2006 Trenton Thunder Season Recap
by Mike Ashmore
September 21, 2006 - Hunterdon County Democrat

Nobody watching this team in April thought the Trenton Thunder season would end the way it did.

It wasn't that they lost in the first round of the playoffs that surprised them, it was that they were in the playoffs at all.

The Thunder were the last team in all of affiliated baseball to win a game in 2006, waiting until April 17th to get their first victory, 11 games into what looked like a long 142-game season.

"It's strange, it really didn't feel like we were losing ten in a row," Trenton Thunder manager Bill Masse said at the time.

"I don't want to sound like a broken record or anything, but it's been the same theme the whole time. We're in the game until the sixth or seventh inning and it seems like the other team scores two or three runs and we can't generate enough offense to counter."

Pitching was never a problem for the Thunder, and the May 4th addition of Yankees top prospect Phil Hughes bolstered a staff that ended up losing Danny Borrell to injury, Steven White to Triple-A and Jeff Karstens to the big leagues.

Hughes enjoyed his first injury-free campaign in 2006 with the Thunder, wowing scouts at every turn with a 10-3 record and 2.25 ERA.

"The only word that comes to mind is awesome," said Masse when asked to describe his young ace.

Trenton received some "help" in the name of Hideki Matsui for the playoffs, but he certainly wasn't the first Yankee to make the short trip to Trenton to rehab an injury.

The much-maligned Carl Pavano made three rehab starts for Trenton, Octavio Dotel made two relief appearances for the team, and Shawn Chacon started a game in June.

As far as position players go, the Thunder received three of them as well; Gary Sheffield dodged reporters during a one game appearance on the road, whereas Robinson Cano and Hideki Matsui were both very gracious with the media during their three and two-game stints with the team, respectively.

But it was the everyday players who were the real story of this team.

Undrafted out of college, outfielder Justin Christian showed why his stock was rising, hitting .276 and setting a franchise record with 68 stolen bases.

"Every day, I just go out there and try to be the best baseball player I can be and try to help my team win," Christian said.

"If that meant breaking a record, then so be it, but my goal was never to break any records."

First baseman Randy Ruiz, whose signing was questioned due to a past with steroids, showed he was clean and showed he was for real, hitting 26 home runs to lead the team and contend for Eastern League MVP.

And that's exactly what this was, a team. When Borrell and infielders Eric Duncan and Kevin Howard were lost for the season due to injuries, the team hung their jerseys in the clubhouse, a reminder of the players who helped get them to where they were.

When reliever Scott Patterson found out he'd lost his mother to a long battle with cancer during a game, you could have heard a pin drop in the clubhouse after the game, a clubhouse which would normally be overflowing with loud music and the bustle of players celebrating a win.

The Thunder got as far as they did because they were a team in every sense of the word.

And that's something that shouldn't surprise anybody at all.

Next week, Mike gives out his first annual Ashmore Awards to the Thunder.

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