Still Available ... The Class of '93

There have been thousands of minor league baseball teams since the start of the 20th century. Which one was the best ever, well, that always has been open to debate. There is one team that needs to be included in any argument.
That team would be the 1993 Harrisburg Senators, a collection of top prospects the talent-rich Montreal Expos put together in one place at one time to see what would happen.
Would they dominate the Eastern League, a Class AA league annually filled with some of baseball's best prospects? Or would they collapse under the weight of their egos and others' expectations?
No one truly knew coming out of spring training that season.
The game's history, regardless of level, has been loaded with dream teams that inexplicably turned into nightmares before season's end.
The 1993 Harrisburg Senators were such a dream team, a team that trashed an entire league on its way to a championship.
The Class of '93 is their story, of how a bunch of alpha males checked their egos at the clubhouse door and turned their own expectations into reality.
Take a Peek Inside
Here's a sample of what The Class of '93 is all about:
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The 2012 book One Patch of Grass by award-winning Andrew Linker takes a peek into the lives of the Hall of Famers, all-stars, no-stars, wanna-bes and never-weres who since 1890 have summered on a baseball field in the middle of Pennsylvania's Susquehanna River.
That book was filled with in-depth stories trumpeting the careers of Hall of Famers from the past in Oscar Charleston and of the future in Vladimir Guerrero, while also chronicling the lives of those whose careers in the game were derailed by racism, politics and injuries.
Clippings, published in 2013, isn't like that.
Mostly because this is a book devoid of stories.
Clippings is a companion piece for One Patch of Grass, a chance to augment Harrisburg's free-flowing baseball history presented in that book with a plethora of quotes, notes, milestone dates and some anecdotes -- nearly 1,300 in all -- that could not be squeezed into the first book.
Basically, it's a slice of cold pizza in the morning and, really, who doesn't like a slice of cold pizza in the morning?

For more than 100 years, minor league baseball has been played in hundreds of cities, towns and 'burgs from Maine to California. And, every one of those cities, towns and 'burgs from Orchard Park to Rancho Cucamonga has shared a commonality of great moments on the field, oddball occurrences off the field and encounters with hundreds of players who have passed through on their way either to starring in the major leagues or, more likely, to toiling in 9-to-5 jobs in the real world.
Only one place can claim a uniqueness of its own, a place where one-of-a-kind moments have occurred on the same patch of grass since 1890.
The place: City Island, a 63-acre parcel of land that sits in the Susquehanna River, a short walk from downtown Harrisburg to the grandstand behind home plate. Fans today can look upon a field where, plus or minus a foot or two in location and elevation, baseball has been played in the same spot as it was in 1890, when Frank Grant and Hughie Jennings became the first pair of black-and-white teammates who eventually were inducted into the Hall of Fame; in 1928, when Babe Ruth umpired a kids' game in the afternoon before homering on the same field later that day; in 1952, when Eleanor Engle became the first woman to sign a pro baseball contract; and in 1999, when Milton Bradley – the player, not the board game company – launched a Hollywood moment of a homer that was beyond anything Bernard Malamud ever conceived for his fictional Roy Hobbs.
Their stories, and dozens more, are profiled in the book One Patch of Grass.
Take a Peek Inside
Here's a sample of One Patch of Grass, this one is on wunderkind pitcher Stephen Strasburg. Click here to take a peek.
