The Fictional History of the Trenton Thunder (1994-???)

[JackOnAMacYT]

I've always had a thing for Trenton. I don't really know why, my best guess is the fact that it is New Jersey's capital city. So, in this OOTP/FHM adventure, I want to take over the 1994 Trenton Thunder, and I'll eventually take over the 1999 Trenton Titans. The goal is to win a title for both teams. The issue is that both teams no longer play. Well, technically the Thunder still play in the MLB Draft League, but sadly that's not in the game. So, how will I fix this? For the Thunder, I'll put them in either the Atlantic League or the Frontier League. For the Titans, I'll put them in the FPHL or just keep them in the ECHL. Also, I'll be playing every game for both teams. The first goal is to get Trenton a team in the AHL or Triple-A leagues by 2030. Then, we want to try to get a team in the MLB, and maybe try relocating the New Jersey Devils to Trenton. Then, we'll end off the challenge when we win a ring with both teams. Here's are our records with both teams:

Baseball:
1994 Trenton Thunder: N/A

Hockey:
1999-00 Trenton Titans: N/A

Anyway, let's meet your 1994 Trenton Thunder!

[JackOnAMacYT]

Ratings:
Speedy is probably the best way to describe Mendenhall. With his 80 Stealing and 80 Baserunning, he can steal any base he wants! However, that's if he ever gets on base as he only has 35 contact, so he probably won't make it on even first base most of the time. His defense is also below average for a Shortstop as his highest rating is his 60 Turn DP rating. Personally, I don't think he's going to be that good at anything except for stealing when he actually gets on base.

Real Life Overview:
In real life, he only made it to Triple-A and then ended up retiring. Even then, he only played 21 games in AAA. In this save, I don't think he's going to make it Double-A. So at least we'll have him for a while, although it's all really up to what the Detroit Tigers want to do.

[JackOnAMacYT]

Ratings:
I have a feeling Trammell is going to end up hitting a lot of Home Runs this season for the Thunder. However, he has good potential which means he won't be staying with us for that long. Probably by next year he'll be moved up to AAA Toledo. Either way, he'll be good for the season we'll have him for.

Real Life Stats:
He actually did make the majors in 1997, However had his best season in 2001 with the San Diego Padres. Also, he's NOT related to Alan Trammell, which is weird cause they both played for the Tigers... suspicious

[JackOnAMacYT]

Ratings:
Not really much to say here, he has a somewhat-good batter's eye, and somehow is our best player by overall... yikes

Real Life Stats:
Again, not much here. He made Triple-A by 1992, however didn't really start playing at that level until 1994, which means we probably won't have him for that long at all. Never ended up making the Major Leagues, and retired at age 27.

[JackOnAMacYT]

Ratings:
Decent enough, and still somehow tied for best player on the team by overall with DH Jose Gonzalez. I don't know why they're better than everyone else according to OOTP, but whatever...

Real Life Stats:
If everything goes historically accurate, he should be playing the whole year. So at least we have someone who goes going to play the full season. At least, I hope he does. We'll have to see if he makes it farther this time.

[JackOnAMacYT]

(Btw I skipped 2B Evan Pratte, he's not really worth talking about)

Ratings:
He's doesn't have a great overall, but his potential is by far the best on the team. For the future, he looks like he'll be a great contact hitter in the majors. Definitely not going to play long with Trenton at all.

Real Stats:
Very good player in 2001 with the Rangers and in 06 with the Blue Jays.

[JackOnAMacYT]

(I skipped Carlos Burguillos as he wasn't worth talking about)

Ratings:
Has very good potential in Contact, although the ratings are relative to this league, so I'm not sure of his ratings equivalent to the majors.

Real Life Stats:
I only should them from his MLB Debut as he lasted very long in the majors. Not nearly as good as Catalanotto in the majors, but still pretty good.

[JackOnAMacYT]

The next player (3B Joe Dellacarri) was not that good, so we're just going to get to the first game in Trenton Thunder history!

