Harrisburg Senators: Difference between revisions
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*''[[Montreal Expos]] (1991–2004)'' |
*''[[Montreal Expos]] (1991–2004)'' |
Revision as of 15:26, 15 December 2017
Harrisburg Senators | |||||
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Minor league affiliations | |||||
Class | Double-A (1987–present) | ||||
League | Eastern League (1987–present) | ||||
Division | Western Division | ||||
Major league affiliations | |||||
Team | Washington Nationals (2005–present) | ||||
Previous teams |
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Minor league titles | |||||
League titles (6) |
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Division titles (4) |
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Team data | |||||
Name | Harrisburg Senators (1987–present) | ||||
Colors | Red, navy blue, gold, white | ||||
Mascot | Rascal | ||||
Ballpark | FNB Field (1987–present) | ||||
Owner(s)/ Operator(s) | Senators Partners LLC | ||||
General manager | Randy Whitaker | ||||
Manager | Matthew LeCroy |
The Harrisburg Senators are a minor league baseball team based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals.
The Senators play at FNB Field, located on City Island in Harrisburg. The stadium originally opened in 1987 as Riverside Stadium, but has since been renamed and renovated. It presently has a seating capacity of 6,187 fans. The "Senators" nickname refers to the host city being the capital and thus home of the Pennsylvania legislature. The team colors are red, navy blue, and gold, the same colors of the parent club, the Washington Nationals.
The city of Harrisburg has won nine Eastern League titles and is the first team in league history to win four titles in a row: 1987, 1993, and 1996–99, while an earlier Senators team won league titles in 1927, 1928 and 1931. The 1993 Senators were recognized as one of the 100 greatest minor league teams of all time.[1]
Previous Harrisburg baseball history
The city of Harrisburg has a long history of professional baseball. The Harrisburg Base Ball Association existed as long ago as 1884 (according to a stock certificate issued on March 1, 1884). According to another source, in 1901, the first baseball club in Harrisburg was created. In 1912, Harrisburg won the first of three Tri-State Association championships in a row. In 1915, an affilitated International League team moved from Newark, New Jersey, to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The club lasted one year before moving to the New York State League and disbanding. This left the city without professional baseball for seven years.
In 1924, an incarnation of the Senators joined the newly formed New York–Penn League which was eventually renamed the Eastern League. Initially, the Senators and most of the other New York–Penn League teams were not affiliated with a Major League Baseball team. In 1927, the Senators started a five-year campaign with three Eastern league championships, winning titles in 1927, 1928, and 1931. The Senators' reign ended in 1936, when flood waters from the surrounding Susquehanna River ruined their home ballpark, Island Field.
Another team representing Harrisburg affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates formed four years later, though in the smaller Interstate League. Like the Senators before it, the team gained success quickly, winning the league title one year later. The success, however, was short lived, as the team moved to nearby York in 1943. Another team affiliated with the Cleveland Indians was created, but was not as successful. The Interstate League disbanded this Harrisburg team in 1952, and any form of professional baseball was not played in the city for the next 35 years.
Modern franchise history
New England roots
The modern Harrisburg Senators origin come from the New England states.[2] First established in 1976 as an affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers, the Berkshire Brewers played one season in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. After that season, they moved to Holyoke, Massachusetts where they took the nickname the Millers.
In 1981, the franchise changed affiliations, moving from the Brewers to the California Angels. After the 1982 season, the team relocated to Nashua, New Hampshire as the Nashua Angels. After the 1983 season, the team's affiliation changed again, this time to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The team changed its name then to the Nashua Pirates.
At the same time, during the mid-1980s, Harrisburg Mayor Stephen Reed initiated a revitalization plan that included a ballpark for a new Minor League Baseball team in the city. This ballpark, named Riverside Stadium attracted the Pittsburgh Pirates, which moved the Nashua Pirates to Harrisburg. The team was renamed the Harrisburg Senators, in a nod to the old Senators franchise.
