South Jersey Baseball: Thunder Give Community Service and Fan Favorite Awards Grove Named Both Samuel Plumeri, Sr. Community Service Award Winner and Hamilton Jewelers Fan Favorite Award Winner... Saturday, August 28, 2004 By Bill Cook Trenton Thunder Baseball Club The Trenton Thunder, Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, announced today that Outfielder Jason Grove has been named the 2004 Samuel Plumeri, Sr. Community Service Award Winner and the Hamilton Jewelers Fan Favorite Award Winner. He will be presented the awards in an on-field ceremony following the game vs. Binghamton on Saturday night at Mercer County Waterfront Park. Grove is the first player to receive both of the team’s season ending awards. Grove has been an active participant in the Thunder’s Grand Slam We Care Foundation activities. He was a frequent speaker during the Thunder’s Take Kids Out Program and has done numerous appearances around the Trenton community including visiting schools, camps and fundraisers. Grove was the only member of the Thunder to be selected as the Roman Hall Community Player of the Homestand twice. Grove, the Thunder’s Opening Day rightfielder, is batting XXX, with XX home runs and XX RBI (entering play on Saturday). The Walla Walla, Washington native is second on the Thunder with XX doubles and third in hits with XX. Grove had an outstanding month of July, batting .342 with a home run and 23 RBI in 22 games. Grove joins Brad Tweedlie (1999) and Marty McLeary (2000), Josh Garrett (2001), Mike Griffin (2002), and Brian Myrow (2003) as winners of the Sam Plumeri Sr. Community Service Award. Previous winners of the Hamilton Jewelers Fan Favorite Award include; Aaron Rifkin, Jerry Salzano, Virgil Chevalier, Randy Brown, Rich Betti, Joe Perona and Lou Merloni. “Jason has been an integral part of the team and the community,” said Thunder General Manager Rick Brenner. “We are happy to have him as part of the Thunder family and it’s been our privilege to have him as part of our organization. We are lucky to have partners like Hamilton Jewelers to help share in this award.” The Samuel Plumeri Sr. Community Service Award winner is chosen by Thunder Management while the Hamilton Jewelers Fan Favorite winner is chosen by fan voting at the AAA Guest Services Center at Waterfront Park throughout the season. The Thunder will finish the home portion of the Eastern League regular season on Sunday afternoon at 1:35 against the Binghamton Mets.