Allentown Red Sox

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 Hazelton (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

1958 Complete Team Statistics


 * 1959 Season
 * Won: 82 Lost: 59  Pct: .582  2nd Place, 3 GB
 * Manager: Sheriff Robinson
 * Attendance: 84,000

1959 Complete Team Statistics


 * 1960 Season
 * Won: 67 Lost: 72  Pct: .482  5th Place, 9 GB
 * Manager: Sheriff Robinson
 * Attendance: 51,654

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