Each Friday, Minor Matters will publish the Top Ten numbers from the season. These can be stats, players' numbers, whatever. As long as it's a number, it counts. The Thunder were just two wins from the Eastern League championship, so there's no shortage of material for this section.

No. 1 ...

What it means: The number of runs the Thunder scored in the final three games of their season, a trio of losses to the Altoona Curve in the Eastern League Championship Series.

Why it's significant: Besides putting a whimper of an end on an otherwise successful season, it exposed the Thunder's weakness to moderately talented left-handed pitchers. Jeff Locke, Justin Wilson and Tony Watson each did the job against an offense that appeared to finally be finding its groove against a far more imposing New Hampshire staff. Instead, Trenton's bats went silent, and the Curve hoisted the championship trophy on Waterfront Park's infield.

What Else It Could Mean: Lots of things, frankly, including: Jorge Vazquez's RBI total, Justin Christian's triples, Marcos Vechionacci's stolen bases, Kevin Mahoney's games played and strikeout total, Jose Gil's doubles, Edwar Gonzalez's homers, Corban Joseph's doubles, Jack Rye's strikeouts, Kevin Smith's doubles, D.J. Mitchell's hit batsmen, Ryan Pope's losses, David Phelps' wins, Wilkin De La Rosa's holds and games finished, Manny Banuelos' and Dellin Betances' earned runs, Tim Norton's games pitched and John Van Benschoten's innings pitched.

I started the Thunder top 10 series back in November as a way to pass the winter while waiting for April. Since then, I've run down the team's best games of the year, players of the year, players who will be on the team next year, players who the Thunder will face next year, and numbers that best represent the team's season. Here, now, is a quick recap of how I've ranked them. Feel free to tell me what you think.

GAMES OF THE YEAR

10. Hector Noesi's complete game
9. Austin Krum's incredible defensive day
8. Andrew Brackman's debut
7. The Joseph brothers' reunion
6. Andy Pettitte in Game 1 of the ELCS
5. Laird's grand slam completes the cycle
4. Andy Pettitte and Adam Warren dominate the Fisher Cats
3. Adam Warren strikes out 15
2. Betances outduels Drabek

PLAYERS OF THE YEAR

10. Hector Noesi
9. Justin Christian
8. Dan Brewer
7. Marcos Vechionacci
6a. Dellin Betances
6b. Manny Banuelos
5a. David Phelps
5b. Lance Pendleton
4. Austin Romine
3a. D.J. Mitchell
3b. Adam Warren
2. Andrew Brackman

PLAYERS FOR 2011

10. Pat Venditte
9. Adam Olbrychowski
8. Brett Marshall
7. Craig Heyer
6. Jose Gil
5. Shaeffer Hall
4. Graham Stoneburner
3. Melky Mesa
2. Dellin Betances

OPPOSING PLAYERS FOR 2011

10. Charlie Culberson
9. Travis d'Arnaud
8. Tony Sanchez
7. Derek Norris
6. Aaron Hicks
5. Anthony Gose
4. Jacob Turner
3. Nick Hagadone
2. Austin Hyatt

NUMBERS OF THE YEAR

10. 23 (Laird's home runs)
9. 1,125 (Thunder Ks)
8. 17 (Romine's hit streak)
7. 0 (Manny Banuelos' wins)
6. 39 (David Adams' games)
5. 69 (Garcia's pitches for the year)
4. 29 (Brewer's stolen bases)
3. 37 (Betances' and Banuelos' combined Ks)
2. 1 (New Hampshire runs against the Thunder in the ELDS)

Each Friday, Minor Matters will publish the Top Ten numbers from the season. These can be stats, players' numbers, whatever. As long as it's a number, it counts. The Thunder were just two wins from the Eastern League championship, so there's no shortage of material for this section.

No. 2 ...

What it means: Yes, it's the loneliest number, but it's also the total number of runs the Thunder allowed against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats in their sweep through the Eastern League Division Series.

Why it's significant: The Fisher Cats were, without question, the Thunder's biggest nemesis in the regular season. They scored 120 runs against Trenton, including 19 home runs. Three Trenton pitchers -- D.J. Mitchell, Lance Pendleton and Wilkins Arias -- allowed more than 10 runs against them. Holding them to just one run over 30 innings, then, was nothing short of a monumental feat.

