It's still too early for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs to call themselves the Triple-A affiliate of the WORLD CHAMPION Philadelphia Phillies.
But officials here are starting to taste it.
"That would be nice, but I don't want to jinx it," said Danny Tetzlaff, Assistant General Manager of the IronPigs. "I'll keep my fingers crossed."
And the IronPigs organization is pulling for the Fightin' Phils on a professional level and a personal level.
For those who don't know, several players on the Phillies roster donned an IronPigs uniform, at one time or another, over the past year.
"Shane Victorino played a game with us this summer, which was great. A rehab appearance by Shane. We also had Brett Myers when he went from the Major Leagues to the Minor Leagues to work in his game." Tetzlaff said. "We've got one guy on the World Series roster that was a regular with us all summer, J.A. Happ."
And that' s without mentioning three other former IronPigs on the Phillies reserve roster.
It's all part of the reason why plenty of people come to the IronPigs Merchandise Store looking for in-stock Phillies gear.
So in the end, is it fair to say that the Phillies appearance in the World Series is owed to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs?
"That might be taking a few liberties there, but we do have a few ties to the Phillies," Tetzlaff said. "We can enhance it a little bit and say we had a role in this."
There's on other tie: IronPigs manager Dave Huppert has been in the dugout with the Phillies throughout the whole World Series.
