The Eastern League (EL) was a Minor League Baseball (MiLB) sports league that operated under that name from 1938 until its last scheduled season of 2020, after which it ceased operation due to a reorganization of the minor leagues by Major League Baseball. The league played at the Double-A level in 1963 and later, and consisted primarily of teams located in the Northeastern United States.
The Harrisburg Senators are a Minor League Baseball team of the Double-A Northeast and the Double-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and play their home games at FNB Field, located on City Island in Harrisburg, which opened in 1987 and has a seating capacity of 6,187 people.
Alvin Fred "Doggie" Julian was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach. He served as the head basketball coach at Muhlenberg College from 1936 to 1945, at the College of the Holy Cross from 1945 to 1948, and at Dartmouth College from 1950 to 1967, compiling a career college basketball record of 379–332. Julian led Holy Cross to the NCAA title in 1947. His team, which included later National Basketball Association (NBA) great Bob Cousy, almost repeated this feat in 1948, losing in the semifinals. Julian was engaged by the Boston Celtics of the NBA after his college success, but he recorded only a 47–81 mark before he was dismissed in 1950. Julian was also the head football coach at Schuylkill College from 1925 to 1928, Albright College from 1929 to 1930, and Mulhlenberg from 1936 to 1944, amassing a career college football record of 77–63–3. In addition, he served as Mulhlenberg's head baseball coach from 1942 to 1944, tallying a mark of 16–18. Julian was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach in 1968.
Matthew Hanks LeCroy is an American former professional baseball catcher, first baseman, and designated hitter and current manager for the Rochester Red Wings. During his time in Major League Baseball (MLB), LeCroy had the distinction of being the active player with the most plate appearances without a stolen base in his career.
John Travilla Ramsay was an American basketball coach, commonly known as "Dr. Jack". He was best known for leading the Portland Trail Blazers to the 1977 NBA championship, and for his broadcasting work with the Indiana Pacers, the Miami Heat, and for ESPN TV and ESPN Radio. Ramsay was among the most respected coaches in NBA history and a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was the winner of the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award for the 2009–10 NBA season.
FNB Field is a baseball park in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA, located on City Island, in the Susquehanna River. It is the home field of the Harrisburg Senators, the Double-A minor league affiliate of the Washington Nationals, and was the home stadium of Penn FC of the USL. The original structure was built in 1987 and it was called Riverside Stadium until 2004. Currently, the ballpark has a capacity of 6,187 people. The ballpark received a $45 million renovation that began in 2008.
An independent baseball league is a professional baseball organization located in the United States or Canada that is not operated in conjunction with either a Major League Baseball team or an affiliated Minor League Baseball team. Being independent allows teams to be located close to major league teams without their consent. Such leagues have been around for many years and were once known as "outlaw leagues" due to their position outside the rules of affiliated minor league baseball.
William Frederick Gardner is an American former professional baseball player, coach and manager. During his ten-season active career in the major leagues, Gardner was a scrappy, light-hitting second baseman for the New York Giants, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. His only significant time on any team was with Baltimore, where he spent four straight full seasons from 1956 to 1959. He threw and batted right-handed, stood 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and weighed 170 pounds (77 kg). After retiring as a player, he spent over 20 years as a coach or manager, and managed the Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals during the 1980s.
Melvin A. Dorta is a retired professional baseball infielder. Dorta bats and throws right-handed. He made his Major League Baseball debut with the Washington Nationals on Sept 1, 2006.
Gregory Michael Quade is an American professional baseball coach and manager. The manager of the Rochester Red Wings, Triple-A farm system affiliate of the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball from 2015–17, Quade is currently the roving outfield coordinator in the Minnesota farm system. He had spent 2014 as a roving outfield and baserunning instructor for the New York Yankees' organization.
Sports in South Central Pennsylvania are a long-held tradition and culture, such as the professional baseball teams who "barnstormed" their way through Lancaster County's farmland in the early 1900s, to Milton S. Hershey's creation of the Hershey B'ars hockey club in 1932, to canoe races held on the Susquehanna River each summer in Harrisburg. Listed below are some sports teams that are currently based in the region:
William Glenn Killinger was an American football, basketball, and baseball player, coach, and college athletics administrator from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He graduated Harrisburg Technical High School and then lettered in three sports at Pennsylvania State University, where he was an All-American in football in 1921. Killinger then played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Canton Bulldogs and the New York Giants and for Philadelphia Quakers of the first American Football League in 1926. Killinger served as the head football coach at Dickinson College (1922), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1927–1931), Moravian College (1933), West Chester University, and with the North Carolina Pre-Flight School (1944), compiling a career college football record of 176–72–16. He was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1971.
Harry Mink O'Neill was a professional baseball player who appeared in one game for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1939, as a catcher. O'Neill and Elmer Gedeon were the only two Major League Baseball players killed during World War II.
Double-A is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League Baseball, organized into three leagues: Double-A Central, Double-A Northeast, and Double-A South. As part of the 2021 reorganization of the minor leagues, the three current Double-A leagues replaced the Texas League, Eastern League, and Southern League, respectively.
The Nashua Pirates were a minor league baseball team, based in Nashua, New Hampshire. The team started in 1983 as the Nashua Angels, an affiliate with the California Angels in the Eastern League. The club changed affiliations in 1984 to the Pittsburgh Pirates and were then renamed the Nashua Pirates. The team's home ballpark was Holman Stadium.
The Sunbury Indians were a minor league baseball team based in Sunbury, Pennsylvania. They began play in the Interstate League in 1939 as the Sunbury Senators and were renamed the Sunbury Indians in 1940. Despite the nicknames, they were unaffiliated with any major league baseball team. They played at Meredith Park. The team relocated to Hagerstown, Maryland after the 1940 season as the Hagerstown Owls.
The Harrisburg Senators was originally a name given to several minor league baseball clubs between 1893 and 1952. The name is also currently used by the modern-day team in the Double-A Eastern League, since 1987.
Steven Cade Cavalli is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Washington Nationals organization. He was selected 22nd overall by the Nationals in the 2020 Major League Baseball draft.
The Double-A Northeast is a 12-team Minor League Baseball (MiLB) league that began operating in the United States in 2021. Along with the Double-A Central and the Double-A South, it is one of three leagues playing at the Double-A level, which is two grades below Major League Baseball (MLB). The league was created in 2021 in conjunction with MLB's reorganization of the minor leagues.
