Back in business in the 'Burg

Jim Neidlinger delivers the Harrisburg Senators’ first pitch in 1987

Thirty-seven years ago today, Harrisburg finds itself playing professional baseball for the first time since 1952 – starting here with Jim Neidlinger's first pitch in the Senators' Class AA season opener at still-freshly painted RiverSide Stadium.

The Senators lose that first game to the Vermont Reds 11-5 before a Saturday afternoon crowd of 4,083 on City Island.

Five months and two days later, the Senators close out the 1987 season with another game against Vermont on City Island, this time beating the Reds 5-1 in Game 4 of the finals for the first of Harrisburg's six Eastern League titles in a 12-year span.

An Eastern League championship follows five months after Jim Neidlinger’s first pitch