Scranton\/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders catcher Payton Henry has had this week circled on the schedule for a while.<\/p>\n
For the first time this season, the RailRiders face the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They opened a six-game series Tuesday night at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, Pa., with a 15-4 victory. Henry played for Lehigh Valley last season. Now, he is on the other side of the intrastate rivalry.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be fun. I still have a lot of buddies over there,\u201d Henry said. \u201cLot of the coaching staff is the same, lot of the players are the same, some guys I made some really good relationships with. It\u2019s going to be fun. That park is a good park, they bring people there and people love showing up. I think it\u2019s a really fun place to play whether you\u2019re at home or visiting.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a great place, I appreciated my time with them. It\u2019ll be fun. I know they\u2019ve got a pretty good team and obviously we have a really good team. I think it will be a good time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because of the New York Yankees\u2019 rivalry with the Boston Red Sox and New York Mets, people try to make it a big deal when the RailRiders play the Worcester Red Sox or Syracuse Mets. However, Lehigh Valley is the RailRiders\u2019 true rival. They are separated by just 76 miles. The winner of the season series brings home the IronRail Trophy. Plus, from 1989 to 2006, Scranton\/Wilkes-Barre was home to the Phillies\u2019 Triple-A affiliate in the form of the Red Barons.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor this area, I know it\u2019s a big deal when we play each other,\u201d Henry said. \u201cBeing on the other side, this team whooped our butts last year a few times. We kind of went back and forth. Hopefully, we can take the cake (this year) and play some good ball. It\u2019s exciting for people around here. It makes it kind of cool and gives us a little more edge to play with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last season, Henry was a bit of a thorn for the RailRiders. He had 11 home runs and 47 RBI for the IronPigs, but five of those home runs and 15 RBI came against the RailRiders, including two home runs on Opening Day in a 5-4 Lehigh Valley win. He also is the last opponent to hit a grand slam against the RailRiders.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh yeah, everybody\u2019s talked to me about it,\u201d Henry said. \u201cI loved it last year. Now I\u2019m the bad guy all of the sudden. Hopefully we can go over there and get some wins from them and do some good things against them, too. But I\u2019ve been talked to about it a few times. It\u2019s all in good fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Yankees are the fifth organization for which Henry has played. He was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the sixth round in 2016 (171st overall) out of Pleasant Grove High School in Utah. He\u2019s also played in the minors for affiliates of the Miami Marlins, Toronto Blue Jays, and Phillies. He does have 20 games of major league experience with the Marlins in 2021 and 2022. He made his MLB debut on Sept. 17, 2021, against the Pittsburgh Pirates and got his first hit in his second at-bat \u2014 a double off Wil Crowe leading off the bottom of the fifth.<\/p>\n