TRENTON, N.J. (AP) – When the 6,000-plus crowd files into Mercer County Waterfront Park on April 10, one of the first things they might notice is the absence of those two red socks on the side of the building.
In their place is a shiny New York Yankees logo, trumpeting the news that the Trenton Thunder, New Jersey’s top minor league baseball team and one of the most successful in the entire country – is now a farm team of the Bronx Bombers.
The Thunder signed a four-year affiliation agreement last fall with the Yankees, switching their alliance from the Boston Red Sox.
Thus, the stadium that once gave fans an up-close look at future major league stars like Nomar Garciaparra, Shea Hillenbrand and David Eckstein will now feature players who will be seen at Yankee Stadium a few years hence.
“People don’t realize this is almost as good as major league baseball,” said Dominic Latini, a Yankees fan from Trenton who saw 15 Thunder games last year, and plans to see even more this year.
“If you look at The Red Sox, there’s five or six guys on the team who played here every day.
“And before the game, they stop and talk to you and sign an autograph if you want them to,” Latini said. “In a major league game, you’re lucky if you can get within 30 yards of one of them.”
Backers of the switch – and there are many – say it makes sense on many levels. First, there are far more Yankees fans in New Jersey than Red Sox fans, providing a more natural fan base.
Second, it’s easier for the Yankees to keep track of their minor league prospects in Trenton, which is closer than their previous Eastern League affiliate in Norwich, Conn.
And the near sold-out crowds each night should help acclimate tomorrow’s Bronx Bombers to playing under pressure.
“From a developmental standpoint, having our players play in front of the biggest crowds possible is a benefit,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. “I don’t know if it’s possible to play in front of more people than Trenton provides.
“They can be in pressure situations – two out, bottom of the ninth, man on third, electricity surging through the place – and two to three years later, it will help them play under similar situations at Yankee Stadium,” he said.
Cashman also said it is proving much easier for the organization’s players to find housing in the Trenton area than in and around Norwich, where prices are higher.
Some Trenton players to watch this season who could be taking the mound in the Bronx soon: 21-year-old hard-throwing lefty Mark Phillips, who was acquired from San Diego in the Rondell White trade, and Chien Ming-Wang, the 23-year-old righty from Taiwan who went 6-1 last year with a 1.72 ERA for Staten Island, the Yanks’ Class A affiliate. And Yankees fans will no doubt recall Thunder manager Stump Merrill, who managed the big league club in 1990 and 1991.
Thunder co-owner Joseph Finley grew up a Phillies fan; he and his partners also own the Lakewood BlueClaws, a Phillies Class A team. But the Yankees were the team he rooted for in the American League.
“I never mentioned that to the Red Sox in eight years, though,” Finley quipped.
Finley said he grew dissatisfied with the Red Sox’ handling of their minor league system, and wanted to make a switch.
“They traded away a lot of their prospects for major leaguers to try to get them over the hump,” he said. “They were in a very difficult situation because they always had to compete with the Yankees.”
Boston moved its Class AA team to Portland, Maine, where the Sea Dogs have replaced the Thunder as its Eastern League affiliate.
Thunder general manager Rick Brenner said the switch has generated considerable fan excitement in the Trenton area, but acknowledged the historic animosity between the Yankees and Red Sox has led to some long-time Thunder fans abandoning the team this season.
“We had a couple of die-hard fans who were not pleased that we switched and now they’re done coming to Thunder games, which is a shame because at the end of the day, it’s not a Yankees game or a Red Sox game; it’s a Trenton Thunder game,” he said.
The Thunder began play in 1994 as a Detroit Tigers affiliate, then signed on with the Red Sox the following year. It is one of eight minor league teams playing in New Jersey, and one of three affiliated with major league teams. (In addition to the BlueClaws, the Class A New Jersey Cardinals is a St. Louis Cardinals farm team.)
The Thunder drew 408,000 fans last season, making them the first Double-A team to surpass the 400,000-mark for eight straight years.
AP-ES-04-04-03 1354EST
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