Harrisburg Senators
We drive to City Island, in the middle of the Susquehanna River, to see the Harrisburg Senators at FNB Field. The Double-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals faces off against the Pittsburgh Pirates affiliate, the Altoona Curve.
As game time approached, I drove us through downtown Harrisburg and across the Market Street Bridge to City Island, directly in the middle of the Susquehanna River. The island is devoted to a 62-acre sports complex that includes FNB Field, home of the Harrisburg Senators, the Double-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals.
Originally called Riverside Park when it was built in 1987, the ballpark received a $45 million makeover beginning in 2008. Maintaining this facility is a unique challenge because the Susquehanna has a history of flooding in ways that have not only postponed games but once ended an earlier Senators franchise.
There is evidence that professional baseball was played in Harrisburg as far back as 1884. The Negro League Harrisburg Giants were first established in 1894 and played off and on into the 1950s. A few other teams played short stints in the early part of the century. The first Senators franchise appeared in 1924, joining the New York-Penn League, a minor league circuit that became known in 1938 as the Eastern League, where the Senators play today. That team won three championships in five years before the St. Patrick’s Day floods of 1936 — which caused more than $300 million in damage across the state — destroyed the Senators’ ballpark, then called Island Field.
Two Harrisburg teams emerged in the smaller Interstate League between 1940 and 1952, but when that league disbanded, the city was left without affiliated professional baseball for 35 years.
The current incarnation of the Senators originated in 1976 as the Berkshire Brewers, playing in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. In 1977, they relocated to Holyoke, Massachusetts, as the Millers; then moved to Nashua, New Hampshire, as the Angels and later the Pirates. The franchise arrived in Harrisburg for the 1987 season and in 1991 became affiliated with the Montreal Expos, who would in turn move to Washington, D.C., as the Nationals in 2005 — thus bringing the two historic D.C. baseball monickers, Nationals and Senators, back together in pleasing synchronicity.
The Senators enjoyed immediate success in Harrisburg, winning the Eastern League title in their inaugural season. They won again in 1993, then took four consecutive league championships from 1996-1999, the first-ever team in league history to achieve the feat. The 1993 Senators — led by future Major League All-Stars Cliff Floyd and Rondell White — were recognized by Minor League Baseball in 2001 as one of the 100 greatest teams in minor league history, dominating the Eastern League with a 94-44 record.
I had arranged a ballpark meetup with Joseph George, a member of the “Sensylvania Club” of season ticket holders. He offered to show me around FNB Field to get some additional insights into the ballpark.
We started with the Life-Size Bobblehead Hall of Fame, honoring some of the most beloved players from the current Harrisburg franchise. Inductees have been added each year since 2016 (with the exception of the COVID-canceled 2020 season) and now include Vladimir Guerrero, Cliff Floyd, Bryce Harper, Matt Stairs, Brandon Phillips, Stephen Strasburg, Jamey Carroll, Ryan Zimmerman, Gregg Mace, Michael Barrett, and Aaron Barrett. George flicked the head of Brandon Phillips to prove its bobblehead bona fides; Phillips’ likeness nodded vigorously in confirmation.
We walked around to the right-field concession area under the scoreboard, where a good crowd of fans had gathered to warm up with a pre-game brew.
George offered to buy Dad and me the most essential food item on any menu in the ballpark, the Spot Dog. The Spot was an institution in Harrisburg, first opening in 1939 and appearing in two downtown locations before closing in 2007. But the restaurant lives on at FNB Field, serving its iconic chili dogs with onions and mustard from the same family who founded the restaurant 85 years ago.
Dad went with a classic Spot Dog with cheese. I ordered the Hot Mess, with spicy beef, barbecue sauce, shredded cheddar jack, and onion straws. It was easily one of the tastiest things I’ve ever eaten at a ballpark.
Joseph George, hands on hips, about to order legendary ballpark food
The Hot Mess and the Spot Dog with cheese
The Senators opponent for the evening was the Altoona Curve, affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Neither team had dazzled in 2023, but the Curve were at least a little closer to .500.
A group of about 50 adorable children took the field and shouted out the National Anthem. It was time to play ball.
