The Columbus Clippers come to Coca-Cola Park this week and with them comes one of the most popular IronPigs players of all time.

Andy Tracy was a part of the inaugural season of IronPigs baseball and remains one of the most popular former IronPigs players. His playing days ended after the 2011 season when he was still a productive player with the Reno Aces. At age 37, Tracy hit 18 home runs, drove in 51 runs and batted .288 for the Aces, but decided to call it a career, at least as a player.

When his playing days ended he became the hitting coach for the Williamsport Crosscutters, the Phillies Low-A affiliate at the time. He then moved on to be the hitting coach for the Columbus Clippers and has been the Clippers’ manager since the 2021 season.

Just as he did as a player, Tracy is waiting for that call to the majors.

As a player, Tracy reached his goal, although it wasn’t for as long as he envisioned.

He played 149 games in the majors, primarily with the Montreal Expos. He had 15 games with the Colorado Rockies and 13 with the Phillies.

He is passionate about the game and knows how to handle players, which are two key requisites for a major league manager.

Thinking about Tracy’s return led to thinking about other players who have come through the Lehigh Valley as IronPigs and wondering where they are now.

Weston Wilson was popular with fans both in the Lehigh Valley and in Philadelphia.

After his time with the Phillies ended, he signed with Baltimore and opened the season with Norfolk. He had his contract selected by the Orioles and hit .231 in 21 games, until the O’s decided to try to send him back to Norfolk and he elected free agency instead.

Wilson signed with Seattle, played two games with Tacoma and was then elevated to the majors with the Mariners. The versatile Wilson has played seven games with the Mariners and is batting .143 (2-for-7).

One guy that can be seen around the ballpark from time to time is Matt McBride.

Rather than going into coaching or managing after his playing days, the local product went into the financial world but does some broadcasting with Service Electric as a pregame show co-host on weekends.

McBride probably could have carved out a career like Tracy has in the manager’s office, but decided to go a different way.

Speaking of managers, Dave Brundage is still managing in the minors. Brundy is another guy who should get a shot at being at least a coach in the majors, if not a manager. Brundage took over as the manager of the Sacramento River Cats, the Giants Triple-A affiliate in 2017 and is still there.

Another former IronPigs manager, Gary Jones, is back in the manager’s office.

Earlier this season, the Detroit Tigers fired Triple-A manager Gabe Alvarez for “violation of club policy” when he sent an inappropriate message to a female colleague. Hitting coach Mike Hessman took the reins temporarily, and Jones was hired to run the team back on May 12.

Jones had spent time with the Tigers as a major league coach.

Of course, a pair of former IronPigs managers are coaching in Philadelphia. Dusty Wathan is Don Mattingly’s bench coach, while Anthony Contreras serves as the Phillies third base coach.

IN GOOD STANDING… Lehigh Valley is 6-6 in the second half of the season after splitting its first two series against Syracuse and Rochester. Lehigh Valley, Rochester (Nationals), and Syracuse (Mets) are all 3 ½ games behind Durham (Rays) in the IL East, with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Yankees) two games behind and Buffalo (Blue Jays) and Jacksonville (Marlins) both 2 ½ games out.

A FAMILIAR FACE… The Phillies recently brought back catcher Payton Henry and assigned him to Lehigh Valley. Henry had been with Scranton after signing a minor league deal with the Yankees during the offseason, but was released last week. In 48 games with the RailRiders, Henry hit .224 with four home runs and 14 RBI. The Phillies wasted no time in resigning him to put an IronPigs uniform back on. Henry hit 11-47-.249 with Lehigh Valley last season.

PITCHING BATTLE… The Phillies optioned starter Alan Rangel back to Lehigh Valley and recalled reliever Tanner Banks. The big league club won’t need a fifth starter until about a week after the All-Star Game in Philadelphia, and instead opted to go with another reliever. Rangel and Andrew Painter, who threw six strong outings for Lehigh Valley in Rochester, could both be in a battle to see who gets called back up for the fifth spot in the rotation.