Arm & Hammer Park

Coordinates: 40°12′12″N 74°45′39″W / 40.2032°N 74.7609°W

Arm & Hammer Park


Former names Mercer County Waterfront Park (1994–2012)
Location One Thunder Road
Trenton, NJ, 08611
Owner Mercer County
Operator Garden State Baseball, LP
Capacity 6,150[1]
Field size Left Field: 330 feet
Center Field: 407 feet
Right Field: 330 feet
Surface Grass
Construction
Broke ground September 29, 1993[2]
Opened May 9, 1994
Construction cost $16.2 million
($25.8 million in 2015 dollars[3])
Architect Clarke & Caton
Faridy Thorne Fraytak P. C.[4]
Project manager Burris Construction Company- Phase 2[2]
Structural engineer Harrison-Hamnett, P.C.[5]
Services engineer Paulus, Sokolowski & Sartor, LLC.[6]
General contractor V.J. Scozzari & Sons Inc.- Phase 1
Tenants
Trenton Thunder (EL) (1994–Present)

Arm & Hammer Park, formerly known as Mercer County Waterfront Park, is a stadium in Trenton, New Jersey. It is the home baseball park for the Trenton Thunder of the Eastern League. The official seating capacity is 6,150.

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 (Chairman and CEO of Willis Group Holdings). Samuel J. Plumeri, Sr. was Joe Plumeri's father. In November 2012, the New Jersey-based Arm & Hammer purchased the ballpark's naming rights and will maintain its sponsorship through 2032.[7]

In June 2014, the park hosted the first-ever, gold– and bronze–medal games in baseball for the Special Olympics USA National Games.[8][9]


Attendance Records

Arm & Hammer Park set a record for game attendance on July 3, 2011, when the Thunder played the Altoona Curve. The game had the fortune of falling on the Independence Day holiday weekend, as well as featuring an injury rehabilitation appearance by Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees. The official attendance for the game was 9,212.[10]

When Alex Rodriguez played two games on back-to-back nights in August 2013, the official attendance was reported at 8,080 and 8,113, respectively.[11]

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 and Pennsylvania 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 and its river border with Kentucky, Arm & Hammer Park 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.

The stadium anchors an area of rejuvenation in Trenton that also includes office buildings, nightclubs, and the Sun National Bank Center, several blocks away, for ice hockey, basketball and arena football.

References

  1. ↑ Costa, Samantha (March 22, 2012). "Changes to Trenton's Waterfront Park Make It More Wheelchair Friendly". The Times (Trenton). Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 McCarthy, Tom (2003). Baseball in Trenton. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-1310-5.
  3. ↑ Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–2014. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved February 27, 2014.
  4. ↑ Knight, Graham (July 7, 2012). "Waterfront Park". Baseball Pilgrimages. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
  5. ↑ Harrison-Hamnett, P.C. "Stadium Projects". Retrieved September 24, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Entertainment". Paulus, Sokolowski & Sartor, LLC. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
  7. ↑ Brill, Emily (November 14, 2012). "Mercer County Waterfront Park Baseball Venue to Be Renamed Arm & Hammer Park". The Times (Trenton). Retrieved February 23, 2014.
  8. ↑ Teicher, Benjamin (June 19, 2014). "Special Olympics baseball games debut at Trenton Thunder ballpark". Asbury Park Press. Retrieved 2014-06-21.
  9. ↑ "New Jersey Wins Special Olympics Gold At ARM & HAMMER Park". Trenton Thunder. June 20, 2014. Retrieved 2014-06-21. Team New Jersey captured the Gold Medal in the Special Olympics USA Games Inaugural Baseball Finals. Team Rhode Island earned the Silver Medal, Team Delaware earned Bronze and Team Alabama finished in fourth.
  10. ↑ Tomasino, Dan (July 4, 2011). "Jeter Finishes Rehab; Set to Rejoin Yankees". New York Post. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
  11. ↑ Wilson, David (August 3, 2013). "A-Rod Makes Strides As Rehab Stint Ends". Major League Baseball Advanced Media. Retrieved August 3, 2013.

External links