The New York–Penn League All-Star Game on August 16 in Aberdeen, Maryland, wasn’t much on the field, as the American League All-Stars beat their National League counterparts, 4–1, in a very sloppy game.
But who goes to an All-Star game to see great baseball?
All-Star games are really intended more as celebrations than as contests, so in that regard, the league’s second annual contest, featuring six Cyclones, plus the team’s coaching staff, was a definite success.
A great thrill was to see each player wearing the uniform of his corresponding big-league team. It was great to see the Cyclones — pitchers Eric Brown, Jake Ruckle, and Jeremy Mizell; catcher Jason Jacobs, shortstop Luis Rivera, and outfielder Dustin Martin — looking like real Mets.
Manager George Greer, no stranger to all-star games, thanks to his career a player and coach in the prestigious Cape Cod League, joked before the game, “One of my main tasks [as the National league manager] is to play all our future opponents enough so they wouldn’t hold it against the Cyclones when we met again in the regular season.”
For the Cyclones players, the thrills began before the game, thanks to a fine luncheon of Maryland crab cakes and a chance to talk with Cal Ripken.
Jacobs said he felt inspired by “Iron Man” Ripken’s speech.
“He talked to us about how he was able to maintain his consecutive-games streak,” said Jacobs.
“He said how consistency, conditioning, and the right frame of mind were necessary.”
The Cyclones’ faces were lit up before the game. They had been on amateur all-star teams all their lives, but professional all-star games are another matter.
On the field, each of the three Cyclones’ hurlers threw a scoreless inning. As for the position players, Rivera was hitless in one at-bat and made a nice stop in the field on the game’s first batter, but a poor throw for an error on the play. Jacobs was 0–1 and Martin was 2–5 with a double.
Martin’s parents had flown in from Texas for the game, so it was nice that he didn’t disappoint.
On the field, things weren’t so smooth. The game had five errors, two passed balls, and other sloppy plays, but the Cyclones played reasonably well, had a good time, and — most important — no one got hurt. — Ed Shakespeare
Hawaii Five-No
As part of “Hawaiian Heritage Night” at Keyspan Park on Monday, the Cyclones wore special uniforms against the Staten Island Yankees. The sky-blue Hawaiian-shirt unis could be considered a new baseball fashion trend — for teams in the tropics, perhaps.
“Every time we come to the field, we don’t know to expect,” said left-fielder Dustin Martin. “I looked in my locker and saw this thing sitting in there. I said, ‘Well, whatever we got to do.’ ”
Other players were more open to the idea of wearing a Hawaiian-style jersey for one evening.
“It’s a sunny day, we’re on the beach, we might as well have a beach atmosphere here,” said reliever Grady Hinchman.
Some even saw the new duds as a way out of the Cyclones’ new doldrums.
“They’re not very baseball-y,” said second baseman Jon “Country Boy” Schemmel. “But we’re trying to get out of this [three-game] losing streak, so why not?”
Did it help? No, the Yankees gave the Cyclones the old “Hawaiian punch,” smacking them for 21 runs. The good news? The uniforms have been retired — sold for charity.
“I wouldn’t want to wear it again,” said catcher Danny Cummins. — Lucky Ngamwajasat
Fusselle feeling fine after health scare breaks streak
On July 29, Cyclones announcer Warner Fusselle missed a game for the first time in an estimated 2,160 games — a Cal Ripken–esque string going back more than 30 years.
The only man to have seen every Cyclones game, Fusselle was in Keyspan Park’s so-called “Catbird Seat” for that night’s game against the Staten Island Yankees.
But he could not speak — and after 45 minutes of silence, Fusselle was rushed to the hospital. He later returned to Keyspan Park, intent on filling the airwaves with his delightful Southern lilt, but cautious Cyclones officials, concerned for his health, did not put him on the air.
He had done all of the Cyclones’ previous 424 games before falling ill.
“I suffered a transient ischemic attack — a mini-stroke in laymen’s terms,” he told The Brooklyn Papers.
The effects of a TIA are not permanent.
“After I came back from the hospital, I felt fine then, and I feel fine now,” he said.
Fusselle has received good news from the numerous medical tests he’s undergone since his brief hospitalization.
“They’ve found nothing,” said the combination play-by-play man and color commentator, more intent on preparing for the next game than looking back on The Streak.
Over the years, Fusselle had numerous close calls.
“On a number of occasions, I had laryngitis before the game and I couldn’t even speak,” said the announcer.
“Somehow, once the game started, my voice came back and I was able to do the game.”
On other occasions over the years, he was very ill before a game, but went on the air anyway because there was no one else to do it.
With a spirit like that, no wonder Fusselle has rarely missed a professional commitment of any nature. As host of the nationally televised “This Week in Baseball,” he never missed a broadcast until his last year with the show.
Fusselle called more than 900 baseball games in the 30 years in the business — mostly for the Spartanburg Phillies and the Triple-A Richmond Braves — plus 376 Seton Hall basketball games, another 400 basketball games dating back to the old American Basketball Association, and about 50 football games — before he started his amazing streak with the Cyclones in 2001. — Ed Shakespeare
The Greer report
After compiling the best record in the New York–Penn League, the Cyclones had fully exorcised their early season demons, ensuring that manager George Greer’s job was safe. But as that kid said in “Poltergeist,” those demons are baaa-aaccck! The Clones have lost seven in a row, and a check of The Brooklyn Papers’ exclusive “Greer-ometer” shows it leaning perilously close to safe. — Gersh Kuntzman
August 26, 2006 issue
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