[JackOnAMacYT]

Turns out some of our team just got sent up and was replaced. Here is the new Lineup for our first game vs the Portland Sea Dogs:

1 - DH Glen Barker - Decent Prospect with 44 potential in Double A
2 - RF Bubba Trammell - Already covered him, did get moved up however was sent back down to Double-A
3 - 1B Brent Killen - Has a good eye and not much else
4 - C Pete Gonzalez - Already covered him as well
5 - CF Carlos Burguillos - Actually had decent speed which I never looked at, still pretty bad everywhere else though.
6 - SS Kirk Mendenhall - Already covered him
7 - LF Dave Roberts - Good Potential, already has great speed.
8 - 3B Joe Dellacarri - Still quite bad
9 - 2B Shawn Brown - Speed with no Contact...

[JackOnAMacYT]

Game 1 vs the Portland Sea Dogs:

Top 2nd - Pete Gonzales hits the ball to the Outfield with a man on second base. The ball drops and the man scores: 1-0 Thunder

Top 3rd: Glen Barker hits the ball into the wall and gets a Triple. Then, Mendenhall hits a monster of a hit to make the game 3-0 Thunder

Top 4th: Shawn Brown hits a double, Glen Barker scores. 4-0 Thunder

Top 5th: Gonzales hits a double with men on 1st and 3rd. Burguillos scores, Killen heads to third, Gonzales gets to second. 5-0 Thunder.

No one scored after that. Thunder win their first game in team history, 5-0

This is how you start a team, folks! We end up winning our first game in team history, which I honestly wasn't expecting. We'll have to see if we are able to keeps this up though

[JackOnAMacYT]

For the next game, I forgot to save the Box Score and I didn't play it, so therefore all I can tell you is that we lost 5-6 to the Sea Dogs. Last game got cancelled for bad weather apparently. Next series is versus the Albany-Colonie Yankees. The lineup is still the same as last time.

[JackOnAMacYT]

deleted

[JackOnAMacYT]

I'm probably going to end this save. Just realized this save is going to take way longer than I first anticipated, and this is meant to be a secondary project to my "Ring Chaser" save.

[JackOnAMacYT]

Originally Posted by JackOnAMacYT

I'm probably going to end this save. Just realized this save is going to take way longer than I first anticipated, and this is meant to be a secondary project to my "Ring Chaser" save.

Nevermind, I think I want to keep this save going

[JackOnAMacYT]

THE TRENTON CHRONICLE
TRENTON'S SUPRISE WIN VS ALBANY
Writer: Jennifer Willis, Senior Sports Reporter

Here at Mercer County Waterfront Park, the Thunder would end up winning their first game against the Albany-Colonie Yankees. It proved to me that the Thunder should be here to stay, unlike lots of other minor league teams. By the end of the second inning, the Trenton Thunder were down my three runs. Luckily, Tigers prospect Dave Roberts hit a 3 Run Homer in the bottom of the third to put the game in Trenton's ballpark. Then, three more runs were scored by the Thunder in the third. While Albany did put up a good fight, the Thunder brought their A-Game and boy did they apply it to their performance. The Thunder are now 2-1 after this win.

[JackOnAMacYT]

Despite the impressive win by the Thunder's first game in the series vs Albany, they would lose the next two games, putting their record at 2-3 on the year. Here are the results from both games

Trenton Thunder vs Albany-Colonie Yankees Game 2: Thunder lose 9-12 in the tenth inning.
Trenton Thunder vs Albany-Colonie Yankees Game 3: Thunder lose 4-10 in the tenth inning.

Both losses were in the extra innings, which only made it more painful when Trenton lost both games

[JackOnAMacYT]

The Thunder are 4-4 after winning 2 out of 3 games in their series versus the New Haven Ravens. Here are the recaps from those games:

Game 1 vs New Haven Ravens: 7-8, Ravens win
Game 2 vs New Haven Ravens: 2-1, Thunder win
Game 3 vs New Haven Ravens: 7-3, Thunder win

[JackOnAMacYT]

The Thunder would sadly end up losing all three games. Here are the scores from those games.

Trenton Thunder vs Reading Phillies, Game 1: 1-12, Phillies Win
Trenton Thunder vs Reading Phillies, Game 2: 0-3, Phillies Win
Trenton Thunder vs Reading Phillies, Game 3: 2-7, Phillies Win

The Trenton Thunder are now 4-7