Phillies' Harper goes Mutts in Lehigh Valley

Tuesday was already set up to be a special night at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, Pa. The hometown Lehigh Valley IronPigs transformed into the IronMutts and partnered with a dozen local rescue organizations in an effort to encourage adoptions of non-purebred dogs.

Bryce Harper’s involvement was icing on the cake.

According to Lehigh Valley president and general manager Kurt Landes, 44 non-pedigreed mutts were adopted during the game.

In a bit of serendipity, Tuesday also marked the start of Harper’s injury rehab assignment as he works back from a fractured left thumb, adding to the excitement around the ballpark leading up to the game. The Phillies superstar didn’t disappoint, going deep in his first at-bat and adding another homer in the eighth to propel Lehigh Valley to a 10-5 win against Gwinnett in front of more than 10,000 fans.

“It’s kind of a nirvana for a Minor League Baseball team,” Landes said. “We had a great night as far as the promotion, we had great weather, it was all set to be a great Tuesday night for us. But then when you add in a two-time National League MVP, the energy level, the community excitement you could feel in the ballpark and around town, it just kind of elevated the entire experience for everybody.

“It’s everything you work for [to create] an incredible experience for your fans, it’s what you do with promotions and entertainment and experiences, but [some things] we can’t control. And when that happens on top of everything that we’ve worked so hard for, it’s just a perfect symphony of great things coming together.”

As part of Tuesday’s promotion, Lehigh Valley wore dark gray jerseys with “IronMutts” across the chest and special caps emblazoned with a distinctive IronMutts logo featuring a design similar to the club’s primary metal pig logo. The team auctioned off game-worn gear during the game, with proceeds going toward the Animal Food Bank of the Lehigh Valley.

This isn’t the first time the IronPigs have assumed a different identity to honor our friends from the canine world. They previously played as the IronPugs in 2019 and the IronWieners in 2021, along with a host of other identity changes. The club also hosts “Tail Waggin’ Tuesdays” every week, allowing fans to bring their dogs to the game.

But the IronMutts promotion was especially important to Landes because of the adoption component.

“The concept of IronMutts wasn’t to focus on a specific breed … but to have a night for the underdog, for all mutts, the dogs that are not the pure-breeds and they sometimes get forgotten,” he said. “With that in mind, we wanted to work with the rescue organizations and try to have a night where we have as many applications or adoptions as possible.

“You do a lot of great charitable things and theme nights and jerseys and so forth and a lot of them are fun and a lot of them do well with merchandise … but when you have something that strikes a different chord with our staff and our fan base -- it’s not just being funny because we put ‘Jawn’ on our jerseys or, this year it was ‘Scrapple,’ or ‘Wooder Ice,’ or ‘Bacon.’ To have something that ties into a really great philanthropic effort, something that everybody can really get behind, that was special on its own. And then with Harper coming, that really elevated the exposure for that."

Landis also mentioned that the rescue organizations expect more adoptions to come from applications picked up at the ballpark during Tuesday's game.

Meanwhile, Harper continued his rehab with Lehigh Valley on Thursday. He last appeared with the Phillies on June 25 and was batting .318 with a .985 OPS and 15 homers before the injury.