was impressed.

"They didn't make these places like this when I was coming up," he said.

Greene and Thompson were having so much fun that they continued to sign autographs even after the line had been shut down.

They stood in the dugout suites and kept signing as long as fans kept hanging over the railing and flinging down baseballs, caps and anything else to be signed.

Thompson, demonstrating plenty of grace and class considering he was recently fired by the Phillies as their batting coach, enjoyed being around a ballpark again.

"I've been here a couple of times and it's a great baseball area," he said. "This is nothing like minor league parks used to be. These are big-league facilities with the weight rooms, batting cages, everything you need to get you prepared for the big leagues.

"This place is second to none. It's a great place to be, playing in front of a packed house every night. For a player, that's a great feeling."

Thompson said he had no hard feelings toward the Phillies, but understandably was reluctant to comment on them.


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"I'm on the outside now," he said. "I pull for the guys. I was with them for seven years and there are relationships there. But the last few weeks I have backed away from baseball.

"I was in a uniform for 30 consecutive years, so this is a little weird. Of those 30 years, I spent 15 of them in a Phillies uniform. So I have nothing bad to say about the organization. I'm playing golf, spending time with my family and doing some different things to keep myself busy until I figure out where I am going to go."

You could also sense that guys like Noles and Bystrom, who have been out of a Phillies uniform for a much longer period of time than Thompson, enjoyed the interaction with the fans.

Bystrom, who was 5-0 for the Phillies' 1980 world championship team, was impressed with Coca-Cola Park.

"It's beautiful, just gorgeous," Bystrom said. "When I was in Triple-A, the Phillies affiliate was in Oklahoma City. It was a small clubhouse with a small training and that was about it."

Noles used to be a Scranton guy, having spent time with the Phillies' former Triple-A affiliate when it was located several exits away on the turnpike..

"I still work for the Phillies and I get to come in and out of this place quite often," said Noles, another member of the 1980 world title team. "The fans here are the best. They still thank me for knocking down George Brett in the 1980 World Series.

"I loved Scranton, too. I knew everybody up there, even in the restaurants, and did my drug and alcohol program up there. … played golf for free. I hated to see them leave. But once I found this place, it was like 'Never mind, Scranton.' I just love it here."

http://www.mcall.com/sports/columnists/groller/mc-allentown-pigapalooza-20100830,0,2808949.column?page=2