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#1
06-30-2006, 03:25 PM
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A fine night out for the over 30 crowd
A college buddy emailed me Wednesday to let me know he has an extra ticket to see the Brooklyn Cyclones. For those unaware, the loss of the Dodgers to LA turned many Brooklyn baseball fans into something akin to French diplomats during the cold war--invisible but nonetheless fanatically devoted to their own importance. In 2001, the Brooklyn got a minor league team, The Cyclones, who feed into the Mets and have a new 8000 or so seat stadium in Coney Island. The Stadium has a banner commemorating their last World Series (1955), and not a few in the crowd have blue hats with a white "B" in the front.
Past managers for the Cyclones have includes such awesome Mets as Howard Johnson, Tim Teufel, and Mookie Wilson. As is typical in minor league baseball sometimes the play is sloppy and watching the game has a "Please don't eff-up" tenor similar to watching soccer. The crowd has a small contigent of die-hard fans on the 3rd base side who score the games, all know each other, and have devised a little homespun clapping cadence when the Cyclones threaten to score. The rest are all locals with their families or people like me, without kids, but who like baseball, Coney Island, being outside in the summer, and a $10 ticket. Between every half inning audience members participate in little games to win prizes offered by local Brooklyn businesses who all have low production ads showing off their rough and tumble accents, and during the seventh inning stretch, Take Me Out to the Ball Game is followed by a crowd sing-along of Sweet Caroline because, after all, Neil Diamond's name is actually Noah Kaminsky, and while you can change your name no one in Brooklyn is going to forget where you came from. There was a game too, but that doesn't matter much. Except that Cliff Floyd was playing a rehab start and it was fun to wonder aloud while he struck out about 15 times whether he came down to Coney Island in a limo or a helicopter. Pregame is a tradition that involves two rides on the Coney Island Cyclone, which is just about the coolest roller coaster in the world. Old, rickety, with tiny cars, it moves impossibly fast and every ride's end feels like a relief to be alive. Two rides because you can take repeat ride at a discount and get first choice for seats. Unfortunately, someone took the front seat but who can turn down a discount? After inducing motion sickness one must eat at Nathan's, which, at a minimum includes a hot dog and cheese fries. Good stuff, especially in the summer when the staff seems to consist entirely of cute teenage Russian girls from Brighton Beach with thick accents. All in all, it's a terrific way to enjoy a part of New York that, I think, is often overlooked. 
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#6
06-30-2006, 04:05 PM
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Re: A fine night out for the over 30 crowd
[ QUOTE ]
Excellent post. Only one minor quibble: Tim Teufel was never awesome. [/ QUOTE ] Wrong. Tim Teufel got in a barfight with some Houston rednecks back in 1986. He came out looking like that dude Mickey after he got back from "Porky's". That's alright in my book.
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#8
06-30-2006, 04:09 PM
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Re: A fine night out for the over 30 crowd
Fantastic. Minor league baseball rules. There are 5 Single A teams within an hour or so of LA, always an enjoyable time.
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#9
06-30-2006, 04:11 PM
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Re: A fine night out for the over 30 crowd
[ QUOTE ]
Fantastic. Minor league baseball rules. There are 5 Single A teams within an hour or so of LA, always an enjoyable time. [/ QUOTE ] LFS - does the crowd leave after the 5th inning for the minor league games, too?
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