MLB Players Association President Tony Clark throws out the first pitch at Trenton Thunder Ballpark before an MLB Draft League game on Saturday night. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)MLB Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark, center left, poses with Thunder manager Adonis Smith, center right, and mascots Boomer, left, and Cloudman, right, after throwing the first pitch at Trenton Thunder Ballpark before an MLB Draft League game on Saturday night. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)MLB Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark signs autographs for fans at Trenton Thunder Ballpark before an MLB Draft League game on Saturday night. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)MLB Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark, right, signs autographs for fans at Trenton Thunder Ballpark before an MLB Draft League game on Saturday night. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)MLB Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark, center, poses for a picture with a framed Trenton Giants jersey with Thunder general manager Jon Bodnar, left, and Jeff Hurley, right, at Trenton Thunder Ballpark before an MLB Draft League game on Saturday night. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Tony Clark bobbleheads at Trenton Thunder Ballpark before an MLB Draft League game on Saturday night. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Thunder mascot Boomer welcomes Tony Clark back to Trenton Thunder Ballpark on Saturday night as part of the franchise's 30th anniversary season. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)MLB Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark listens during a pregame ceremony at Trenton Thunder Ballpark before an MLB Draft League game on Saturday night. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Show Caption of Expand TRENTON — Tony Clark remembers a conversation he had with his son regarding the longest home run he’s ever hit. It wasn’t the two-run smash he launched at the Tokyo Dome as a member of the Yankees in the 2004 season-opening Japan Series against Tampa Bay, or any of the 30 he smacked the next season as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks, but rather one right here in Trenton during the Thunder’s inaugural 1994 season. It was a walk-off grand slam that splashed into the mighty Delaware River beyond the right-field fence that the remaining Thunder originals still talk about to this day. “It went over the trees and over the lights in right-center,” Clark said, recalling that conversation with his son. “Put aside that it was a grand slam walk-off for a moment, but when it hit the water it still hasn’t stopped. That thing is still moving.” Now in his 11th year as the Executive Director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, Clark threw out the first pitch on Saturday night after he was honored with a video tribute and bobblehead as part of the Thunder’s 30th anniversary season. That inaugural season had its challenges — the contractor installed the field draining system incorrectly which led to some delays — and the Thunder, in their only season as the Detroit Tigers’ Double-A affiliate, struggled mightily to a 55-85 record. Clark, who had been selected second overall by Detroit in 1990, was one of the few bright spots by slugging 21 homers in 107 games before he was promoted to Triple-A. “This was my first full year, so to be here and be embraced in the fashion I was despite the fact that as a team we were challenged is something I will never forget,” said Clark, who played basketball at the University of Arizona and San Diego State University in college while spending the summer months in minor league baseball. “That year that we were here in ’94 — it was the only year the Tigers were here — all the memories are around that year. The challenges with opening day, but all the support from the fans and how they supported us despite those challenges.” Clark remembers a sold-out ballpark almost nightly, the ‘Win-a-Suit’ sign in left-center that once netted him a free suit and trips to Rossi’s, then in Trenton before it moved to Hamilton Township, where he “finished that burger.” “Everything about my time in Trenton outside of our win-loss record is something I hold dear,” said Clark, who is a member of the Trenton Baseball Hall of Fame and has his No. 33 retired by the club. That’s why it also pains Clark to see the Thunder without an affiliation after the Yankees left when Major League Baseball slashed the number of affiliated clubs by 40 from 160 to 120 ahead of the 2021 season. “Baseball (and) Trenton are synonymous and should be against the backdrop of having an affiliated club here,” Clark said. “The support that this city has always shown, the history of this ballpark and the history of baseball in the city itself before ’94 is something that warrants and justifies an affiliated team being here.” The Thunder landed in the MLB Draft League where they continue to draw crowds on par, and in many cases better than clubs in the Eastern League. Ownership has made it known that it wants to return to affiliated ball, but there is no timetable on when that could happen, although the Thunder could have the ballpark ready to welcome a big league organization next season. “I’m grateful for these players and having the opportunity to be coached by these great coaches in this ballpark, with this history, and on this field, but these fans in this city deserve an affiliated team,” Clark said. “I hope that happens at some point.”