Trenton Thunder Ballpark, formerly known as Mercer County Waterfront Park and Arm & Hammer Park, is a

ballpark A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into the infield, an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined, and the outfield, where dimensions can vary widely from place to pla ...

in Trenton,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. It is the home park for the

Trenton Thunder The Trenton Thunder are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Trenton, New Jersey, and play their home games at Trenton Thunder Ballpark. From 1994 to 2020, it was a Minor League Baseball team of the Doub ...

, a

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

team of the

MLB Draft League The MLB Draft League is a collegiate summer baseball league that began play in 2021. Created by Major League Baseball (MLB) and ''Prep Baseball Report'', the league serves as a showcase for top draft-eligible prospects leading up to each summer' ...

. They were previously a Double-A level Minor League Baseball team of the Eastern League (1994–2020). For 2021, it served as temporary home of

Triple-A East The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

, as their regular stadium,

Sahlen Field Sahlen Field is a baseball park in Buffalo, New York, United States. Originally known as Pilot Field, the venue has since been named Downtown Ballpark, North AmeriCare Park, Dunn Tire Park, and Coca-Cola Field. Home to the Buffalo Bisons of the ...

, was being used by the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

due to travel restrictions brought on by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The official

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

is 6,440.

History

The park was built for the 1994 season, although it opened several weeks late due to a rough winter that hampered construction. The sod also was unable to take properly that season, and the field did not properly drain, leading to rainouts on evenings where the sun had been out since noon. The drainage problem was fixed in 1995. The stadium's original name was "Mercer County Waterfront Park" when it opened in 1994. "Samuel J. Plumeri Sr. Field" was added to the original name in 1999 by Trenton Thunder owner,

Joe Plumeri Joseph J. Plumeri II (born July 7, 1943) is vice chairman of the First Data Board of Directors. He was the chairman and CEO of Willis Group Holdings (Willis), a New York Stock Exchange-listed insurance broker, until July 2013. The company has 1 ...

(Chairman and CEO of

Willis Group Holdings Willis Group Holdings plc was a multinational risk advisor, insurance brokerage and reinsurance brokerage company with its headquarters in the Willis Building in London until its merger of equals with financial services company Towers Watson ...

). Samuel J. Plumeri Sr. was Joe Plumeri's father. In November 2012, the New Jersey-based Church and Dwight company /

Arm & Hammer Arm & Hammer is a brand of baking soda-based consumer products marketed by Church & Dwight, a major American manufacturer of household products. The logo of the brand depicts the ancient symbol of a muscular arm holding a hammer inside a red ci ...

purchased the ballpark's naming rights. Following the 2020 season the sponsorship was discontinued as the professional minor league Thunder lost their affiliation as part of the 2021 reorganization of Minor League Baseball. On July 8, 1996, the ballpark hosted the

Double-A All-Star Game The Double-A All-Star Game was an annual baseball game held from 1991 to 2002 between professional players from the affiliated Double-A leagues of Minor League Baseball—the Eastern League (EL), Southern League (SL), and Texas League (TL). Tea ...

in which a team of

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

-affiliated All-Stars defeated a team of

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

-affiliated All-Stars, 6–2, before 8,369 people in attendance. In June 2014, the park hosted the first-ever, gold- and bronze-medal games in baseball for the Special Olympics USA National Games. In 2018, it hosted the Eastern League All-Star Game.

Attendance records

The ballpark set a record for game attendance on July 3, 2011, when the Thunder played the

Altoona Curve The Altoona Curve are a Minor League Baseball team based in Altoona, Pennsylvania, named after nearby Horseshoe Curve (but also alluding to the curveball, a type of pitch). The team plays in the Eastern League and is the Double-A affiliate of the ...

. The game had the fortune of falling on the Independence Day holiday weekend, as well as featuring an injury rehabilitation appearance by

Derek Jeter Derek Sanderson Jeter ( ; born June 26, 1974) is an American former professional baseball shortstop, businessman, and baseball executive. As a player, Jeter spent his entire 20-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the New York Yankees ...

of the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

, the Thunder's major league affiliate at the time. The official attendance for the game was 9,212. When

Alex Rodriguez Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975), nicknamed "A-Rod", is an American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman, businessman and philanthropist. Rodriguez played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the ...

played two games on back-to-back nights in August 2013, the official attendance was reported at 8,080 and 8,113, respectively.

Features

While the outfield in left and center field is covered with advertising signs that obscure views of Route 29 and nearby houses, the right field fence was kept as a short structure so that fans could see the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...

and

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

beyond. The river is also an inviting target for left-handed sluggers, several of whom have deposited baseballs into the water. Similar to

Great American Ball Park Great American Ball Park is a baseball stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. It served as the home stadium of the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB), and opened on March 31, 2003, replacing Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium), the R ...

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

and its river border with

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, the ballpark also holds the possibility of having someone "hit one out of the state" since the middle of the Delaware River is the border with Pennsylvania. On June 7, 1994,

Tony Clark Anthony Christopher Clark (born June 15, 1972) is an American professional baseball player and executive. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman from 1995 to 2009 and is the sixth executive director of the Major League Baseball P ...

became the first player to hit a fair ball into the Delaware. The stadium anchors an area of rejuvenation in Trenton that also includes office buildings, nightclubs, and the

CURE Insurance Arena The CURE Insurance Arena is a multipurpose arena in Trenton, New Jersey. It hosts events including shows, sporting events and concerts. The arena seats 7,605 for hockey and other ice events, 8,600 for basketball and up to 10,500 for concerts, fam ...

, several blocks away, for

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

arena football Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller ...

References

External links

Trenton Thunder
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trenton Thunder Ballpark 1994 establishments in New Jersey Baseball venues in New Jersey Buffalo Bisons (minor league) Buildings and structures in Trenton, New Jersey Minor league baseball venues Sports in Trenton, New Jersey Sports venues completed in 1994 Sports venues in the New York metropolitan area Tourist attractions in Trenton, New Jersey Trenton Thunder