Take a Photo Tour of Harrisburg's Rich Baseball History
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Albert "Chief" Bender pitches for the semi-pro Harrisburg Athletic Club in 1902 before starting his Hall of Fame career in the majors with the Philadelphia A's
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1908 Harrisburg Giants with Spottswood Poles (1st row, 2nd from right)
Photo courtesy of Reid Poles -
A view from center field on City Island 100 years ago
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Hall of Famer Oscar Charleston is the Harrisburg Giants' player-manager from 1924-27
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1936 flood puts City Island and its ballpark, lower right, under water
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Philadelphia Athletics owner and manager Connie Mack, left, and Harrisburg Senators manager Les Bell before an exhibition game on City Island in 1940
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Pro baseball returns to City Island in 1940
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Max Patkin makes his debut as the Clown Prince of Baseball in 1946 on City Island
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Satchel Paige on the Island in the early 1950s
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The ballpark in the early 1950s
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Willie Mays plays for Trenton in 1950 and hits one of his four home runs that summer on City Island against the old Senators
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Eleanor Engle pictured shortly after becoming the first woman to sign a baseball contract in 1952
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Brooks Lawrence becomes the first former Senators pitcher selected to the All-Star Game for Cincinnati in 1956
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City Island under water during the 1972 flood
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Construction of RiverSide Stadium in the winter of 1986-1987
Photo courtesy of Harrisburg Senators -
With general manager Rick Redd looking on, David Ellis shows off his tickets as the Senators' first customer in 1987
Photo courtesy of Harrisburg Senators -
Aerial view of Opening Day 1987
Photo courtesy of Harrisburg Senators -
The Senators' first Opening Day program in 1987
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Jim Neidlinger delivers a pitch on Opening Day 1987
Photo courtesy of Harrisburg Senators -
Batting practice in 1987
Photo courtesy of Harrisburg Senators -
View from center field in 1987
Photo courtesy of Harrisburg Senators -
The Senators play before another packed house in 1987
Photo courtesy of Harrisburg Senators -
The Eastern League championship trophy; the Senators win six of them from 1987-99
Photo courtesy of Harrisburg Senators -
Moises Alou plays on the island during the 1989 and '90 seasons before amassing 2,134 hits and 332 home runs in a major league career that includes six appearances in the All-Star Game
Photo courtesy of Harrisburg Senators -
Pitcher Randy Tomlin and third baseman John Wehner in 1990
Harrisburg Senators photo -
Matt Stairs bats during his MVP season in 1991
Photo courtesy of Harrisburg Senators -
Joey Eischen wins 14 games in 1993
Photo courtesy of Harrisburg Senators -
Eastern League MVP Cliff Floyd takes a lead off third base in 1993
Photo courtesy of Harrisburg Senators -
The Senators' dugout lineup card from Game 5 of the 1993 EL finals
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The Senators celebrate the 1993 Eastern League championship in Canton, Ohio
Photo courtesy of Harrisburg Senators -
Actor Dennis Haysbert warms up for the 1993 shooting of "Major League II" on City Island
Photo courtesy of Harrisburg Senators -
Mark Grudzielanek hits for the Senators in 1994 Eastern League playoffs
Photo courtesy of Harrisburg Senators -
Vladamir Guerrero takes BP in 1996
Photo courtesy of Harrisburg Senators -
Before bringing his eyebrows-to-ankles strike zone to the major leagues, Vladimir Guerrero is golfing pitches for hits in 1996 on City Island
Photo courtesy of Harrisburg Senators -
Preseason flooding in 1997
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Manager Rick Sofield gets a ride after the Senators win 1997 Easter League title
Photo courtesy of Harrisburg Senators -
Michael Barrett hits on City Island during Harrisburg's 1998 championship season
Photo courtesy of Harrisburg Senators -
Geoff Blum during the 1998 season, when he hits for the ultra-rare natural cycle in City Island
Photo courtesy of Harrisburg Senators -
The Senators celebrate winning the 1998 Eastern League title at Portland
Photo courtesy of Harrisburg Senators -
Milton Bradley at his worst in 1999
Photo courtesy of Harrisburg Senators -
Milton Bradley at his best in 1999
Photo courtesy of Harrisburg Senators -
Teammates swarm Milton Bradley at the plate after his game-winning grand slam
Photo courtesy of Harrisburg Senators -
Milton Bradley returns a hero in 2000
Photo courtesy of Harrisburg Senators -
Stuffing the manager's office at Reading in 2000
Photo courtesy of Bryan Hebson -
Pitcher Cliff Lee as a Senator in 2002
Photo courtesy of Harrisburg Senators -
The official boxscore signed by Seung Song from his controversial no-hitter in 2003
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Ryan Zimmerman makes new fans in 2005
Photo courtesy of Harrisburg Senators -
The ballpark in 2013
Photo by Andrew Linker -
Wilmer Difo bats for Harrisburg in 2015 on his way to the majors
Photo by Andrew Linker -
Austin Voth pitches for the Senaors in 2015
Photo by Andrew Linker
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