Credit: Michael H. Parker/CC-Wikimedia
The Trenton Thunder were dealt a major blow on Saturday.
The popular Minor League Baseball team across the Delaware River from Lower Bucks County that has been affiliated with the New York Yankees since 2003 lost their partnership with the team.
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The Trenton Thunder, the Yankees’ Double-A affiliate, learned Saturday that the Major League Baseball team would be linking up with the Somerset Patriots in Bridgewater, New Jersey next season.
The Trenton Thunder have been around since 1980 and played in Canada and New York before moving to Trenton in 1994. They previously have been affiliated with the Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, and Chicago White Soxs.
The Trenton Thunder play at Arm & Hammer Park on the waterfront across from Morrisville Borough and Falls Township.
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The team draws thousands upon thousands of fans from Bucks County and partners with numerous businesses and nonprofit groups.
The Yankees’ statement said the ending of the Trenton Thunder relationship was “strictly on the basis of what we believe to be the best facility to develop our young players.”
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Trenton Thunder owner Joseph Plumeri called the Yankees’ move “nothing short of despicable.”
NJ.com reported that a Yankees official said the team had been talking with management in Trenton through last week.
The Yankees said they have pared down their minor league teams from 10 to six as part of a new agreement between the leagues.
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Plumeri said in his statement that the Trenton Thunder organization found out about the change through media reports. He said “New York Yankees management has made the calculated and ungracious maneuver to leave the urban setting of Trenton for the affluent confines of Bridgewater Township, leaving one of the finest facilities according to Major League Baseball without an affiliate.”
The team owner said the move hurts the city of Trenton and the stadium workers, fans, and residents.
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“While this community built the Yankees organization up and set minor league baseball attendance records, it seems the Yankees were only focused on trying to cut culturally diverse Trenton down in favor of a wealthy, higher socioeconomic area in Somerset,” he said.
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