FNB Field - Harrisburg Senators

Bowie Baysox (BAL) @ Harrisburg Senators (WAS)

June 16, 2024

Baysox 8, Senators 3

W: Alex Pham
L: Michael Cuevas

HR: John Rhodes (BOW), Dylan Crews (HBG)

Attendance: 5,846
Time of Game: 2 hours, 38 minutes

Stadium Facts

Location: Harrisburg, PA
Opened: 1987
Capacity: 6,187
Level: Double A
League: Eastern

The finale of my NY/PA trip was in Harrisburg, PA.  While Harrisburg is less than 100 miles from Altoona, the drive is considerably longer than that because of those pesky Appalachian Mountains in between.  It was still a relatively easy Sunday morning drive for me though.  Even though Harrisburg is only about a two hour drive from home for me, this was my first time visiting the city.  I was only there for the afternoon game however, after which I drove home.

FNB Field is one of the most uniquely situated stadiums I've ever been to.  It is located on an island, named City Island, in the middle of the Susquehanna River, west of downtown Harrisburg.  There is only one road to the island from each side of the river.  There is a pedestrian bridge as well though.  In retrospect, I should have parked downtown and walked to the stadium because getting out of the parking lot on the island after the game was a lengthy ordeal.  I have been meaning to do some research about the original design and construction of this stadium, because it seems to me they made some odd decisions.  Despite the incredibly unique location, the stadium is pretty generic and barely takes advantage of its surroundings.  From most vantage points within the stadium, it is not apparent that you are on an island in the middle of a river.  The main grandstand where a vast majority of the seats are located points to the south with trees being about all you can see beyond the outfield walls.  This is a fairly old ballpark that has received some upgrades over the years.  The upper portion of the main grandstand appears to have originally been aluminum bleachers, but now has regular stadium seating.  There is still a large bleacher section down the first base line.  The third base line out to left field seems to be the center of activity for the park, with the only entrance to the park being out that way as well.  This is the first AA park I've been to this year that has a concourse circling the entire stadium.  Despite some possible missed opportunities with the stadium design, this is a nice park in a cool location.

This game was the AA version of the Battle of the Beltways, with the Nationals affiliate hosting the Orioles AA squad from Bowie.  This game could have been very heavy on elite prospects, but Orioles top catching prospect Samuel Basallo had the day off.  The Senators had two MLB.com Top 50 prospects in their lineup though:  center fielder Dylan Crews and third baseman Brady House.  Crews was taken by the Nats with the #2 pick in the draft almost exactly a year prior and House is a former first round pick of theirs as well.  As it turns out, both were promoted to AAA soon after this game.  In fact, this wound up being Crews' last game with Harrisburg.  He made his last one a good one.  In his second plate appearance, he hit an opposite field home run down the right field line, his fifth of the season.  Later, he picked up his 15th stolen base.  While he doesn't have flashy tools, he does everything well.  I wouldn't be surprised to see him join James Wood in the Nationals outfield before this season ends.  Crews' homer was one of the few highlights for the Senators in this one.  Bowie pitchers recorded 14 strikeouts including eight by starter Alex Pham.  The Baysox took control of this game in the third.  The inning started with three straight singles, only one of which was hit hard.  Senators pitcher Michael Cuevas hurt his own cause by airmailing a throw to first on a comebacker that would eventually allow three unearned runs to score.  The big blow was a three run homer by John Rhodes that hit off the left field foul pole and gave the Baysox a 5-0 lead.  Rhodes had himself quite a day.  The homer was his second of five hits in five plate appearances.  The other hits were all singles, but three of them were of the RBI variety.  His line:  5 for 5 with 6 runs batted in.  Crews' homer got the Sens on the board and kicked off a three run inning that cut the Bowie lead to two after four innings.  But Harrisburg would not score again and Bowie added single runs in the fifth, seventh and ninth, each on RBI singles by Rhodes.  The game ended in an 8-3 victory for the Baysox, ending my walk-off homer streak at two.

Thus concluded my fun eight day, seven game trip.  There were three walk-off victories in those games, including two via home runs.  Home teams went 5-2 during the trip, with both of the losses belonging to Nationals affiliates (Rochester and Harrisburg).  This brings me up-to-date on minor league ballparks I have visited this year.  I will soon be venturing out on yet another trip, my last of the year.  I intend to write about the ballparks I visit on that one soon after I return home.

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Next ballpark:  TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, NJ