Like many other decisions in baseball, the latest round of major league expansion had a domino effect on the minor leagues. In 1995, Arizona and Tampa Bay were awarded major league franchises to play their inaugural season in 1998. To keep pace, baseball's rookie level added two teams in 1996. The following year, Class 'A' and Class 'AAA' each increased by two teams.

That left only Class 'AA' in need of expansion to match the number of teams in the big leagues. In 1997, the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, as it was then called, decided the Eastern League would receive the two new franchises to start play in 1999. Erie was an easy first choice of the NAPBL's expansion committee. After all, the SeaWolves had established short-season attendance records in the new Uht Park as part of the New York-Penn League.

The awarding of the second franchise wasn't easy. For months, it seemed Springfield, Massachusetts would land the team. However, an inability to finalize land and stadium finance deals left the NAPBL looking for another option. Enter Altoona. City native Bob Lozinak, Bedford developer Tate DeWeese, and a group of Pennsylvania lawmakers put together an eleventh-hour stadium financing package and site plan. The proposal was presented to the expansion committee at an October 5, 1997 meeting in Las Vegas. It received unanimous approval and Double-A baseball was on its way to Central Pennsylvania.

The first major decision for the owners of the new Altoona franchise was to select an ideal location to serve as the site for a future ballpark. DeWeese had scouted a location for the Curve's future home long before an expansion team became an option for Altoona. Applying a developer's singular vision for what might be, DeWeese identified a grassy patch in the shadow of Lakemont Park's iconic wooden rollercoaster as an ideal location for today's Blair County Ballpark.

Ballpark groundbreaking ceremonies took place in March 1998 and the franchise was officially awarded the following month. In June of that year, the Altoona entry selected "Curve" as its nickname. The combination railroad/baseball moniker beat out several choices like "Lake Monsters", "Ridge Runners", and believe it or not, "Fish"!

The next step for the Curve was affiliating with a major league team. Erie seemed to have an inside track on becoming the Pirates' new Double-A affiliate, as the SeaWolves had served as Pittsburgh's short-season club from 1995-98. However, after a series of meetings with potential major league parent clubs, the Curve landed the coveted affiliation with the Pirates. The September 1998 announcement took the franchise to another level as the U.S. 22 pairing seemed an ideal fit. Central Pennsylvania baseball fans, with their strong Pirates' roots, could now cheer for the Buccos' top prospects on their way to Pittsburgh.

The long-awaited first game in Curve history took place on April 9, 1999 in Reading, PA. The game against the Phillies' affiliate was suspended by rain and completed the next day as part of a doubleheader. For the record, the Curve lost its first contest, 6-2, but recorded its first win hours later with a 6-4 decision in game two of the April 10 twinbill.

Finally, the Curve christened Blair County Ballpark on April 15 with a triumph over the Bowie Baysox. A huge crowd of 6,171 attended the history-making contest despite cold, rainy weather.

After three remarkable seasons, Lozinak and DeWeese sold the franchise to a group headed by Pittsburgh attorney Chuck Greenberg on April 2, 2002. Among the limited partners in Greenberg's collective: Pittsburgh Penguins' owner, star center and NHL Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux; Pittsburgh Steelers' all-pro running back Jerome Bettis and Altoona-based businessmen Steve Sheetz and Don Devorris.

Despite the ownership change, the Curve franchise enjoyed its most successful season to that point, drawing a record 363,871 fans to Blair County Ballpark. On August 5, 2002 the Curve announced a new four-year affiliation agreement with the Pirates, securing one of major league baseball’s strongest affiliations through the 2006 season.

During the 2003 season, the Curve, led by third-year manager Dale Sveum took the franchise to new heights on the field, posting a 78-63 regular season record and securing the club's first-ever Eastern League postseason berth, losing to the eventual Eastern League champion Akron Aeros three games to one in the first round of the playoffs. The playoff run helped fuel yet another franchise attendance record as 365,376 fans came through the gates at Blair County Ballpark.

