Brooklyn Cyclones mark 25th anniversary

It was a red banner day for Brooklyn as New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon led a parade of Little Leaguers down Surf Avenue to the gates of KeySpan Park for the Cyclones’ inaugural home opener on June 25, 2001.

To maintain regional parity with the new Staten Island Yankees and to start community development in Coney Island, the Mets built KeySpan Park and moved their New York Penn League Short Season A minor league affiliate to Brooklyn after 12 seasons at Pittsfield, Mass.

Built on the footprint of Steeplechase Park and in the shadow of the iconic Parachute Jump, ticket demand was so strong that 1,500 bleacher seats were added to the 6,000-seat stadium in the month prior to the sold-out opening day,

Mayor Giuliani threw out the ceremonial first pitch to former Brooklyn Dodger Ralph Branca, linking Brooklyn’s past to the present after the 1958 departure of the Dodgers to Los Angeles.

In anticipation of a sellout, PBS station WNET Channel 13 broadcast its first ever live baseball game, which was hosted by TV personality David Hartman. WFAN broadcasters Ed Randall and Dave Sims, along with former New York Met Ed Kranepool, called the game from the press box.

Essentially, the Mets promoted their 2000 team from the lower Appalachian League in Kingsport, Tenn., to Brooklyn along with manager Edgar Alfonzo, the older brother of former Mets star Edgardo Alfonzo. Along with Alfonzo, the Mets added a 1986 championship flavor to the team with the addition of pitching coach Bobby Ojeda and hitting coach Howard Johnson.

In that first game at Coney Island, the visiting Cleveland Indians’ Mahoning Valley Scrappers’ affiliate from Niles, Oh., maintained a 2-0 lead up until the bottom of the ninth inning. Then with two out and one runner on base, Cyclone slugger Edgar Rodriquez ripped a two-run homer over the left-field wall to tie the game at 2-2, sending it into extra innings to the wild delight of the sellout crowd.

After holding the Scrappers scoreless in the top of the 10th inning, power-hitting catcher Mike Jacobs came to the plate after going 0-for-4 in his previous at-bats. With the bases loaded, Jacobs provided the second dramatic moment of the evening when he shortened his swing and poked a sacrifice fly to left field to bring in the winning run.

The win gave the Cyclones a 4-3 record and propelled the team toward winning their division with a record-setting 52-24 mark.

After beating the rival Staten Island Yankees in the first semi-final playoff round, the Cyclones took on the Williamsport Crosscutters for the first game of the final round. At Bowman Field, the Cyclones handily won the first game in Pennsylvania, 8-4. However, the rest of the playoffs in Brooklyn were cancelled due to the 9/11 attacks, consequently allowing the Penn League to declare Brooklyn and Williamsport co-champions. 

From Brooklyn’s opening day roster, two Cyclones would later make the New York Mets as Mike Jacobs switched from catcher to first base to give the team a lift in August of 2005 as a home run hitter. After spending two seasons with the Chicago Cubs, Angel Pagan would assume his role at the top of the lineup in 2008 with the Mets as a dependable contact hitter and a speedy base stealer.