Skip to main content

The Boys of Brooklyn



"The strongest thing that baseball has going for it today are its yesterdays." – Lawrence Ritter


The Brooklyn Dodgers were a fixture in the City of New York until they moved to California in 1958. New York was left with the Yankees, and then, in 1962, the New York Mets. The void was felt, especially in 1960, when Ebbets Field was demolished for an apartment complex.


In a move to bring life back to Brooklyn and Coney Island, the New York Mets came to the rescue. They lobbied the City of New York to bring the Brooklyn Cyclones in as part of the New York-Penn League Single-A Short Season. The dream became a reality, and the birth of baseball began again in Brooklyn.


Maimonides Park (formerly KeySpan Park), home of the Brooklyn Cyclones, is an awesome experience with the park built right into the boardwalk, which is a short distance to the beach and the famous Coney Island Amusement Park and boardwalk shops. Now, Nathan's Hot Dogs are not the only familiar sight on Coney Island, but also the Cyclones and Maimonides Park.


Here's a look at some Brooklyn Cyclones and Maimonides Park facts:


  • The first professional baseball stadium in the borough of Brooklyn since Ebbets Field was torn down in 1960.
  • Boasts the longest distance between home plate and center field in the New York-Penn League at 412 feet, which is two feet longer than Shea Stadium's center field dimension.
  • Has ranked in the Top 15 in Minor League attendance for the past five seasons – the only Short-Season team ever to do so.
  • Maimonides Park is built on the site of the former Steeplechase Park, which was the center of the Coney Island amusement industry until it closed in 1964.
  • The last remaining relic of Steeplechase Park is the land marked Parachute Jump, which is located just beyond the right field wall. It was moved to Coney Island after the 1939 World's Fair.
  • The 1,000,000th fan walked through the gates on July 13th, 2004 at KeySpan Park, faster than any team in the classification's history.
  • Received the prestigious Beam-Clay Award for the best professional league field in the country in 2001–2002.
  • Named the Best Short-Season Ballpark in the country by Baseball America in 2003.


Cyclone Facts

  • Opened: June 25, 2001
  • Capacity: 7,500
  • Playing Surface: Grass


Dimensions:

  • Left Field: 315 feet
  • Center Field: 412 feet
  • Right Field: 325 feet
  • 2004 Attendance: 294,229
  • 2003 Attendance: 307,383
  • 2002 Attendance: 317,124
  • 2001 Attendance: 289, 381
  • All-Time High Attendance: 9,303 on 6/21/05 against the Staten Island Yankees.


So, the Cyclones have made Coney Island alive again. Bringing Brooklyn baseball back to life after the Dodgers left.


Until then, see you at the park.



— Joe Boesch 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sad Day in Baseball

The news of longtime Phillies' broadcaster Harry Kalas and former pitcher Mark "The Bird" Fidrych is just sad and puts a damper on the game. Here's a long at Kalas and Fidrych's career highlights. Harry Kalas 1936-2009 Called six no-hitters. Called Mike Schmidt's 500th home run. Every Steve Carlton start. Pete Rose's 3,631st hit. First games at the Houston Astrodome, Veteran's Stadium and Citizens Bank Park. 43rd season as a MLB broadcaster and also done NFL voice-overs. Mark "The Bird" Fidrych Debut on April 20, 1976. Final game October 1, 1980. 1976 AL Rookie of the Year 19-9, with a 2.34 ERA. Fidrych's claim to fame was that he would appear talking to the baseball and groom the pitcher's mound. Until then, see ya at the park!
Post a Comment
Read more

Mets Need Help

This season was the Mets until they took a steep nose dive with injuries, no team chemistry and players under performing. They need help and they need it fast. The Yankees mean while are neck-and-neck with the Red Sox for first place in the AL East. This scribe is surprised but way to go. As I get used to Mobile Blogging on my Blackberry, it makes it much easier to write from anywhere. Until then, see ya at the park! Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Post a Comment
Read more

The Diagnosis

The Diagnosis Stage 1, but the game goes on I always cringed when I heard the word cancer. It scared me to the point of making my mind think that it's the end. I would always tell myself, I hope that in my life I never get cancer and have to deal with it.  Well, my most feared thought came true — I was diagnosed with Stage 1 Classic Seminoma.  My mind went blank, and I looked at my wife and said "Yes" after I hung up the phone with my doctor's office. I'm not going into great detail about my diagnosis, but I just want to express that it's important to get checked by a doctor when something doesn't feel right. Before I knew it, I was being rolled on a gurney into the operating room. The hardest part for me in this journey, besides telling my wife, was my family, especially my parents. In life, there are phone calls that are hard to make, and that was the hardest.  Now back to baseball and the first inning in my new game. Even though this is a baseball publi...
Post a Comment
Read more