Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ed Roebuck was gazing at the walls of the Brooklyn Baseball Gallery in Keyspan Park, a gem of a place run by the Brooklyn Cyclones. Roebuck and some other old Dodgers came to Coney Island Friday night to check out the display, meet the next generation of Brooklyn ballplayers, and have dinner with some fans.
“This feels surreal,” Roebuck said. “I can’t believe that all this happened over 40 and 50 years ago.”
Earlier that evening, Marty Adler, president of the Brooklyn Dodger Hall of Fame, whose collection can viewed at the Gallery, was glancing out the large picture windows there. It was after 6 pm, and the Dodgers were late.
On the sidewalk outside, the new Brooklyn Cyclones were assembling. Averaging less than 21 years of age, the Cyclones had short haircuts and were dressed up — as best they could — for the 7 pm Welcome Home Dinner at Gargiulo’s Restaurant, around the corner on West 15th Street. Some of them wore sports jackets while the others wore “shirts with collars,” the minimum requirement for minor league dress-up occasions. They stared into the Gallery as they awkwardly stood on the sidewalk, looking more like one of those photos of new Army recruits awaiting training than ballplayers.
The current Brooklyn squad was a far cry from the old pros — Jackie Robinson, Gil Hodges, Duke Snider, Roy Campanella and Carl Erskine, among others — on the Gallery walls. And while some of them had spent the last two months in extended spring training at Port St. Lucie, Fla., and knew each other pretty well, others had been picks in the June draft and had just signed contracts or finished their college seasons and arrived the night before. Together, they began their walk up Surf Avenue to Gargiulo’s.
Adler could breathe easier a little while later, as the Academy bus came down Surf Avenue, but not for long, as it missed the turnoff into the Keyspan parking lot. The bus began to back up and after a block, a car blocked their way. The driver (possibly a Yankee fan), refused to move, even after the impassioned pleading of the bus driver, and the bus had to take the long way into the stadium. Through the heavy rain, the Dodgers came into the Gallery.
Johnny Podres, winner of the deciding seventh game against the Yankees in the 1955 World Series, was there; Podres was looking for his pal, Gene Hermanski, who couldn’t make it. Ralph Branca was there, as was Brooklyn native and Bay Ridge resident Joe Pignatano, a frequent visitor to Keyspan. Pitchers Clyde King and Roger Craig were in attendance along with outfielder Luis Olmo, first baseman Ed Stevens, pitchers Bob Milliken and Pat McGlothin, and catcher Cliff Dapper. John “Spider” Jorgensen, Dodger third baseman was there, as were fellow Dodgers infielders Randy Jackson and Bobby Morgan.
Jorgensen, who came up to the Dodgers from Montreal with Jackie Robinson, shared some memories.
“I booted a ball against the Cardinals one day,” said Jorgensen, “and they beat us in the 11th or 12th inning, so when I got home that night [to Bay Ridge], six to eight kids were outside and they said, ‘Spider made an error! Spider made an error!’ I was madder than hell. I was gonna run ’em off, but I thought better of it.”
Spider laughed.
Ed Roebuck recalled when he came up to the Dodgers in 1955.
“The fans knew all about what I did at Montreal. It was hard to believe that they would know about me. The fans here were the best I’ve ever seen or heard.”
When asked for a good memory on the field, as Roebuck was about to answer, the gregarious Roger Craig interrupted, “His best memory was watching me pitch.”
At the dinner, radio announcers Warner Fusselle and Ed Randall introduced the Cyclones and the Dodgers. Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz spoke and said that Brooklyn was totally behind the Cyclones, but he joked, “They better win.” Then, the new Cyclones and the old Dodgers broke bread with about 300 Brooklyn fans.
After the main course, Johnny Podres stepped outside on the steps of Gargiulo’s, for some air. The rain had stopped. A few fans were there with him. Podres was talking about Pignatano.
“You know, Piggy was Gil’s right hand man with the Mets,” said Podres. The man who won the biggest game in Brooklyn history entertained the few fans with his jokes and anecdotes. He spoke to Cyclones executive Gary Perone about acquiring a Cyclones’ baseball cap.
“I was a size 6-7/8, but then I beat the Yankees and my hat size went up to 7-3/8,” Podres said, and the fans laughed.
The talk on the steps turned to a rumor. Pignatano still has the sign from the Mets’ bullpen that says “The Pigpen.” Pignatano used to grow tomatoes in the Mets’ bullpen when he was their bullpen coach, and their bullpen, in his honor, was “The Pigpen.” Might that sign appear in the Cyclones’ bullpen? Might Piggy’s tomatoes reappear? Stay tuned.
The former Dodgers began to leave Gargiulo’s and head home, wherever that might be. Inside were the Cyclones.
They’d be staying in Brooklyn a little longer.
