Opening game for the 2025 Trenton Thunder happened on June 4th. Opened in 1994, Don and I have attended most opening games. I still miss the days when the baseball season started in April and I sipped a hot chocolate while sitting under a blanket watching a game. That was also when the Thunder were the AA team for a major league team (first the Detroit Tigers, then the Boston Red Sox, and finally the New York Yankees). That ended at the conclusion of the 2019 season when the Yankees decided to move their team up 206 to Somerset, NJ. Before that year, the Somerset Patriots were part of the Independent League that also included a team in Camden, NJ, and still includes the Lancaster (PA) Barnstormers. The League's purpose is to fill the void where the population is dense enough to merit another baseball team, but they are too close to teams that are associated with the major leagues to be allowed.
In 2020 Major League Baseball (MLB) created the Draft League, naming Trenton Thunder as its flagship location. To the college students playing in the Draft League's Trenton Thunder Ballpark (formerly called Waterfront Park and Arm & Hammer Park) is a step closer to the big leagues than the college ballparks, which were still a step above where they played in high school and Little League. Because their priorities are playing college ball the season is shoehorned between finals and the start of the fall semester. Typically after the All-Star Break in July players who are offered the pay raise associated with staying leave so they don't jeopardize their college scholarships. The second half of the season is filled with post-college players who aren't quite ready to give up on the dream of being a professional ball player.
2021 was the best year for Trenton Thunder because due to the pandemic closing the border with Canada and planned construction taking place at one of their minor league stadiums, the Toronto Blue Jays played in Florida and their AAA Team, the Buffalo Bisons played at Trenton Thunder. The excitement was amazing!
Back to 2025. Don and I went to the game. I have never seen so many walks leading to runs scored. The Williamsport Crosscutters used their 13 walks and 7 hits to win 13-4.
The stadium looked sad. The seats in front of me were covered in mud. The line for ice cream was 4 innings long (and they had some long innings with all those walks!). I missed the excitement the announcer used to be able to generate. Between inning games seemed to happen about one an inning instead of after every three outs. There are no song snippets announcing Thunder players coming to bat. Despite having a full house, there seemed to be very little energy in the stands. As is my habit, I sat near the season ticket holders. My favorite usher (Carmine) is still there and greeted me with a hug. There are many empty seats in that section despite the seats being sold. It feels as if many season ticket holders are holding onto their seats in the hopes that soon we get a AA or AAA or even a A team. At the end of each season there are thick hints that "things are in the works." For now, though, they are working on rehabbing the locker rooms and below ground/behind the scenes parts to (hopefully) attract MLB to return.
At the end of opening weekend over 33,000 fans attended the games. Clearly attendance is not the issue as the stadium only seats 6,400 fans (over 5 games, 32,000 would be considered a sell out).
They lost the first two games and won the third. The players are by the rules of this league even more transient than when they were in the minor league system. Boomer and Cloudman are the constants. Fans still get excited to see them -- especially Boomer and his varied wardrobe and collection of antics.
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