Major League Moment

The palm trees in the players’ parking lot were the first sign of things to come on City Island.

Palm trees simply are not found in Harrisburg, even if they were – in this case – located on an island. The palms, though, began lining the players’ lot that runs adjacent to the right-field line shortly before the end of the 1993 season.

As soon as the Senators played their final home playoff game on Sept. 12, production crews began repositioning the palms around the ballpark to give RiverSide Stadium the feel of a spring training venue in Florida. Also installed was a third level to the batter’s eye in straightaway center field.

This became the backdrop where the characters from the fictitious Indians of “Major League” would film portions of their brilliantly titled sequel, “Major League II.”

While the Senators were traveling to Canton, Ohio, to try and erase their 2-0 deficit in the best-of-5 Eastern League finals, actors Tom Berringer, , , James Gammon and Corbin Bernsen were checking out City Island and their make-believe spring home of Winter Haven, Fla.

The filmmakers left plenty of Harrisburg to be seen for those paying close attention to the stadium billboards in the background. Unless, of course, Winter Haven also had billboards advertising an East Mall, Sutliff Chevrolet, Wolf’s Bus Line and The

Spot. The billboard down the left-field line carrying Mayor Stephen R. Reed’s welcome Actor Dennis Haysbert warms up down the right-field line at RiverSide to Harrisburg also remained, albeit slightly altered to make Reed the mayor of Winter Stadium before filming his scenes for "Major League II" in September 1993 Haven.

Not that the real-life Senators cared much about the movie. They already were trailing 2-0 in the best-of-5 Eastern League finals against the real-life ’ Class AA affiliate.

As the cameras rolled on the island – by the way, Corbin Bernsen was no Shane Andrews at third base – the Senators rallied in Canton, outscoring those Indians 23-4 in three games to win the Eastern League title.

The Senators were back from Canton with the championship trophy long before the filming finished on the island. Director David S. Ward kept his cast and crew in Harrisburg for two weeks, but ended up using the local scenes for only 15 minutes or so in the 105-minute film.

As sequels so often are, Major League II was a letdown from the original that came out in 1989. This sequel may have been best summed up by real-life Hall of Fame broadcaster . Performing in his role as Indians announcer Harry Doyle and assessing the “action movie” made by cinematic center fielder Willie Mays Hayes, Uecker said:

“Went to see his movie, but it was only out for two and a half hours. I was told, however, that it was in focus.”