The Senators
Like the original Senators, success was quick, winning the Eastern League championship in its very first season. In 1991, affiliation shifted from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Montreal Expos, an affiliation continuing through that team's move to Washington, D.C. The first several years of affiliation with Montreal brought consecutive championships from 1996 to 1998. In 1999, the Senators played the Norwich Navigators for a shot at their record-setting fourth consecutive Eastern League Championship. In the bottom of the ninth inning of game 5, the Senators trailed by 3 runs, but with 2 outs, the bases loaded, and a full count Milton Bradley hit a walk-off grand slam to right center field to win the fourth straight championship for the Senators, an Eastern League first.[3] In 2003, Sueng Song pitched the first no-hitter in modern Senators history.
Uniforms and logo
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Senators primary 1987–2005
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Senators primary 2006–2012
The official colors of the Harrisburg Senators are red, navy blue and metallic gold. The home and away uniforms resemble those of the Washington Nationals, with a red cap for home games and navy blue for away. Both caps include the "H" and streaking baseball logo, with the "H" in the same script as the Nationals' pretzel-shaped "W." The white home jerseys include red and navy blue trim around the collar and sleeves with the "Senators" wordmark in red with metallic gold bevels and navy blue outline. The grey away jersey has navy blue and red trim around the collar and sleeves, with the "Harrisburg" wordmark in navy blue with metallic gold bevels and red outline. Both wordmarks are identical to the Nationals brand.
In 2007, the Senators added a unique logo to their brand, incorporating the prevalent and much reviled mayfly into the "H." Because of FNB Field's location on City Island in the Susquehanna River, thousands of mayflies are attracted to the ballpark's bright lights and die. The dead mayflies fall onto the fans below, obscuring their view.
Ownership
The city of Harrisburg paid $6.7 million in 1995 to acquire the team from the previous owners of the franchise, who were planning to move the team to a new taxpayer-financed ballpark in Springfield, Massachusetts.[4] Instead of appeasing the desires of the ownership group with a new stadium, Harrisburg Mayor Stephen Reed led the city of Harrisburg to purchase the team instead. The previous owners had bought the team only six months earlier for just $4.1 million. Citing the ballpark as the major link in his downtown revitalization project, when asked how he could afford the hefty price tag, Mayor Reed responded by asking, "how could we not?" For a time, the Senators remained one of the only sports franchises in the United States to be completely owned by the community it is based in. In 2006, the city put the team up for sale to combat a major budget deficit. Mayor Reed stipulated that the new owner must keep the team in Harrisburg for at least 29 years.[4] The team was eventually bought by Senators Partners, LLC of Northbrook, Illinois, headed by Jerry Reinsdorf's son Michael, for an Eastern League record $13.25 Million. Mark Butler, CEO of Ollie's Bargain Outlets, became the team's majority owner in March 2015, replacing Michael Reinsdorf who was principal owner and managing partner; the purchase price was not disclosed.[5]
Triple-A franchise bid
In mid-2005, Peter Angelos, the owner of the Baltimore Orioles, gained the permission of the AA Eastern League and the AAA International League to move Baltimore's AAA affiliate from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada to Harrisburg.[6] One of the hangups with the agreement was that a buyer for the AA Senators franchise had to be found. The Ottawa franchise moved to Allentown, Pennsylvania as the AAA team for the Philadelphia Phillies, renamed as the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.[6] The Baltimore Orioles also signed a player development deal with the Norfolk Tides of the International League. The Tides became be the AAA affiliate of the Orioles.
Stadium renovation
FNB Field received a much-awaited, $32 million renovation ($19.1 million in state funding), in two stages. Originally the renovation was to begin in 2005, however delays in state funding for the project were postponed until 2008, meaning the improvements were not implemented for Senators fans until the 2009 season at the earliest, and the 2nd stage was completed before the 2010 season.
Broadcast
Every Harrisburg Senators ballgame is aired on 1460 the Ticket (AM 1460 WTKT – Clear Channel). Terry Byrom has been the voice of the Senators since 2005.[7] The games are also streamed on the team's website, senatorsbaseball.com. Some games are also aired on the local TV station, Comcast Network, and occasionally has games aired on MASN. The first radio play-by-play broadcaster for the Senators was Dan Kamal, who did the broadcasts from 1987 until the mid-1990s. Kamal at the time was also the radio voice of the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League. He later was a TV analyst and studio host for the Atlanta Thrashers and then the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League.
