The Cyclones lost the first two games of the season to the hated Staten Island Yankees, but at least the squad made it memorable.
On Opening Night, Brooklyn lost a 20-inning game which finished in a brisk five hours and 39 minutes. Brooklyn was no-hit the next night and lost on a walk-off in a 2–1, 10-inning defeat at the hands of the Evil Empire of New York-Penn League.
The Cyclones and Yankees are certainly rivals, but there is no animosity between the managers. Brooklyn skipper Tom Gamboa and Staten Island field general Dave Bialas were on Jim Riggleman’s coaching staff for the Cubs in the late-’90s, when Gamboa was the third-base coach and Bialas managed the bullpen.
“And before that we were both with the San Diego Padres together,” Gamboa said after the first game. “I haven’t seen him in a long time. I didn’t know he was with the Yankees until I had seen in the book that he was managing here, so it was great to see him again.”
The 1998 Cubs made the playoffs as Sammy Sosa led the way with 66 home runs and 158 runs batted in. It remains to be seen if the Cyclones will score 158 runs in 76 games this season.
Brooklyn’s first batter of the year, Enmanuel Zabala, hit a home run, but then the Cyclones only scored one run in the next 19 innings in last Friday’s marathon loss.
Zabala scored Brooklyn’s only run in Saturday’s game in which the Cyclones went hitless. He led off the game by being hit with a pitch, moved to second on a walk, advanced to third on a tapper to the pitcher and scored on a wild pitch.
Brooklyn didn’t score in the first six innings of Sunday’s game, meaning the squad notched three runs in the first 36 innings of the season. In the seventh inning, the bats exploded for two runs, good enough for a win over the ValleyCats.
Although the offense has struggled, the pitching has been superb. On Friday, Gabriel Llanes gave up two runs in five innings and the bullpen didn’t give up a run until the 20th with infielder Dionis Paulino on the mound.
On Saturday, Harol Gonzalez gave up one run in five innings and Bryce Beeler followed with four shutout innings. Merandy Gonzalez held Tri-City scoreless into the sixth inning in his Sunday start.
Pitching coach Bill Bryk Jr. has roots in the Mets organization. His father pitched for Batavia in 1972, when the team was a Mets affiliate.
Catcher Brandon Brosher is back for his second year on the beach, but with a new number. Last season he wore number 18, but is now 15. He had always worn 14 but that number is retired for Brooklyn Dodger legend Gil Hodges, so Brosher went one higher.
One lower would be 13, worn by Edgardo Alfonzo. If the offense keeps struggling, Brooklyn should think about inserting the third-base coach into the two-hole where he had so much success as a Met.