What Else It Could Mean: Lots of things, frankly, including: Jorge Vazquez's walk total, Jose Gil's triples, Kevin Mahoney's doubles or RBI totals, Jack Rye's triples or home runs, Taylor Grote's at-bats, Lance Berkman's runs scored, Hector Noesi's shutouts, Tim Norton's saves, and Manny Banuelos' losses.

Each Friday, Minor Matters will publish the Top Ten numbers from the season. These can be stats, players' numbers, whatever. As long as it's a number, it counts. The Thunder were just two wins from the Eastern League championship, so there's no shortage of material for this section.

No. 3 ...

What it means: The number of strikeouts -- in 29 2/3 innings over six starts -- from Dellin Betances and Manny Banuelos -- a pretty fair taste of what fans can expect at the top of the Thunder rotation in 2011.

Why it's significant: Barring trades, Banuelos and Betances will be at the top of the Thunder rotation come April 7 and 8 in New Hampshire. Unleashed from their pitch counts, and hopefully free of any last-minute surgeries, the pair could pile up a whole lot of punchouts throughout the summer.

What Else It Could Mean: Austin Romine's walks, Edwar Gonzalez's runs scored, Damon Sublett's strikeouts or Hector Noesi's runs allowed.

Each Friday, Minor Matters will publish the Top Ten numbers from the season. These can be stats, players' numbers, whatever. As long as it's a number, it counts. The Thunder were just two wins from the Eastern League championship, so there's no shortage of material for this section.

No. 4 ...

What it means: The number of stolen bases from dual-threat outfielder Dan Brewer, tops on the team. He also had 10 longballs, making him the only player on the team last season to post double-digit totals in both categories.

Why it's significant: The stolen base total made him the first player since Kevin Thompson in 2005 to post double-digit home runs and swipes. Thunder fans probably won't have to wait long to see that feat accomplished again, however: Melky Mesa, a likely member of next year's squad, hit 19 HRs and stole 31 bases with Tampa.

What Else It Could Mean: Twenty-nine was also the number of games played by famously tight-lipped outfielder Reid Gorecki.

Each Friday, Minor Matters will publish the Top Ten numbers from the season. These can be stats, players' numbers, whatever. As long as it's a number, it counts. The Thunder were just two wins from the Eastern League championship, so there's no shortage of material for this section.

No. 5 ...

What it means: The number of pitches Christian Garcia threw on Opening Day before injuring his elbow, leading to his second Tommy John surgery and, ultimately, his release from the organization.

Why it's significant: Not only was it Opening Day, but it was the first action Garcia had seen since his last Tommy John surgery, which made the sight of trainer Tim Lentych coming to the mound all the more disturbing. He hung around the clubhouse for a few more days, but when the MRI came back with a tear, the jig was up. David Altchek performed his surgery a few days later, and he was eventually released to make room for Shane Lindsay on the Yanks' 40-man roster. Lindsay didn't last long before also being released.

What Else It Could Mean: Sixty-nine was also Austin Romine's RBI total, Matt Cusick's total bases or D.J. Mitchell's runs allowed.

Each Friday, Minor Matters will publish the Top Ten numbers from the season. These can be stats, players' numbers, whatever. As long as it's a number, it counts. The Thunder were just two wins from the Eastern League championship, so there's no shortage of material for this section.

No. 6 ...

What it means: The number of games of David Adams played before breaking his foot and spraining his ankle, costing him the rest of the season, and possibly keeping Cliff Lee from the Yankees.

Why it's significant: Before the injury, Adams, a second baseman, was easily the team's MVP. Even when Austin Romine and Brandon Laird hadn't started cooking yet, Adams was scalding the ball. He was hitting .309/.393/.900 before he got hurt, including three longballs and 31 RBIs. He also had 15 doubles and three triples. In short, he was carrying the team's offense through the season's cold months.

What Else It Could Mean: Thirty-nine just doesn't appear that much in this season's stats. In addition Adams' games played, it is also: Adam Olbrychowski's jersey number, and the amount of triples the team legged out in 2010.

Each Friday, Minor Matters will publish the Top Ten numbers from the season. These can be stats, players' numbers, whatever. As long as it's a number, it counts. The Thunder were just two wins from the Eastern League championship, so there's no shortage of material for this section.

No. 7 ...


















What it means: The number of wins Manny Banuelos had during the regular season, combined among Gulf Coast League, High-A and Double-A.

