For the most part, everything that Cal Ripken touches turns to gold. But does it float?
The Iron Man?s company, Ripken Baseball, put in a bid Tuesday to buy the Double-A Harrisburg Senators, who play in Commerce Bank Park, a 6,300-seat ballpark situated on City Island in Harrisburg, Pa. The park, situated on a small island in the middle of the Susquehanna River, is notorious for flooding.
“It will always flood,” said Andy Linker, a sports reporter who covered the Senators for The Patriot-News for a number of years.
When contacted, the Senators? front office declined comment Thursday.
Ripken Baseball was one of a reported four groups to put in a bid for the club on Tuesday, and the City of Harrisburg reportedly will make a decision by October. Some sources have speculated, however, that the city has no intentions of completing a sale.
Commerce Bank Park opened in 1987 as Riverside Stadium. Baseball enthusiasts may remember it best for its role in the baseball comedy “Major League II.” The ballpark was used as the fictional spring training home of the Cleveland Indians. That Indians team used Oriole Park at Camden Yards as its regular-season stomping-grounds in the film.
When it opened, Commerce Bank Park was one of the best in the nation, but it fell out of favor quickly when the ballpark boom of the ?90s hit.
“It just doesn?t have those modern amenities,” said Andrew Giorgione, a counsel to the Senators? ownership.
After the 2004 season, a flood did severe damage to the field, and the city, which owns the team through Harrisburg Civic Baseball Club, Inc., spent an estimated $1 million to replace the field. Linker said the right field corner is the lowest point and, from time to time, can be up to six to seven feet underwater. A major flood has never hit during the season, but two games in 2006 were moved to Bowie because of flooding issues on City Island.
The park is also home to a heavy mayfly population.
“They?re born. They breed. They die,” Linker said. “And somewhere in between they annoy fans. And they?re attracted to lights.”
The parking lot on the island houses roughly 1,200 spaces, and the club charges $2 per spot. The Aberdeen IronBirds, Ripken?s local Single-A team that also plays in a 6,000-seat ballpark, does not charge for parking.