Cole Henry
The Senators started Cole Henry, the Nationals’ second-round pick in the 2020 draft. After sailing through Single-A Fredericksburg and High-A Wilmington earlier in the season, Henry hit a wall at the Double-A level, allowing 21 runs — all earned — in 18 1/3 innings. He gave up a leadoff single to Curve second baseman Mike Jarvis to start the game but retired the next three hitters.
Aaron Shortridge took the mound for Altoona. The right-hander from Napa, California, had undergone Tommy John surgery in 2020 and was getting plenty of work in 2023. Shortridge knew how to put the ball over the plate, notching 118 strikeouts in 137 innings in Altoona in 2023 but also giving up 153 hits. He too gave up a leadoff single but settled down for a scoreless inning.
I had arranged another meetup at the ballpark, this time with David Driver, author of From Tidewater to the Shenandoah, a thoroughly researched book covering the history of baseball in Virginia. Driver had just returned from war-torn Ukraine, where his Mennonite Central Committee organization has provided humanitarian aid from its office in Warsaw, Poland, since the first Russian invasion in 2014.
Henry’s troubles pitching in Double-A materialized early in the second inning. He gave up a walk and a stolen base before Curve designated hitter Connor Scott blasted a home run to right-center field. The next two batters singled, and Henry was pulled from the game with a sore arm. Altoona pushed one more run across to lead it 3-0.
Jacob Young
Harrisburg replied in the bottom of the third. Following a single by shortstop Lucius Fox and a double by left fielder Robert Hassell III, Jacob Young stepped up and hit a three-run bomb to tie the game.
Young had hit .307 in High-A Wilmington and would put up a .304 batting average in Harrisburg before being promoted briefly to the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings and finally to the big-league Washington Nationals in August, where he hit a respectable .252 in 33 games.
Between-inning entertainment included a rolling-tire race, a hoppity-horse race, mascot Rascal the River Monster leading a procession of kids dressed as mini-Rascals, and a quartet of funky dancers in brightly colored suits.
I ducked into the team store, which I had to myself with the game underway, to find my Perfect Hat for the night. I chose the image of the winking “Uncle Slam.”
The concourse down the left-field line and around the outfield has the feel of a ballpark boardwalk. Casual barstool seats placed under the left-field scoreboard provide a great spot to stop and watch an inning or two.
Back at our seats, I got a message from the woman running the Senators’ social media account. She wanted to take a photo of Dad and me to capture our visit. I turned around and there she was with a camera, ready to shoot.
The teams had traded runs in the fifth, leaving the score tied 4-4. In the bottom of the sixth, Trey Lipscomb, the Nationals’ third-round pick in the 2022 draft, homered to left-center to lead off the inning. Senators hitters followed with a double and a single before Shortridge was finally removed from the game. Lucius Fox ran out a bunt single off reliever Geronimo Franzua to extend Harrisburg’s lead to 6-4.
As I roamed the ballpark, I ran into Rascal for a photo op. While Rascal has been the primary mascot of the Senators since 1998, occasional appearances are made by Grrrrounder the dog and Uncle Slam himself.
As I returned downstairs to sit with Dad, I heard my name being read over the public address system and realized that I had won that night’s raffle! My prizes? A bevy of Bud Light gear.
The sun began to set over downtown Harrisburg, which I could see across the Susquehanna from a vantage point behind the main concessions stand. Mayflies swirled in tremendous numbers around the lighting stanchions. The insects are a common sight on City Island and have given life to one of the Senators’ alternate identities, the Harrisburg Mayflies.
Altoona tightened the score in the top of the eighth on a solo homer by first baseman Mason Martin, making it 6-5 Harrisburg.
I sat above the scouts behind home plate for the final inning. Curve center fielder Matt Frazier led off with a single to left, and the tying run moved to second on a single by right fielder Chavez Young. But Senators closer Tyler Schoff worked out of the jam, inducing a game-ending double play to preserve the win for Harrisburg.
We caught up with Joseph George as we left and thanked him for being such a generous guide to this great little ballpark in Harrisburg.
