The Allentown Red Sox (A-Sox) were a minor league baseball team, affiliated with the Boston Red Sox and based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, that played from 1958 through 1960 in the Eastern League. At that time, the Eastern League was officially Class A, but, prior to the minor-league classification realignment that took place in 1963, that level was almost equivalent to Double-A.

History

From 1939 through 1952, Allentown had hosted a Class B Interstate League franchise, the Cardinals—also the Dukes, FleetWings and Wings—and for much of that period, it was an affiliate of the namesake St. Louis Cardinals. When the Interstate loop folded, the Cardinals returned to Allentown in 1954 as a member of the Eastern League for three seasons, through 1956.

The Allentown Red Sox franchise dates to 1933 as the Reading Phillies. It became a farm team for the Red Sox in 1938 as the Hazleton (PA) Red Sox. In 1957, the Red Sox purchased the former Detroit Tigers Eastern League team, the Syracuse Chiefs, and moved the club to Allentown mid-season, being operated as an unaffiliated team for the balance of the season. The Red Sox ended their affiliation with their Eastern League team in Albany, New York after the season and reassigned it to Allentown for the 1958 season.

Owned by Joe Buzas, the team played for three seasons at Max Hess Stadium (formerly Breadon Field), owned by Max Hess, Jr., owner of the Allentown Hess Brothers department store. Former Allentown player Tracy Stallard is remembered as the pitcher who served up Roger Maris' 61st home run in 1961 while playing for Boston. Another player who appeared at the stadium was Curt Simmons, a native of Egypt, Pennsylvania, who pitched at Max Hess Stadium in a rehab assignment for the Asheville (NC) Tourists, a farm team of the Philadelphia Phillies. The presence of Curt Simmons filled up the stands. For the 1960 season, Bob Heffner, who graduated from Allentown High School as a two-sport letterman in 1957 played for the A-Sox. He had the best pitching record on the club at 16-9. Heffner later played in the majors for the Red Sox, Cleveland Indians and California Angels in 1968.

The A-Sox's best season was 1960. On September 3, 1960, the Red Sox kept its Eastern League playoff hopes alive with a 7-6, 3-2 sweep of Williamsport at Hess Stadium, the second of four straight doubleheaders the A-Sox played to close out the season. Two days later, Allentown's playoff bid ended in a 5-4, 11-inning defeat at Springfield in the first game of a Labor Day doubleheader. The holiday crowd of 1,297 at Hess Stadium witnessed the last professional baseball game in Allentown for 37 years.

Legacy After the 1960 season, the team was relocated due to a lack of attendance (average of 650 fans per game in 1960), the team moved to Johnstown, Pennsylvania on December 5, 1960, for the 1961 season played as the Johnstown Red Sox at Point Stadium. Over subsequent seasons, the club has remained in the Eastern League under different names in various cities: 1962             York White Roses, York, Pennsylvania (Class A) 1963–1964   Reading Red Sox, Reading, Pennsylvania (Double-A hereafter) 1965–1969   Pittsfield Red Sox, Pittsfield, Massachusetts 1970–1972   Pawtucket Red Sox, Pawtucket, Rhode Island 1973–1982   Bristol Red Sox, Bristol, Connecticut 1983–1994   New Britain Red Sox, New Britain, Connecticut 1995–2015   Hardware City/New Britain Rock Cats, New Britain, Connecticut (affiliated with Minnesota Twins, then Colorado Rockies) 2016–           Hartford Yard Goats, Hartford, Connecticut (Colorado Rockies)

The Red Sox parted company with the franchise in 1995, signing a player development contract with the Trenton Thunder. Since 2003, the Portland Sea Dogs have been Boston's affiliate in the Eastern League.

Seasons 1958 Season Won: 51 Lost: 83 Pct: .381 4th Place Eastern Division, 24 GB Manager: Eddie Popowski Pos Player Avg Pos Player W-L ERA 1B Matthew Daskalakis .273 SP Albert Antinelli 7-10 4.04 2B Douglas Hubacek .305 SP Walt Payne 8-9 4.11 SS Al Moran .206 SP John Issac 10-9 4.01 3B Ed Lavene .249 SP Leverette Spencer 4-8 3.33 C Don Gile .274 SP Ronald Jirsa 2-12 4.02 OF Jerry Mallett .233 SP Edwin Binder 3-5 3.14 OF Jim Tolleson .226 RP Larry Kendig 4-4 3.73 OF John Siegert .245 RP Jack Thomas 3-4 6.29 1958 Complete Team Statistics

