Go, Thunder! Go, Bisons! Go, Thunder Bisons!

Rainbows in the outfield prevailed over the threatening clouds.

My ticket for tonight’s AAA baseball game in Trenton, N.J., says, “Thunder vs. Worcester Red Sox” at Arm & Hammer Park. The online scoreboard indicates the game is being played at Trenton Thunder Park. I followed signs that directed me to Mercer County Waterfront Park. And I’m standing in front of a statue of Samuel J. Plumeri, Sr. (Mr. Trenton), under a sign that says Samuel J. Plumeri, Sr. Field. Confused? You won’t be after you see how baseball’s two big challenges in 2021 — pandemic restrictions and a major overhaul of the minor leagues — are behind the unlikely matchup in this unlikely place. 

Samuel J. Palmeri was instrumental
in bringing minor league baseball to Newark.
Below, four generations of batdogs.

When the Toronto Blue Jays decided to play home games in Buffalo this year, so that they and their opponents won’t have to travel in and out of Canada, their AAA affiliate, the Bisons, became a team without a home. Meanwhile, Trenton’s Arm & Hammer Park became a home without a team after baseball eliminated 43 farm teams in order to introduce a more streamlined minor league system. 

A rare agreement was forged, and the Bisons will play their home games here in Trenton Thunder uniforms. When they go on the road, they’ll once again become the Buffalo Bisons. It’s a reprieve for Trenton’s baseball fans, who thought their Class AA team was going to be relegated to rookie league status for 2021. Instead, they’ll be able to root for a Thunder team against other AAA teams from the northeast. 

Arm & Hammer Park is mere steps from the Delaware River. A chain link fence
keeps fans from falling in, but not foul balls. The stadium has a rockin' address.

For me, it means visiting another minor league ballpark, one that I thought had been pushed aside, and one that's just a day trip away from where I live. Technically, the Trenton Thunder are the defending champions of the AA Eastern League. I actually saw them clinch the title on Sept. 13, 2019, in Bowie, Md. It was the last minor league game I saw before the pandemic shutdown. Now here I am to watch them defend their title, except that there won’t be a minor league post-season this year, the Eastern League no longer exists, the Thunder aren’t playing in AA baseball, they aren’t the same players that won the championship, and they're really the Buffalo Bisons. 

There's no escaping the New York Yankees' history at Arm & Hammer Park.

The Trenton Thunder was one of the teams hardest hit in last year’s minor league shuffle. They were dropped as the New York Yankees’ AA team and then pushed out of the minors altogether when no other major league team invited them to affiliate. However, the team will be part of a new MLB Draft League, a showcase for draft-eligible collegiate prospects. 

Joining Trenton are five other teams in and around Pennsylvania, all of them former minor league teams. Maryland’s Frederick Keys come from the Carolina League. The other four teams played in the New York-Penn League: the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in Niles, Ohio, the West Virginia Black Bears in Granville, and from Pennsylvania, the State College Spikes and the Williamsport Crosscutters. The teams will play a short season starting in late May and ending in August. Still to be determined is where Trenton’s draft team will play, now that their home field is otherwise occupied. 

Something to watch for in AAA baseball this season are the larger bases at first, second and third. It's an experiment to see if an 18-inch square base is easier for a player to touch and hold than the current 15-inch base. The surface has also been changed so that it won't be so slippery, especially when there is rain. It might also mean that batters are able to beat the play at first more often. There's also hope that it will reduce injuries to infielders and runners. The bigger base is one of several rules adjustments that Major League Baseball is testing at different levels of minor league ball. To me, the new bases looked enormous, but maybe that was because I knew ahead of time that they would be bigger.

This week’s 6-game series is the first appearance of the Worcester Red Sox, who have moved to a new home in Massachusetts from Pawtucket, R.I. Last year was supposed to be the farewell season at historic McCoy Stadium, but there were no minor league games anywhere in 2020.

Rain and clouds threatened this evening, but the weather didn’t stop the game from going forward. An early inning double rainbow in left field guaranteed that only a few sprinkles would fall. The WooSox were not so kind. They scored 5 runs on 7 hits in the first two innings, and the Thunder weren’t able to catch up. Final: Worcester Red Sox 8, Trenton Thunder 6.

Trenton makes, the world takes. A list of the major leaguers who played in Trenton.
Open the picture and zoom in to see if you recognize anyone.
Below, a pin celebrating the reigning and forever champions.

Coming up: Root, root, root for the home team.