Even Phillies fans who are not old enough to personally remember the 1964 Phillies collapse, have certainly heard about what happened. Current Lehigh Valley IronPigs fans have experienced a similar collapse over the past couple of weeks. While both were drastic for fans, they did have different causes. The ’64 Phillies simply couldn’t win and panic set in. The ’25 IronPigs lost a great number of key players both to promotions to the Phillies and some slumps.

The IronPigs lost pitcher Mick Abel and infielder/outfielder Otto Kemp to the Phillies because of injuries at the major league level. Both were key assets for Lehigh Valley. They also lost reliever Michael Mercado and infielder Buddy Kennedy to promotions as well. Centerfielder Justin Crawford missed a week because of a quad injury and Adam Schulfer went on the IL for Lehigh Valley. Various other bumps and bruises kept players out of the lineup for a day or two along the way as well.

Over their last 18 games, six IronPigs regulars have hit .250 or less, three starting pitchers had ERAs of 4.50 or higher, and six relievers who appeared in five games or more had an ERA of over 5.00.

Just to clarify how bad the collapse was, consider that the IronPigs led the first half standings by a full seven games with 14 games left to play. The ’64 Phillies had a 6 ½ game lead with 12 left to play. Lehigh Valley led the standings for 57 game days and had been in first place since April 30. Plus, their final six games of the half were against Rochester, the worst team in the International League, and the Red Wings came to town and won four of the five games they played, with one game being rained out.

The good news is that everybody starts anew for the second half. The bad news is that the first half champion gets the added advantage of hosting every game in a season-ending best of three playoff series to determine the league champion. So rather than potentially hosting three playoff games in September, the IronPigs would now have to travel to Jacksonville, who won the first half, to play the best-of-three series.

Not only is that bad news on the field, but it’s bad news for the coffers. Instead of getting three additional home game ticket sales, concessions, and merchandise sales, the team would have to pay to get the whole team and their equipment to Jacksonville, plus have a couple of nights in a hotel for everybody.

Lehigh Valley has not made the playoffs since 2018 when they were Division Champions.

INJURY TO INSULT… In addition to not winning the first half championship, Lehigh Valley has now lost Keaton Anthony to an abductor strain injury and have placed the hot-hitting first baseman on the IL. Since joining Lehigh Valley on June 11, Anthony has hit in all 10 games he has played and had a streak of four-straight, multi-hit games, giving him six multi-hit games during the stretch. In those 10 games, Anthony is batting .400 (16-for-40).

UPS AND DOWNS… Michael Mercado was optioned back to Lehigh Valley by the Phillies and pitcher Alan Rangel, who was supposed to start in Sunday’s rained out game, was recalled by the Phillies for their road trip to Houston. Buddy Kennedy’s trip to Philadelphia was bad news for Weston Wilson, who was optioned to Lehigh Valley. Reliver Nick Vespi (7.85 ERA) was released.

THE SITUATION… The IronPigs begin the second half of the season in Buffalo and then return home Tuesday for a three-game set with Scranton-Wilkes/Barre. After those three games, the two teams race to Scranton for a three-game series there over the Fourth of July weekend. A six-game series in Syracuse sends the league into their annual All-Star Break, which is a misnomer, since the league does not have an all-star game.