BOWIE, Md. – More than his own time at the plate, Thunder outfielder Justin Christian remembers the first time he heard Bob Sheppard call out the Yankee captain’s name.

“What I remember more than my name being called is Derek Jeter’s, his signature when he comes to an at-bat. His voice has always been recorded for Jeter. It was great to hear that, and I think that’s a tribute to (Sheppard) as a person.”

Starting with Boston’s Dom DiMaggio on May 17, 1951, Sheppard famously dictated every player’s name with the same amount measure, rhythm and respect, whether or not he played for the Yankees.

One such lucky player is Jody Reed, who spent 11 seasons in the show. He made his Yankee Stadium debut in 1987, just seven games into his big league career. He remembers knowing the voice waiting for him, if not the name.

“I didn’t know who Bob Sheppard was, and then you’re hearing him call out the opening lineups, and the voice is so distinct,” said Reed, the Thunder’s interim skipper while Tony Franklin is at the Futures Game. “Of course the veteran guys, Dwight Evans, Jim Rice, they tell you who is and you’re like, ‘Wow.’”

For Reed, as his career wore on and the trips to the Bronx became more frequent and familiar, the thrill of hearing Sheppard – who became known as The Voice of God – pronounce his name never grew tiresome.

“Of course, over a 10-year career, hearing Bob announce the name and announce the lineups – and that voice – you never forget it. Hearing that voice (and) the slow, perfect enunciation – and it is booming – it is so distinctive. As you go on, every time you go in there, you look forward to hearing him call your name.”

Thunder hitting coach Frank Menechino, a veteran of seven seasons, was visibly broken up when he heard just before game time about Sheppard’s passing. Hearing his name over the Yankee Stadium loudspeakers meant so much to Menechino that he wanted to whatever he could to have that feeling available forever.

With a little ingenuity and some help from the Yankees’ public relations department, that’s a possibility.

“I have it recorded at home,” Menechino said. “That way I can listen to it over and over, whenever I want.”

That, in a nutshell, tells you all you need to know about the impact Sheppard and his voice made for 58 legendary seasons.

BOWIE, Md. – For two innings last night, Andrew Brackman was as good as advertised. He flashed a dazzling array of high-octane fastballs and late-breaking curveballs that left Bowie’s hitters in knots.

Then came the third inning, and the Thunder’s right-hander, massive in both size and expectations, came unraveled.

Brackman allowed four runs on three hits -- with back-to-back walks and a hit batsman thrown in – in the frame, and Trenton never recovered, eventually falling 6-2 to the Baysox at Prince George’s Stadium.

After displaying a heater that sat comfortably in the mid-90s and touched 99 on multiple occasions, Brackman started off the third with a curveball that slipped and caught catcher Bowie catcher Caleb Joseph square in the back.

The problem, he believes, at least last night, was between his ears, not in his arm.

“I got a little bit out of control, maybe, mentally,” Brackman said. “I just got out of myself a little bit and didn’t control it.”

Interim manager Jody Reed agrees that the cause of Brackman’s early Double-A struggles so far has to do in large part with his mental approach.

“If he can stay in the frame of mind the first couple of innings, that’s the guy you’re looking for,” Reed said. “That’s how a major league pitcher has to be. He just has to be a bulldog out there. If a couple of things happen out there, you have to be able to get that ball back and get in the same frame of mind and get right back after it.”

Brackman recovered and fanned the next man, Danny Figueroa, but then surrendered a seeing-eye single through the middle to ninth hitter Carlos Rojas. Leadoff man Greg Miclat, a smallish shortstop, then cashed in both runners on a ringing double just inside the third-base line.

Joe Mahoney, who was a perfect 3-for-3 on Friday in his Double-A debut, drove home the inning’s final run on a line drive to left that gave his team an early four-run edge.

Overall, Brackman gave up five runs – four earned – on five hits and three walks. He struck out an impressive eight hitters as well, but ultimately took his fourth loss in as many starts.

The most troubling part of that line is the three free passes. With Tampa this season, Brackman walked nine over 60 innings. In just 16 frames with Trenton, he’s already at seven.

An advanced plate approach from upper-level hitters may have something to do with that uptick.

“I feel like hitters have an approach here instead of down in the lower levels,” Brackman said. “They’re not going to swing at some of the stuff they might swing at (otherwise).”

Trenton got something going in the fifth when left fielder Jack Rye led off with a long home run to left field, which Rene Rivera followed with a ground-rule double. Edwar Gonzalez’s two-bagger two hitters later brought Rivera home.

Both Trenton runs came off of starter Rick Zagone, who baffled the Thunder otherwise.

Rehabbing Orioles reliever silenced the Thunder in the seventh, and Jose Diaz and Bob McCrory followed suit in the eighth and ninth.

NOTES: Austin Romine and Hector Noesi, who flew to California for the XM Futures Game yesterday morning, were placed in the Temporarily Inactive List. Justin Christian was added to the roster. … The Eastern League announced the lineups yesterday for its Home Run Derby, to be held before the All-Star Game, on July 14. Representing the Eastern Division will be Reading’s Matthew Rizzotti and Tagg Bozied, New Hampshire’s Eric Thames and Binghamton’s Kirk Nieuwenhuis. Harrisburg’s Michael Martinez and Chris Marrero, as well as Altoona catcher Hector Gimenez and Richmond’s Thomas Neal will go to bat for the Western Division.