- The Lehigh Valley IronPigs are helping to renovate an Allentown Little League field
- The baseball diamond had to expand due to changes in league regulations
- Staff from the city of Allentown and its parks and recreation department also volunteered for the project
ALLENTOWN, Pa. - The front office personnel of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs weren't at Coca-Cola Park on Tuesday.
Instead they spent the day raking dirt and fixing up a Little League baseball field in East Allentown.
IronPigs officials say it's part of a tradition of the team helping out younger baseball players, hoping to get them everything they need to succeed in the sport.
They visited the East Side Memorial Little League at 125 E. Walnut St. — a gesture league President Samuel Rabelo said he's grateful for.
"Historically, they have been phenomenal with us. I have absolutely no complaints every time they've helped us out. It has been huge. And this is no exception right here," Rabelo said as volunteers fanned out across the field. "You know, they have definitely gone out of their way to help us out."
The volunteers — about 80 or so — were a mix of IronPigs employees and city of Allentown staff, including the parks and recreation department. The IronPigs players are on the road, beginning a six-game road trip Tuesday in Rochester, N.Y.
"So the IronPigs in cooperation with the [City of Allentown] are helping us transform this, they had the city get the dirt for us, we paid for it, then we have the IronPigs provided all these volunteers. The city's providing machinery, the IronPigs brought their machines over to level out our dirt. So pretty much, you know it's just a whole field makeover we're having."Samuel Rabelo, President of East Side Memorial Little League in Allentown
The project involved reconfiguring the field's dimensions. Recently, league regulations changed in order to maintain game competitiveness. That meant expanding the field by a few dozen feet and making the bases farther apart. Previously, Rabel said, kids at the older end of the league, which is about 13, would dominate, making it no fun for anyone else.
The IronPigs said the work would conform with the new Little League standard of 50 feet from the mound to home plate and 70 feet between bases.
According to Rabelo, the improvements might not be possible without the IronPigs and Allentown. East Side Memorial Little League relies entirely on volunteers in an area that isn't exactly wealthy.
"So the IronPigs in cooperation with the [city of Allentown] are helping us transform this," Rabelo said. "They had the city get the dirt for us, we paid for it, then we have the IronPigs providing all these volunteers.
"The city's providing machinery, and the IronPigs brought their machines over to level out our dirt. So pretty much, you know, it's just a whole field makeover we're having."
Rabelo also told a story of when his young players were invited to an IronPigs game, and got the red-carpet treatment. Camera crews were rolling as the kids were treated to a dramatic entrance with music playing. He said it made the kids feel special.
Kurt Landes, the IronPigs' general manager, said he's delighted the team is able to assist the Little League, and hopes some of the kids might play on his team eventually.
"We hope so," he said. "If they do, or they don't, it's just a chance for letting the kids dream.
"And if you can come to the field as a kid, and you see that field professionally maintained, it allows your dreams to be a little bit bigger that this is what the IronPigs do — this is what they can live up to."
A specific value for the field renovations wasn't given, but Aaron Weisberg, the IronPigs' manager of community relations, said similar projects have cost between $3,000 and $8,000.