1959 Season Won: 82 Lost: 59 Pct: .582 2nd Place, 3 GB Manager: Sheriff Robinson Attendance: 84,000 Pos Player Avg Pos Player W-L ERA 1B Daniel Lynk .299 SP Albert Antinelli 17-9 3.83 2B Marlan Coughtry .296 SP Ronald Cote 14-12 3.89 SS Andrew Madalone .276 SP Hal Kolstad 12-13 3.64 3B Matthew Sczesny .266 SP William Thom 5-3 4.11 C Bob Tillman .272 SP Tracy Stallard 9-4 1.68 OF Jerry Mallett .278 RP Jay Richie 9-5 1.90 OF Richard McCarthy .281 RP Ralph Birkofer 6-1 3.60 OF Ezell King .242 RP Arnold Early 2-5 2.86 1959 Complete Team Statistics

1960 Season Won: 67 Lost: 72 Pct: .482 5th Place, 9 GB Manager: Sheriff Robinson Attendance: 51,654 Pos Player Avg Pos Player W-L ERA 1B Joseph Pedrazzini .285 SP Bob Heffner 16-9 3.23 2B Marlan Coughtry .308 SP William Thom 14-7 4.47 SS John Jenson .275 SP Ben Tench 3-9 4.95 3B Ted Schreiber .257 SP Guido Grilli 9-5 3.31 C Robert Hoffer .225 SP Stan Willis 2-9 6.04 OF Robert Fidler .268 SP Tracy Stallard 4-5 4.82 OF Richard McCarthy .295 RP George Moton 8-7 3.13 OF Paul Jernigan .245 RP Ronald Cote 8-7 4.73 1960 Complete Team Statistics

Major league players

Joe Albanese, 1958 Washington Senators, AL, 1958 Al Cihocki, 1958 Cleveland Indians, AL, 1945 Galen Cisco, 1959 Boston Red Sox, AL, 1961, 1967 New York Mets, NL, 1963-1964 Kansas City Royals, AL, 1969 Marlan Coughtry, 1959, 1960 Boston Red Sox, AL, 1960 Los Angeles Angels, AL, 1962 Kansas City Athletics, AL, 1962 Cleveland Indians, AL, 1962 Arnold Earley, 1959 Boston Red Sox, AL, 1960-1965 Chicago Cubs, NL, 1966 Houston Astros, NL, 1967 Don Gile, 1958, 1959 Boston Red Sox, AL, 1959-1962 Guido Grilli, 1960 Boston Red Sox, AL, 1966 Kansas City Athletics, AL, 1966 Bob Heffner, 1959, 1960 Boston Red Sox, AL, 1963-1965 Cleveland Indians, AL, 1966 Jim Kirby, 1958 Chicago Cubs, NL, 1940 Hal Kolstad, 1959 Boston Red Sox, AL, 1962-1963 Jerry Mallett, 1958, 1959, 1960 Boston Red Sox, AL, 1959 Al Moran, 1958, 1959, 1960 New York Mets, NL, 1963-1964 Jim Pagliaroni, 1958 Boston Red Sox, AL, 1960-1962 Pittsburgh Pirates, NL, 1963-1967 Oakland Athletics, AL, 1967 Seattle Pilots, AL, 1969 Bill Pleis, 1958 Minnesota Twins, 1961-1966 Jay Ritchie, 1958, 1959 Boston Red Sox, AL, 1964-1965 Atlanta Braves, NL, 1966-1967 Cincinnati Reds, NL, 1968 Ted Schreiber, 1959, 1960 New York Mets, NL, 1963 Tracy Stallard, 1959, 1960 Boston Red Sox, AL, 1960-1962 New York Mets, NL, 1963-1964 St. Louis Cardinals, NL, 1965-1966 Bob Tillman, 1959 Boston Red Sox, AL, 1962-1967 New York Yankees, AL, 1967 Atlanta Braves, NL, 1968-1970

See also

Sports in Allentown, Pennsylvania History of baseball in Allentown, Pennsylvania

Notes

References

Minor league park was a major hit, Allentown Morning Call, March 30, 2008 baseball-reference.com (All team and player statistics and teams) Red Sox Double-A Affiliate History (Eastern League became AA in 1963)