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 in Metro Bank Park, located on City Island in Harrisburg; originally opened in 1987 as Riverside Stadium, the stadium seats 6,302 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. Harrisburg has won nine Eastern League titles and is the first team in league history to win four titles in a row: 1927 , 1928 , 1931 , 1987 , 1993 , and 1996 -99 .

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Franchise history

The city of Harrisburg has a long history of professional baseball. 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. 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.

The original Senators

In 1924, the first 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 1925, Joe Munson hit a .400 batting average, a record which stands to this day in Senators history, and 33 home runs, a Senators record that was not broken until 1999. In 1927, the Senators started a five-year campaign with three Eastern league championships, winning titles in 1927, 1928, and 1931. The year 1932 brought the Senators an affiliation with the Boston Braves. The original Harrisburg Senators' reign ended in 1936, when flood waters from the surrounding Susquehanna River ruined their home ballpark, Island Field. The flood effectively ended Eastern League participation for the next fifty-one years.

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 with stars Billy Cox and Dennis Taylor. 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.

The current Senators

In 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. In 1987, Harrisburg opened Metro Bank Park (then known as Riverside Stadium) to the current Senators of the Eastern League, originally affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates. This franchise was moved to Harrisburg from Nashua, New Hampshire, and had also played in the Massachusetts cities of Holyoke and Pittsfield.

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. ^[1] In 2003, Sueng Song pitched the first no-hitter in modern Senators history.

Uniforms and logo

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 Metro Bank Park'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. ^[2] 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.

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 to Harrisburg. ^[3] 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 will now be the AAA affiliate of the Orioles. With all links to the next level of baseball ended, with two AAA teams now in eastern Pennsylvania, and the nearby cities of Lancaster and York gaining independent franchises, the future of AAA ball in Harrisburg is doubtful.

Stadium renovation

Metro Bank Park received a much-awaited, $32 million renovation ($19.1 million in state funding) renovation, 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 to be completed before the 2010 season.

Broadcast

Every Harrisburg Senators ballgame is aired on 1460 the Ticket (AM 1460 WTKT - Clear Channel). 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.

Roster

Players				Coaching staff
Pitchers 32 Adam Carr 35 Adrian Alaniz 29 Andrew Known -- Beltran Perez † 26 Bobby Brownlie 16 Carlos Martinez -- Cory VanAllen † 27 Jordan Zimmermann 36 Josh Perrault 28 Justin Jones 46 Steven Schmoll 47 Tim Bittner -- Tristan Crawford † 17 Yunior Novoa 40 Zack Segovia † disabled list ‡ temporary inactive list * rehab assignment updated August 3, 2008		Catchers 10 Devin Ivany 44 Javi Herrera Infielders 11 Bill Rhinehart 23 Ian Desmond  7 Jemel Spearman  4 Marco Yepez † 14 Matt Roglestad ‡ 11 Offlio Castro  8 Seth Bynum Outfielders 39 Edgardo Baez 25 Marvin Lowrence 20 Mike Daniel -- Justin Maxwell †  3 Garrett Guzman		Manager 12 John Stearns Coaches  2 Troy Gingrich (hitting) 12 Rick Tomlin (pitching)    Beth Jarrett (trainer)

Prominent Senators that made the Major Leagues

The players listed below had at one time or another, played for the Senators before going on to the Major Leagues. ^[4]

Moisés Alou Pedro Astacio Tony Armas Michael Barrett Miguel Batista Chad Bentz Geoff Blum Milton Bradley

Orlando Cabrera Wil Cordero Cliff Floyd Vladimir Guerrero Cliff Lee Guillermo Mota Brian Schneider Matt Stairs

Ugueth Urbina Jose Vidro Jake Westbrook Rondell White Josh Whitesell Brad Wilkerson Ryan Zimmerman Chris Young (pitcher)

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 Harrisburg Senators seasons

Year (affiliation)	Wins	Losses	Winning Pct.	GB (Division Standing)	Manager
2005 (Washington Nationals)	64	78	.451	-20 (5th out of 6 in Southern Division)	Keith Bodie
2006 (Washington Nationals)	67	75	.472	-20 (5th out of 6 in Southern Division)	John Stearns
2007 (Washington Nationals)	55	86	.390	-26.5 (6th out of 6 in Southern Division)	Scott Little
2008 (Washington Nationals)	73	69	.514	-11 (3rd out of 6 in Southern Division)	John Stearns
2009 (Washington Nationals)	51	61	.455	-19 (5th out of 6 in Southern Division)	John Stearns
CURRENT SENATORS TOTAL	1642	1563	.512
ALL TIME TOTAL	2470	2362	.511

- 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

• All info from 2007 Eastern League Media Guide

References

1. Harrisburg Senators
2. Reed, Interest in Senators' sale is on rise
3. O's, Nats battle over Harrisburg
4. http://www.senatorsbaseball.com/pdf/alltimeroster.pdf