Allentown Ambassadors
Independent baseball team in Allentown, Pennsylvania, 1997–2003.
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 Bicentennial Park in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Quick Facts
- City
- Allentown, Pennsylvania
- Class level
- Independent (1997–2003)
- League
- Northeast League (2003)
- Northern League (2000–2002)
- Northeast League (1997–1999)
- Nickname
- Allentown Ambassadors (1997–2003)
- Ballpark
- Bicentennial Park (1997–2003)
Facts from the source article.
History
In 1996, Allentown received a Northeast League franchise to replace the Rhode Island Tiger Sharks. Before the first season, 16-year Major League veteran Ken Oberkfell was named manager in the summer of 1996, but he left on December 19, 1996, to manage the Piedmont Boll Weevils. Former Major League catcher Ed Ott replaced him. The Ambassadors finished 1997 with a 39–43 record, leading the league in runs per game, batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage, and drew 69,537 fans (third in the league). In 1998, they went 52–32 but lost in the first playoff round to the New Jersey Jackals; attendance rose to 122,000 (about 2,900 per game), best in the league. The Northeast League merged with the Northern League in 1999, and Allentown won the regular season title at 47–39 but again lost to New Jersey in the playoffs. The 2000 record fell to 42–43, and the team missed the playoffs as attendance slipped. In 2001, the Ambassadors went 43–47, last in the South Division, with continued attendance decline. The 2002 season was a low point: a 26–64 record, 36½ games out of first, and average attendance of about 1,700 per game. In 2003, the team finished 32–58, 20½ games out, and drew only about 40,000 fans (888 per game), the fourth-worst attendance in independent baseball. Grammy Award winner John Mayer performed at the park during the final season, drawing the largest crowd in the venue's history.
Notable Major League alumni
Twenty former Major League players appeared for the Ambassadors over seven seasons. No Ambassador player, whether a former Major Leaguer or not, later reached the Majors after playing with the team. In 1997, starting pitcher Jeff Mutis, a first-round draft pick of the Cleveland Indians in 1989 who had pitched for the Indians and Florida Marlins, signed with the Ambassadors but pitched only two games before retiring. Andy Carter started 13 games in 1997, going 8–3 with a 3.46 ERA; he had appeared in 68 games for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1994 and 1995. In 1998, third baseman Kim Batiste hit .307 with 10 home runs in 60 games; he had played 251 Major League games for the Phillies and San Francisco Giants. Shortstop Pablo Martinez appeared in ten games before being signed by the Milwaukee Brewers; he had played four games for the Atlanta Braves in 1996. Right-handed pitcher Rich Hunter went 17–12 over 1998 and 1999 with the Ambassadors; he had won the Paul Owens Award in 1995 and gone 3–7 with a 6.49 ERA in 14 starts for the Phillies in 1996. Left-hander Tom Thobe started three games in 1998 with a 5.79 ERA; he had a 4.82 ERA in seven games for the Braves in 1995–1996. In 1999, outfielder Scott Bullett hit .361 with a .407 on-base percentage in 91 plate appearances before leaving for Campeche Piratas; he had batted .233 in the Majors for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs. First baseman Jay Gainer set the team single-season home run record with 22 in 1999, hitting .360/.457/.734; he had hit three homers for the Colorado Rockies in 1993 and returned to the Ambassadors in 2001.
More in Defunct Independent Baseball League Teams
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced