Brooklyn Cyclones & Staten Island Yankees to open season on June 17th
The Staten Island Yankees will host the Brooklyn Cyclones on Monday, June 17th at 7 p.m. to open the 2013 season. The Cyclones’ home opener comes one day later, at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 18th.
Ticket windows at Richmond County Bank Ballpark in Staten Island (Photo credit: Paul Hadsall)
The standard game times for Brooklyn will be 7 p.m. on weeknights, 6 p.m. on Saturdays and 5 p.m. on Sundays. Staten Island will play most home games at 7 p.m., with Sunday games starting at 4 p.m. Both teams will hold a handful of midweek “camp days” with 11 a.m. start times. Full schedules for the Cyclones and S.I. Yankees are posted on the teams’ websites.
Check the Brooklyn Cyclones and Staten Island Yankees websites for information about 2013 ticket sales and promotional schedules when they are released.
Will you go to a New York-Penn League game in 2013?
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Link: New York-Penn rallies around its own
Brooklyn Cyclones outfielder Brandon Nimmo bats during a game at MCU Park on Coney Island this summer. (Photo credit: Paul Hadsall)
While the Brooklyn Cyclones and Staten Island Yankees are understandably the furthest thing from the minds of Coney Island and Staten Island residents, MiLB.com’s Benajmin Hill took a look at how the two teams are dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy:
MCU Park was hit by surges from two nearby bodies of water: Gravesend Bay from the north and the Atlantic Ocean from the south. The front offices, dugouts and clubhouses were flooded with approximately four feet of water, leading to surreal sights such as floating merchandise in the team store and shrimp making a temporary home in the dugout tunnels.
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“This is not about us, and we won’t make it about us, not when we have fans two blocks away who have lost their homes.[said Cyclones general manager Steve Cohen] [MCU Park] is just our office. There is so much going on that’s more important.”
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“On Opening Day we’re going to be good to go and we’re going to make it awesome,” said Cohen…. ”I guess now the big question is whether our mascot should change his name,” said Cohen. “I can see us doing a ‘Sandy Says He’s Sorry’ night.”
If you didn’t see the article yesterday, it’s worth a read.
Photos from Sunday’s Brooklyn Cyclones game in Staten Island
Brandon Nimmo points skyward after crossing the plate following his home run.
I went to my first game at Richmond County Bank Ballpark, home of the Staten Island Yankees, on Sunday. I had fun, but in the future I think I’ll remember to eat before the game or wait to get something afterward.
It was easier to get autographs from the Cyclones in Staten Island than it is in Brooklyn, mainly because there are fewer people asking the road team. About 15 players and coaches signed cards for me, including the Mets’ top overall pick in 2011 Brandon Nimmo and 2012 first round selection Kevin Plawecki. Maybe in four or five years, we’ll see a few of the guys on this year’s Cyclones team at Citi Field.
The game was something of a disaster. Cyclones starter Julian Hilario couldn’t retire a single batter – the only out he was credited with came as a result of overly-aggressive baserunning by one of the Staten Island players. Brooklyn trailed 7-0 after one inning and never recovered. The only highlight was when Nimmo hit a two-run homer to prevent a shutout. The final score was 12-2.
I took the Staten Island Ferry out to the game, which was a fun experience in itself.
Here are some more photos:
Photos from Friday’s Brooklyn Cyclones game
Brooklyn Cyclones outfielder Brandon Nimmo bats
I never got around to posting any photos from Friday’s Brooklyn Cyclones game. (The Cyclones lost to the Staten Island Yankees 4-2)
It rained all day, and I didn’t really expect they’d be able to get it in. But since I was going for the cool Dillon Gee bobblehead giveaway as much as the game (and since I’d already requested the afternoon off from work), I took the train into New York and the subway out to Coney Island anyway.
By the time I got there, the rain had tapered off into an annoying drizzle. The gates opened on time (perhaps even a few minutes early) and it had all but stopped by then. The tarp was still on the field, but several players from both teams were out there doing their pre-game workouts. The staff soon dragged it off into the outfield and began the process of folding it, but left it there until just before gametime. (They even briefly re-covered the field, but no additional rain came.)
Several Staten Island Yankees players buy dinner at the concession stand
As I wandered around the ballpark, I was greeted by an unusual sight: several Staten Island Yankees players, in full or partial uniform, were up at the third base concessions stand buying dinner. Even at the independent league level, I don’t remember ever seeing that before.
It was FDNY Night, so the Cyclones were wearing special jerseys that were raffled off after the game. It’s cool that they have so many “jersey” promotions, but I have to admit that I don’t have a good idea about what their “regular” jersey looks like.
Luis Mateo started the game for Brooklyn and gave up four runs on five hits and three walks over six innings pitched. Staten Island first baseman Matt Snyder was their star of the game, with two hits (including a double), two RBI and a run scored. Jamiel Orozco added a home run for the baby Yankees.
On the Cyclones side of the ledger, it wasn’t a very productive night. The team left 10 men on base and was 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Brandon Nimmo, last year’s first-round draft pick and one of the few names in the lineup that I recognized, went 1-for-5 with three strikeouts. Brooklyn’s star of the game was really reliever Beck Wheeler, who struck out four of the six batters he faced over two innings.
There were postgame fireworks, but I didn’t stick around to watch them since the game didn’t finish until almost 10 p.m.
The official attendance count was 8,177, and I think most of the people who bought tickets made it for at least part of the game. As you might expect due to the weather, the crowd was a late-arriving one. My section didn’t really start to fill in until almost 8 p.m. At 9 p.m., an awful lot of the late arrivals decided they’d had enough baseball and called it a night. I couldn’t quite figure that one out.
Here are some photos from the game:
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- The scoreboard at MCU Park (Photo credit: Paul Hadsall)
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- A statue of Pee Wee Reese and Jackie Robinson outside MCU Park
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- I like the design on the seat at the end of each row at MCU Park.
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- Several Staten Island Yankees players buy dinner at the concession stand
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- Staten Island Yankees outfielder Exicardo Cayones (#50) and a teammate buy dinner at the concession stand
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- Brooklyn Cyclones reliever Beck Wheeler talks to FDNY dignitaries on hand for a pre-game ceremony
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- Brooklyn pitcher Luis Mateo and catcher Kevin Plawecki discuss their game plan before warming up
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- Brooklyn Cyclones outfielder Eudy Pina takes some practice swings
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- FDNY bagpipers perform during a pre-game ceremony
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- The pre-game lineup exchange
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- Staten Island’s Taylor Dugas puts a ball in play
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- Brooklyn Cyclones outfielder Brandon Nimmo bats during a game at MCU Park on Coney Island this summer. (Photo credit: Paul Hadsall)
Game Report: Brooklyn Cyclones 5, Staten Island Yankees 4
I’d hoped to get this up yesterday, but Sunday’s thunderstorms knocked out my home internet connection again.
I went to my first Brooklyn Cyclones game on Saturday, which was supposed to be a beautiful summer day. Just as I got to the Coney Island subway station, it started to pour. Fortunately, I didn’t get caught out in the storm, which only lasted about 15 minutes.
Keyspan Park is a beautiful minor league ballpark, but you can tell it’s owned by folks who own a major league team. Just like at CitiField, I had to put my bags down on a table to be searched and get the once-over with a metal detector wand before I could enter the park.
The park has a unique look, with former and current Coney Island amusement park rides visible beyond the park walls. From the concourse (and presumably the luxury suites) you can see the boardwalk and the water. The designers worked with the theme, creating a scoreboard with a roller coaster motif and making the mascot a seagull.
The park honors the legacy of Dodger baseball in Brooklyn. There is a life-size statue of Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese outside. (And you can buy mini-replicas in the gift shop.) Several Brooklyn Dodgers have had their numbers retired, along with former Cyclones Danny Garcia and Brian Bannister. Somewhat surprisingly, I think there is less of an emphasis on Dodgers merchandise in the gift shop at Keyspan Park than there is at CitiField.
There were a variety of things going on in addition to the game. In addition to all the standard between-innings games, the Cyclones have a dance team called the Beach Bums that performed and helped out with the contests. Several vendors have their own schtick – one road a unicycle on top of the dugout roof during one inning break, another juggled oranges in the aisles. There was even a wedding party on the field prior to the game.
A human-sized gecko is a bit creepy
Geico sponsored a duffel bag giveaway for the first 2,000 fans, and the early arriving crowd also scored Geico gecko baseball caps. They also sponsored the post-game fireworks, but I didn’t stick around to watch them. The wind coming off the water was making me wish for a sweatshirt.
The game turned out to be a competitive affair, though it didn’t look like it would go that way at first. The Cyclones scored three first inning runs off the Staten Island Yankees, who didn’t have a baserunner of their own until the fifth inning. Once they got the offense going, Staten Island managed to score four runs before Brooklyn could get out of the inning.
Brooklyn’s Nick Santomauro hit a home run to tie the game, and the Cyclones went up 5-4 in the seventh. Brooklyn’s bullpen held on for the win, so the team improved its record to 23-11.
Here are a few more shots from Saturday’s game.
Fans jot down the starting lineups on their scorecards