In 2004, the Curve, now managed by Tony Beasley, finished with a league-best 85-56 record and not only returned to the playoffs, but took the next step and advanced to the Eastern League Championship Series for the first time in club history before losing to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. 2004 also turned out to be a banner year at the gates as the Curve added a fifth consecutive franchise attendance record after drawing 394,062 fans to Blair County Ballpark. Among those 394,000+ fans who attended Curve home games in 2004 included Vice President Dick Cheney, who attended the club's Fourth of July game against Harrisburg. Following the season, Curve General Manager Todd Parnell was honored as the Eastern League Executive of the Year, while the franchise was presented the prestigious Larry MacPhail Trophy symbolizing the top promotional effort, both on and off the field, in all of minor league baseball.

The 2006 season proved to be a banner season for the Curve and the club's ownership group, Curve Baseball LP. In Altoona, the franchise continued to pack Blair County Ballpark and established several series and single-game attendance records. The highlight of the season, and arguably the top moment in the first eight seasons of Curve baseball, came on July 12th, when Altoona played host to the 2006 Eastern League All-Star Game. A Blair County Ballpark-record crowd of 9,308 was on hand to witness Curve All-Star Brett Roneberg take home Most Valuable Player honors in a 5-3 win for the Southern Division All-Stars.

Just a few weeks earlier, the Curve helped launch a new affiliated minor league club in Central Pennsylvania as the short-season Class-A State College Spikes began play in the historic New York-Penn League. The Spikes opened brand-new Medlar Field at Lubrano Park on June 20, 2006 before over 5,500 fans and finished their inaugural campaign as one of the top draws in the Penn League. Medlar Field, which is uniquely shared by both the State College franchise and Penn State University's NCAA baseball program, instantly joined Altoona's Blair County Ballpark as one of the premier professional baseball facilities in the country. The Spikes capped an amazing inaugural season by announcing in September 2006 that the club, like their sister franchise in Altoona, would become a Pittsburgh Pirates' affiliate through at least the 2010 season.

The amazing 2006 season for the Curve Family continued even after the bats and balls had been long put away. In the Fall of 2006, the franchise won two prestigious awards, most notably, the John H. Johnson President's Trophy, which is given annually to Minor League Baseball's top club on the basis of long-time franchise stability, contributions to and promotion of the baseball industry and the financial success of the team. Curve President & Managing Partner Chuck Greenberg accepted the award on behalf of the franchise at the Baseball Winter Meetings in Orlando, FL on December 8, 2006. Also, the Curve was honored by Baseball America as the 2006 winner of the Double-A Bob Freitas Award.

The on-field and off-field success of the Curve continued throughout the 2007 season. For the sixth consecutive year, the club eclipsed the 350,000 mark in overall attendance and on June 1st the franchise officially welcomed its 3 millionth fan to Blair County Ballpark. Despite failing to reach the Eastern League playoffs for the first time since 2002, the club managed to post the league’s fourth-best record (73-68) and enjoyed a sixth straight winning campaign. The 2007 edition of the Curve also featured one of the club’s most prospect-laden rosters, highlighted by Pirates’ top prospects, outfielder Andrew McCutchen and third baseman Neil Walker. While McCutchen and Walker garnered plenty of attention throughout the season, it was first baseman Steven Pearce, who stole most of the headlines. Pearce, the Pirates’ eighth round pick in the 2005 June Draft out of the University of South Carolina, enjoyed one of the finest seasons in club history and among the most productive among all players in Minor League Baseball en route to being named the 2007 Topps/Minor League Player of the Year. Pearce, who began the season at Class-A Lynchburg before his promotion to Altoona on May 1st, hit .334 with 14 home runs and 72 RBI before a promotion to Triple-A in late July. He ended his season in the major leagues, becoming the first Pirates’ position player since 1999 to make the jump from Class-A to the big leagues in the same season.

courtesy:  altoonacurve.com