Why it's significant: Even at the minor league level, it's just another punch to the face of the win as a meaningful statistic. He pitched brilliantly at all three levels but failed to notch a W. His only win of the year, in his 16th start, came in the final game of the Eastern League Division Series. To review, 15 regular-season starts, 54 hits in 64 2/3 innings, a 2.51 ERA, 85 strikeouts against 25 walks ... zero wins. Good stat.

What Else It Could Mean: David Adams' error total ... David Phelps' losses in 14 starts ... Justin Snyder's ERA in an inning pitched ... The number of earned runs John Van Benschoten allowed.

Each Friday, Minor Matters will publish the Top Ten numbers from the season. These can be stats, players' numbers, whatever. As long as it's a number, it counts. The Thunder were just two wins from the Eastern League championship, so there's no shortage of material for this section.

No. 8 ...














What it means: The number of consecutive games in which Thunder catcher Austin Romine collected a hit, spanning from April 15 until May 7.

Why it's significant: After a brief early-season slump, caused partially by the cold weather, Romine began to bust out, and for those three weeks, he was nearly unstoppable. During that period, he went 26-for-67 (.388), with nine doubles, three home runs and 15 RBIs.

After that, however, he cooled significantly. He hit .252/.304/.671 the rest of the way, with seven bombs and 52 RBIs.

When it all shook out, though, Romine's .268/.324/.726 line is good but not spectacular for someone handling his first full season behind the plate. Thirty-one doubles, 10 home runs and 69 RBIs aren't anything to sneeze at, either.

Other Meanings: The number 17, for Romine, also represents the number of RBIs he had against left-handed pitching, the number of games he played in April and the number of times he struck out in July.

For the rest of the team, 17 could have stood for: Rene Rivera's RBIs and strikeouts, Marcos Vechionacci's doubles, Matt Cusick's runs scored, Austin Krum's doubles, Kevin Smith's walks, Hector Noesi's, George Kontos' and Noel Castillo's appearances, Ryan Pope's saves, Josh Schmidt's games finished or Manny Banuelos' strikeout total.

Each Friday, Minor Matters will publish the Top Ten numbers from the season. These can be stats, players' numbers, whatever. As long as it's a number, it counts. The Thunder were just two wins from the Eastern League championship, so there's no shortage of material for this section.

No. 9 ...












What it means: The number of strikeouts the Thunder accrued during the season, tops in the Eastern League.

Why it's significant: It's the fifth consecutive time Trenton's hurlers have led the circuit, and their third-highest total in that span. Your team leader in punchouts was Lance Pendleton, with 111. He was promoted to Scranton at the beginning of August.

Some interesting numbers regarding strikeouts. Wilkins Arias had the same number as Andrew Brackman (70), and he did it in 19 fewer innings. Josh Schmidt had one more than Brackman, and Schmidt pitched just 60 2/3 innings, compared to Brackman's 80 2/3.

The Thunder fanned seven more hitters than the second-place team, the Akron Aeros. They also won 12 more games than the two-time defending champs (entering the season).

Kings of the Ks: Adam Warren fanned a team-record 15 hitters on August 18 against Bowie. ... Adam Olbrychowski's strikeout ended the Eastern League Division Series against the Fisher Cats. ... Mike Nickeas took strike three to end Hector Noesi's complete game against Binghamton on June 13.

Each Friday, Minor Matters will publish the Top Ten numbers from the season. These can be stats, players' numbers, whatever. As long as it's a number, it counts. The Thunder were just two wins from the Eastern League championship, so there's no shortage of material for this section.

No. 10 ...













What it means: Number 23, other than being Don Mattingly's number, was Brandon Laird's home run total with the Thunder last season.

Why it's significant: To say Brandon Laird had a killer stint in the Eastern League is to the sun has had a good run as a star. The Thunder's third baseman, in addition to those 23 bombs, hit 22 doubles, drove in 90 runs and walked 38 times.

He also won (deep breath) the league's Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, Player of the Week and Player of the Month awards, and was named to both Mid-Season and Postseason All-Star teams.

Pretty damn good for a guy who played 107 games with the Thunder before moving to Scranton.

Other meanings: Jose Gil's strikeouts, the number of games D.J. Mitchell and Lance Pendleton each started for the Thunder, the number of walks David Phelps issued in 88 1/3 innings, the number of games in which Eric Wordekemper appeared and J.B. Cox's strikeout total.