Roster
Players | Coaches/Other | |||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
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Manager Coaches
60-day injured list
7-day injured list |
Prominent Senators who made the Major Leagues
The players listed below had played for the Senators at one point or another before going on to the Major Leagues.[8]
- Moisés Alou
- Pedro Astacio
- Tony Armas
- Michael Barrett
- Miguel Batista
- Chad Bentz
- Richard Bleier
- Geoff Blum
- Milton Bradley
- Orlando Cabrera
- Wil Cordero
- Cliff Floyd
- Vladimir Guerrero
- Bryce Harper
- Jeff King
- Cliff Lee
- Sandy León
- Guillermo Mota
- Brandon Phillips
- Brian Schneider
- Matt Stairs
- Stephen Strasburg
- Ugueth Urbina
- José Vidro
- Jake Westbrook
- Rondell White
- Josh Whitesell
- Brad Wilkerson
- Ryan Zimmerman
- Chris Young
- Lucas Giolito
Team records
Season records
This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Senators. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Harrisburg Senators seasons
Year (affiliation) | Wins | Losses | Winning Pct. | GB (Division Standing) | Manager |
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2013 (Washington Nationals) | 77 | 65 | .542 | +1 (1st out of 6 in Western Division) | Matthew LeCroy |
2014 (Washington Nationals) | 53 | 89 | .373 | -26 (6th out of 6 in Western Division) | Brian Daubach |
2015 (Washington Nationals) | 67 | 75 | .472 | -12 (5th out of 6 in Western Division) | Brian Daubach |
2016 (Washington Nationals) | 76 | 66 | .535 | -1.5 (3rd out of 6 in Western Division) | Matthew LeCroy |
2017 (Washington Nationals) | 60 | 80 | .429 | -14 (6th out of 6 in Western Division) | Matthew LeCroy |
CURRENT SENATORS TOTAL | 2215 | 2154 | .507 | ||
ALL TIME TOTAL | 3043 | 2953 | .508 |
– in GB is behind, + in GB is ahead Bold years are Eastern League Championship years
Individual season records
Batting records | |||
---|---|---|---|
Games | 141 | Jamie Carroll | 1999 |
At Bats | 565 | Brandon Watson | 2003 |
Runs | 134 | Lawrence Fischer | 1932 |
Hits | 198 | Horace McBride | 1930 |
Total Bases | 355 | Joe Munson | 1925 |
Doubles | 40 | Horace McBride | 1930 |
Triples | 21 | Horace McBride | 1930 |
Home Runs | 37 | Andy Tracy | 1999 |
RBI | 129 | Joe Munson | 1925 |
Walks | 93 | Val Pascucci | 2002 |
Strikeouts | 139 | Andy Tracy | 1999 |
Sacrifices | 30 | Glenn Killinger | 1928 |
Sacrifice Flies | 11 | Lance Belen | 1988 |
Stolen Bases | 52 | Jim Reboulet | 1987 |
Batting Average | .400 | Joe Munson | 1925 |
Pitching records | |||
---|---|---|---|
Games | 60 | Alberto Reyes | 1994 |
Complete Games | 22 | Louis Polli | 1927 |
Shutouts | 5 | Louis Polli | 1927 |
Wins | 23 | Clint Brown | 1928 |
Losses | 18 | Clint Parkes | 1929 |
Saves | 35 | Alberto Reyes | 1994 |
Innings | 292 | Charles Parkes | 1929 |
Walks | 130 | Bill Dietrich | 1931 |
Strikeouts | 161 | Ronald Chiavacci | 2001 |
ERA | 2.15 | Clint Brown | 1928 |
References
- ^ "Top 100 Teams". MiLB.com. 2001. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
- ^ Eastern League history
- ^ Harrisburg Senators
- ^ a b Morrow, Geoff (January 7, 2007). "Reed, Interest in Senators' sale is on rise". Harrisburg Patriot-News. Retrieved January 7, 2007.
{{cite web}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ "Harrisburg Senators announce change in ownership". ABC 27 News. February 25, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2017. includes text and video.
- ^ a b Loverro, Thom (August 18, 2005). "O's, Nats battle over Harrisburg". The Washington Times. Retrieved January 7, 2007.
- ^ "Broadcaster Terry Byrom embraces Metro Bank Park's unique radio booth location". Retrieved 2016-08-19.
- ^ "The Official Site of The Harrisburg Senators | senatorsbaseball.com Homepage" (PDF). Harrisburg Senators. Retrieved 2017-09-19.