Harrisburg Senators

This article is about the baseball team. For other uses, see Harrisburg Senators (disambiguation).

Harrisburg Senators
Founded in 1987 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
File:Senators.png Team logo Cap insignia
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	Montreal Expos (1991–2004) Pittsburgh Pirates (1987–1990)
Minor league titles
League titles (6)	1987 1993 1996 1997 1998 1999
Division titles (4)	1994 1997 2011 2013
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.

Previous Harrisburg baseball history

Main article: Harrisburg Senators (1893–1952)

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.

A stock certificate of the Harrisburg Base Ball Association from 1884.

Modern franchise history

New England roots

The modern Harrisburg Senators origin come from the New England states. 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. In 2003, Sueng Song pitched the first no-hitter in modern Senators history.

Uniforms and logo

• Senators primary 1987–2005
  Senators primary 1987–2005
• Senators primary 2006–2012
  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. 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. 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.

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. 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. 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

Main article: FNB Field

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. 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

Harrisburg Senators roster

Players				Coaches/Other
Pitchers 34 Daison Acosta 39 Garvin Alston 20 Andrew Alvarez 15 Michael Cuevas 32 Miguel Gomez 18 Cole Henry 25 Lucas Knowles 4 Andry Lara 36 Brad Lord 37 Kyle Luckham 30 Todd Peterson 40 Holden Powell 16 Samuel Reyes 48 Orlando Ribalta 6 Dustin Saenz 29 Tyler Schoff 14 Jack Sinclair 28 Ty Tice		Catchers 13 Israel Pineda -- C.J. Stubbs ~ 9 Onix Vega Infielders 7 J.T. Arruda 1 Jordy Barley 2 Jackson Cluff 10 Dérmis Garcia 11 Brady House 8 Cortland Lawson 35 Yohandy Morales Outfielders 3 Dylan Crews 49 Terone Harris III 21 Robert Hassell III 17 Andrew Pinckney 22 Cody Wilson		Manager 26 Delino DeShields Coaches 46 Rigo Beltrán (pitching) 52 Joel Hanrahan (pitching) 37 Jeff Livesey (hitting) 19 Oscar Salazar (development) 7-day injured list * On Washington Nationals 40-man roster ~ Development list # Rehab assignment ∞ Reserve list ‡ Restricted list § Suspended list † Temporarily inactive list Roster updated May 14, 2024 Transactions → More rosters: MiLB • Eastern League → Washington Nationals minor league players

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.

• 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
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

External links

• Harrisburg Senators official site
• Harrisburg Senators' MiLB Page
• Photographs of FNB Field, home of the Harrisburg Senators – Rochester Area Ballparks