Cyclones reliever Jeremy Mizell has been playing baseball as long as he can remember, but the first pitch he ever threw sailed over his father’s head and smacked into the tailgate of daddy’s truck.
His father had one reaction: “His exact words were, ‘You won’t ever be a pitcher,’ ” recalled the right-hander.
In this case, father definitely does not know best.
In his first season of pro ball, Louisiana native Mizell has indeed been a pitcher — surrendering just one earned run in 21 innings.
More important, he’s had the last laugh over his dad. “I never let him live it down,” he said.
Mizell says he hopes to work for State Farm after his baseball career. Perhaps he’ll be selling collision insurance to the fathers of erratic-throwing sons. — Nick Pauly
El Sid returns!
Keyspan Park will be awash in the reflected glory of those amazing 1986 Mets on Monday, Aug. 21 as Sid Fernandez, a key cog in that team’s machine-like World Series-winning season, drops in on the Cyclones.
It’s officially billed as Hawaiian Heritage Night — El Sid, after all, wore uniform number 50 to honor his native state — but fans will be much more interested in cheering on their former hero and getting autographs than munching on pineapples.
Fernandez was 16-6 for the Mets in 1986. In his 10-year Met career, he was 98-78. His best season was actually 1989, when he was 14–5 with a 2.83 ERA.
One thing is certain: At least this ceremonial first pitch will be a high hard one — Gersh Kuntzman
Who’s a Bum!
Jake Ruckle
Ruckle and his herky-jerky delivery have earned himself The Brooklyn Papers’ coveted player of the week award.
Starting pitchers rarely receive this honor, but the 2004 draftee was threw eight scoreless frames on August 7, striking out 10 Baby Bombers for the victory.
The victory brought Ruckle to 4–1 with an ERA of 2.41. In just under 60 innings pitched, he’s struck out 38 and walked only 6.
The Papers would also like to rename his sharply dancing breaking ball the “Ruckle-buckle.”
— Pauly
Here’s the pitch!
More than 30 women participated in the third annual Ladies Day clinic on Sunday, Aug. 6. Catcher Dan Cummins and infielder Jeremy Hambrice gave a gaggle of gals pointers on the subtleties of the hit and run, the two-seam fastball and how to chew tobacco. Women ranging in age from 12 to 64 participated. Here we see Rachel Eisenman, 37 of Bay Ridge, as she gets a leg up on her pitching mechanics.
August 12, 2006 issue
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