Suite Trenton Thunder Game

On June 1st, the day before Trenton Thunder's opening day game, Michael posted  on Facebook he had a few tickets to the second day's game, was anyone interested? By the way, the seats are in a suite. I messaged him immediately saying I was interested, and thanking him profusely.

Michael and I met years ago when HiTops started organizing the Princeton Half Marathon in 2012. Michael worked for HiTops. Fourteen years later, I don't remember how I got involved, only that I enjoyed being on that side of the process. My role was that of a local runner who had opinions on how a race should be run. A year later Don became involved as the lead cyclist who showed the runners the official course.

Michael eventually left HiTops and our friendship shifted to Facebook.

When he share he had tickets to a suite, I assumed it was related to some
company he was connected to needing to fill a box. When Ashley was little, the dad of one of her friends worked for company that had a box at Waterfront Park that went unused on day games. He gave the tickets to us moms and we had playdates in the suite. The kids were contained. The moms sat outside and watched the game. It was a really nice deal. Eventually he gave up the suite and had two tickets behind home plate. Every so often the dad would send me an email asking if I wanted the tickets because the owner wanted to stay in the club reserved for people who used most of their tickets each year (90%?). I was happy to oblige. Tickets were left under his doormat. I made sure both tickets were scanned, and I was able to keep one of the two promos. This all happened while Ashley was in preschool, long before I started blogging.

In 2021 when baseball returned after the pandemic Trenton had two teams: AAA Buffalo Bisons and the Draft League. Those of us who really like baseball remember the AAA team fondly, and bemoan the continued existence of the Draft League in Trenton. Each year we've been told there are discussions to bring a new team to Trenton. Much money has been spent on everything from the locker rooms to the field to encourage a new team. Likely a AA team based on the seating capacity. Meanwhile, the season lasts from June through August. Much like how the first half of summer belongs to the birds and second half to insects, the first half of the season belongs to college students and the second half to those post-college still hanging onto the dream a little bit longer. The games are played for the scouts to see the talent. Groups sales are strongly encouraged. The rest of us are just along for the ride.

For at least a decade Don and I attended opening day in April with a small crowd of mostly season ticket holders. We cuddled under a blanket and sipped hot chocolate. Opening day in June still feels wrong. It is too hot. Too crowded.

I jumped at Michael's offer. We were high above the crowd of 3,300 fans (the stadium fits twice that many), dodging fly balls on the first base side. Heavenly.

More than half of the crowd (1,900 people) was connected to the school who sang the National Anthem. 

Up in the suite were Michael, his family, and a couple of friends. Seated directly behind me were Brian and Megan. When I go to a game, I fill out a score card and mostly pay attention. I don't buy food. I try not to go to the bathroom. I am focused. I was surprised when Brian identified me as "Nike Zoom Structure." I turned around and recognized him as the former manager from the Princeton Running Company. He left about seven years ago to go to Trek. He said he is bad with names, but remembers people by the sneakers they wear and the tires they put on their bicycles.

I knew Boomer, the head mascot, makes a round in the suites. He often engages with the people down below, sometimes spraying water on them or trying to get them to cheer. It makes sense that Cloudman also makes an appearance. 

What I was not expecting was that Eric (the last original Trenton Thunder hire) would come upstairs with the Thunder bat dogs: Rookie and Dash. Rookie is retiring after eight seasons, and receiving international press. Dash, age six, is taking over as the main bat dog. I went to some games when both Rookie and Dash were on the field. Their bat dog duties were mostly contained to the first inning when Thunder was at bat. Some games I saw Rookie handle the first inning, and Dash the second. There were games when they were both out at the same time as if Rookie was showing Dash the ropes. I'm not a dog person, but when I see the Thunder dogs I pause and scratch them. The Thunder dogs live with Eric.

Dash

Rookie

When I saw the name plate I realized the box belonged to Michael and not a company or an organization. I asked him for the backstory. He said back in February Thunder had a half off sale on suites (the story is a little more complicated and was tied to the Super Bowl, but in the end, it was half off). They were able to rent the suite for $250 for a game, which gave them 13 tickets. Food and parking was extra. When I told Don about the deal he suggested we keep an eye out for it for next season. It would be a fun way to spend my birthday.

Thunder won the game, which is always an added bonus on an already fun outing.

Go Thunder!