Allentown Ambassadors

In 1996, Allentown was granted a franchise in the Northeast League,[1] replacing the Rhode Island Tiger Sharks.

On December 19, 1996, Oberkfell would leave to become the manager of the Piedmont Boll Weevils of the South Atlantic League.

[4] In 1998, the team continued to improve, sporting an impressive 52–32 record but lost in the first round of the playoffs to the New Jersey Jackals.

[5] Grammy Award winning recording artist John Mayer performed at the park during the Ambassadors final season.

Just weeks before the Ambassadors were to begin their 2004 season, team owner Peter Karoly announced that he was folding the team as the Ambassadors filed for bankruptcy while simultaneously announcing his support for an affiliated baseball proposal from a group led by Craig Stein and Joseph Finley, who were working on obtaining a $12 million grant from the state for a new baseball facility.

In April 2008, professional baseball returned to Allentown, when the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the AAA-level Philadelphia Phillies team, began play at Coca-Cola Park, a new, 8,500-capacity stadium.