Rites of Spring by Brian E

Rites of Spring
by Brian E. Phillips

To see the first red breast on a robin’s chest, to realize that t-shirts make more sense than overcoats, to spring forward, to cedar chest your sweaters — these are all rites of spring. But for some there is only one event — one day — that truly allows spring to become officially sprung. The first crack of the bat, the first breaking ball, the first slide into second, these are the true rites of a baseball fan.
In fine fashion, then, the gates at City Island opened for Senator’s baseball and the beginning of spring on April 5.

After last season’s disappointing first-round play off loss to the Reading Phillies, it seemed that perhaps all was lost. The Senators could be beaten. And it seemed that the magic was gone.

And, perhaps as a result, the whole dynamic of the team was changed. Most of last year’s roster has moved up or elsewhere. Donnie Bridges, the exciting pitching leader of last year’s team, gone. Jeremy Ware, the fun to watch outfielder, gone. And most notably, last year’s skipper and the coach of 1999’s Eastern League Champions, Doug Sisson, gone.

This year’s team does have some familiar faces. Scott Hodges and Josh Reding still make up the nucleus of the infield. Jimmy Serrano is still Harrisburg’s ninth inning man. But the majority of the 2001 team is new, either young Jupiter send-ups or new faces to the Expos’ organization. Names like Mo Bruce, Valentino Pascucci, and Tootie Myers seem nothing more that a mish mash of unfamiliar faces and even stranger names. Furthermore, Luis Dorante, Harrisburg’s new coach, at 32, is the youngest person to be named to lead a Harrisburg team.

It seemed that this year was to be a rebuilding year — or so most sports writers and fans thought.

But to watch the 2001 version of the Harrisburg Senators take the field and shut down the Bowie Bay Sox, 2-0, in little over two-and-a-half hours, you would believe that this team was on a mission from God, and that mission — plain and simple — was to prove themselves winners. And that is exactly what they did.
Lead by T.J. Tucker (hurry up and see this kid, he’s really good, and he won’t be around for long) in a three hit, seven-inning performance, the Senators made easy prey of the Oriole farm team. Tucker’s pitching, coupled with top-notch defense, some fine hitting by Scott Hodges, and a perfect-ninth inning by Jim Serrano, showed a true team effort that was a real treat to watch. And what the 4,700 in attendance did see was great baseball and a glimmer of hope.

Perhaps Durante has just enough youth and energy to mold a great team out of this young but exciting team. It is early in the season and perhaps it too early to start harping on a new era and the next championship trophy in Harrisburg, but then again, that is what spring is about. New beginnings, imagined dreams, and, naturally, hot dogs.