Allentown Ambassadors

The Allentown Ambassadors were a independent minor league baseball team that played in the Northeast and Northern Leagues from 1997-2003. The team played at Bicentennial Park, formerly Fairview Field, in Allentown. 

Allentown hadn't had pro baseball since the Allentown Red Sox left in 1960, and the Ambassadors were the city's first re-entry into minor ball since then. The Ambassadors ended up in independent ball when the Phillies used territorial rights to exclude them (although today's Lehigh Valley ball club is Phillies affiliated). The Ambassadors had a successful start and attracted around 3,000 fans per game in 1998 playing at the refurbished Bicentennial Park. That year, they also had Kim Batiste on the team, who had played for the '93 Phillies World Series team. Like many minor league teams, as the years goes on the interest can dwindle and so do the team's finances. Unfortunately, attendance dwindled for the Ambassadors and the team was losing money by the early 2000s.

The Ambassadors continued on until new stadiums became the talk of the town.  Their owner eventually endorsed the new stadium plan for a different ownership group, which would eventually become the Ironpigs, and the Ambassadors folded in 2004.