Today, you’re going to get a column filled with opinions for which no one has asked. The idea and the title are credited to noted New York sportswriter legend Jimmy Cannon, but the opinions are all from yours truly.
Here goes:
Nobody asked me, but the atmosphere at a Cyclones game is better than that in most public places, and far better than that in Shea and Yankee stadia. People are in good moods, kids have fun, there’s not a bunch of cursing, and there are lots of smiles.
The Keyspan Park field, kept sparkling under the direction of head groundskeeper Kevin Ponte, is normally first rate, with a smooth infield and lush grass. The view of the beach, boardwalk, and ocean is unique. The scoreboard clock is never wrong. The roving musicians are fun and they bring back memories of the Dodger Sym-Phony. There’s even a juggling vendor!
You have to root for infielder J.R. Voyles. He’s a pretty gutsy kid — back in the lineup after getting beaned in the face —Â and is hitting .277.
Pitching coach Hector Berrios must be doing something right. Once again, the Cyclones lead the league in pitching, with a 2.92 staff ERA.
Lead-off man Micah Schilling’s job is to get on base. He’s hitting .280 with a Cyclone-record 51 walks. To me, an on-base percentage of .427 means you’re doing your job.
Catcher and first baseman Jason Jacobs is starting to get that Frank Corr power stroke to left field. With 10 homers this season, Jacobs is close to Corr’s all-time Cyclone season home run record of 13, set in 2001.
Nobody asked me, but outside events at Keyspan are tearing up the field. The concert in mid-August left immense outfield areas without grass. And soon after that, the Medieval Times jousting event on Aug. 23 left bare spots from the horses’ hooves. Hey, it’s not the groundskeepers’ fault.
The Beach Bums are fun and enthusiastic, but I think they shouldn’t walk on the dugouts during play. Seeing the game is the main thing.
The umpiring on the bases this year has sometimes been awful. Obvious calls are missed — the calls for and against the Cyclones are about even. Sure, it’s minor-league for the umps, too, but they really should get them right.
How about opening up the park to fans earlier? By the time the gates are open an hour-and-a-half before the game, the Cyclones are done with both infield and batting practice. Fans like to see the pre-game home run derby, you know.
The between-innings entertainment in which participants sit on toilets and play musical chairs is beneath the dignity of a Brooklyn ballpark. Brooklyn is where Robinson and Reese and Snider and Hodges played, and it deserves better than toilets on the field. The hot-dog race is another story. That’s fine by me.
The radio broadcasts on WKRB are still hard to get. The power is so low that you often can’t get the games at the ballpark or even a few blocks away, even using a makeshift metal coat-hanger, as does fan Staci Bromberger, to increase reception. It’s a shame, because play-by-play man Warner Fusselle is a legend.
The scoreboard clock is never wrong because it’s a Horace Clarke clock — it has no hands. This is the only broken clock that’s not even right two times a day.
Nobody asked me, but the Cyclones have given more perks this year to season-ticket holders, including gifts and free play-off tickets.
The Cyclones’ 2007 media guide is the best one I have seen in the minors. It has great photos and bios, very extensive stats and historical data, and great trivia. A tip of the cap to Cyclones’ Media Relations Director Dave Campanaro, assistant Rebecca Schwartz, photographers George Napolitano and Marc S. Levine, and to Warner Fusselle for their outstanding work.
Hats off to Fred DeJesus and his gang in the sound booth as they are now managing the sound effects so that there is less noise in the early innings, allowing fans to converse. A big improvement.
Looking for a baseball book? “The Echoing Green,” Brooklynite Jonathan Prager’s look at the 1951 season, when the Giants stole the Dodgers’ signs by using a telescope, is a treasure. For films, the recent HBO special on the Dodgers was first-rate. See if you can catch it. Dave Frishberg’s “Van Lingle Mungo” is still the most haunting baseball song ever written.
The Cyclones play the second-place Staten Island Yankees five times in four days staring with a home game on Saturday night, Sept. 1, a day-night double-header at Staten Island on Sunday, a Labor Day home game, and the series’ conclusion on Tuesday night at Staten Island.
And it looks as if the Cyclones could face Staten Island in the opening round of the play-offs.
Is this fun or what?
Channeling the Bard
Each week, Ed Shakespeare, the bard of Brooklyn baseball, will take a page from his ancient ancestor and add a bit of iambic pentameter to all our lives. This week’s contribution, “The Regular Line-Up,” is a poetic tribute to the greatest fans in the world — Brooklyn fans!
The players only stay for minutes here.
The fans are constant, veterans, you see.
Not devotees of solely winning. Mere
Defeats not ruining their joy, their glee.
No, Don and Donna Byrnes are loyal, true
Attached to Clone alumni even now.
And Staci B. and Joey G. are two
Who follow Cyclones’ road trips — and how!
Well, Mark the Mayor Lazarus presides —
The Davenports, Nick Cunningham, Pat Witt,
The Berardellis, Burnley Dame, besides
That Jimmy Dalton guy. They’re just a bit
Of more. They’re there each night, through thick and thin.
The regulars are seated? The games begin.
