IronPigs Have Been Crucial to Phillies Success

As the month of April drew to a close, this couldn’t have possibly been more apparent to the followers of the Philadelphia Phillies. With several key players being sidelined for a myriad of reasons in the early going, the inhabitants of Coca- Cola Park in Allentown have provided much needed relief efforts for the citizens of Citizens Bank Park.

On Saturday, April 30, one of the Iron Pigs played an instrumental role in Roy Halladay’s superb complete-game five-hitter in a 2-1 victory over the visiting New York Mets. All Dane Sardinha did at the plate, was go 0-1, albeit with two walks, but his efforts as Doc’s catcher, helping the 2010 Cy Young Award winner, literally was a record book performance.

In the victory, Sardinha consistently put down the correct signals, as Halladay threw his first eighteen pitches for strikes, an incredible feat that hadn’t been accomplished in the major leagues since 1991. Then again, hitting was never the strong suit for Sardinha, a 32 year-old native of Honolulu, Hawaii, whose presence gives the Phillies a second Hawaiian, the first, of course being the “Flying Hawaiian,” gold-glove center-fielder, Shane Victorino.

Sardinha, who is up to back up catcher Brian Schneider, as starter Carlos Ruiz, recovers from a, hopefully, minor back injury, appeared in 13 games for the Phillies last year, batting .205, with 2 doubles and 3 home runs.

The veteran catcher, who attended the Kamehameha School in Honolulu, attended the prestigious Pepperdine University in California, before signing with the Cincinnati Reds in the 2000 amateur draft, has two younger brothers in the minor leagues. Both brothers are currently playing in the Colorado Rockies system, Duke, an infielder, and Bronson, an outfielder.

Dane also appeared briefly in the majors with both Cincinnati and the Detroit Tigers. Sardinha replaced left-hander Mike Zagurski on the roster, another earlier call-up who appeared in two games for the Phillies.

Earlier, on Friday April 29, the Phillies summoned right-hander from Lehigh Valley, to start for the injured Joe Blanton, who went on the disabled list with elbow soreness. All Worley did was shut out the Mets over six innings on two hits in a 10-3 victory.

Later in that very same game, another Lehigh Valley Iron Pig, Michael Stutes, a young right-hander out of Oregon, pitched his second scoreless and hitless inning. Stutes had made his major league debut on April 25 at Arizona, setting the Diamondbacks down in order.

In addition to the contributions made by the 2011 Iron Pigs, a Lehigh Valley star of 2010, who had made the 2011 Phillies opening day roster, has already played a major role in two come-from-behind victories for Charlie Manuel’s ballclub. Big John had the walk-off pinch- hit single on opening day and followed that up with a huge clutch hit on the last day of April.

With hurling an outstanding game, but trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Mayberry blasted a 3-2 offering from Jonathon Niese over the left-field wall, to tie the game. The Phillies would go on to score another run in the frame on a sacrifice fly by Placido Polanco in the 2-1 victory over the Mets.

Young Mr. Mayberry, perhaps the biggest star on the Iron Pigs during the 2010 season, is certainly making the most of the limited opportunities afforded him, as is .345 batting average will no doubt result in increased playing time.

There is no doubt about this fact: The Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs are instrumental to the success of the Philadelphia.