LAST WEEK we enlightened you as to which Cyclones would be fielding which positions … almost. This week, we’re going to finish the job by describing the other two positions, both essential to a professional game: the pitcher and, well, we’ll get to the other one later.
For now, and with the help of second-year pitching coach Hector Berrios, we’ll walk you through the Clones hurlers.
The Cyclones have essentially been using five starting pitchers, but in the minor leagues, many other pitchers get work since the young guns are limited by pitch counts, and starters seldom pitch more than six innings.
First up is Michael Devaney, a right-hander from Concordia University, a starter with an 0-0 record despite an excellent 2.00 ERA who, according to Berrios, can’t seem to wait to pitch. “The only problem with Devaney is a tendency to rush,” the coach says. “If he can get a consistent release point, then he’ll be a solid pitcher for us.”
Ivan Maldonado, a right-handed starter who pitched for the Cyclones last season, has a 1-0 record with a 4.22 ERA. He has added two or three miles an hour to his fastball since last year.
Cyclones radio announcer Warner Fusselle likens Evan MacLane to 2001 Cyclones hurler Ross Peeples. Like Peeples, MacLane is considered a soft-throwing left-hander with great control. In high school, MacLane threw only 78-81 miles an hour. He played at Feather River Junior College, upped his fastball to 86-87 miles an hour and became the Junior College Player of the Year in California. So far, he has started two games and has a 1-1 record with an ERA of only 1.50.
William Quaglieri is a 6-foot-4 righty from Loyola Marymount. According to Berrios, Quaglieri “really pounds the ball.” In three starts, Quaglieri has a 1-1 record with a 3.86 ERA.
Left-hander Joe Williams has the same name as “Cyclone” Joe Williams, a famous pitcher from the Negro Leagues. Berrios says that the 2004 “Cyclone Joe” has a split-finger fastball and a good curveball. Starter Williams has a 1-0 record with a 2.51 ERA.
In the bullpen, the Cyclones have lefty Edgar Alfonzo. No, not the 2001 Cyclones’ manager making a comeback as a player, but his 19-year-old son, familiar to Brooklyn fans from his days as a 16-year-old working out with the Cyclones while he was on summer vacation. He can sink the ball away from right-handed hitters and into left handed batters. Alfonzo has been working on improving his curveball, and he has been hit hard, giving up a home run on two occasions right after entering a game. Berrios notes that Alfonzo is “very heady, very intelligent, and you can see from his background that he’s been around the game.”
Righty Dan Foli is another member of a baseball family. His dad, Tim Foli, was a draft choice of the Mets who played shortstop for them in 1970-71 and ’78-79. The Mets organization picked up Dan Foli after he was released by the Cubs organization. Foli has a good arm and, like Devaney, the Cyclones are trying to keep him from rushing his delivery.
Right-hander Tim Worthington is a Cyclone back from last year. He is a control pitcher who could make spot starts for the Clones.
Marcelo Perez, another righty, has a fastball that ranges from 90-93 miles per hour with a good slider, buy he has been hit around some in his relief appearances.
Righty Jeff Landing has been struggling (0-1 13.50 ERA), leaving his pitches up in the strike zone.
One experienced closer is righty Carlos Muniz, who pitched so effectively for the Cyclones last year. Muniz already has three saves, with only one bad appearance that wound up netting him a win when the Cyclones came back. Muniz is with the Cyclones on an injury rehab.
Bensonhurst native David Torres has been effective, giving up just one run in 5-and-a-third innings of work.
Celso Rondon, another righty, has been a revelation. Listed as 6 feet tall (he’s actually shorter), Rondon has some weight around his midriff and his mannerisms remind one of Fernando Valenzuela. Rondon has a confidence that he projects, and he is athletic, carrying his weight with a deceptive grace. He was the Appalachian Reliever of the Year in 2003, and should take over some of the closing load once Muniz leaves.
SO WHAT ABOUT the 10th Man for the Cyclones? Well, as baseball lingo goes, that would be the fans — about 8,000 of whom show up for every Cyclones home game to cheer on their team while instilling fear in the visitors. Here’s a sampling of just some of the off-field talent out at Keyspan.
Ed Gruber, 49, is 6-foot-2, 214 pounds. He was a catcher-third baseman on the sandlots. He’s from Queens. As a fan, his position is in Section 14. He likes to get inside an opposing pitcher’s head. “I try to distract him,” Gruber says.
Ed’s son, Steve Gruber, is 6-foot-4. A first baseman and catcher on the sandlots, Steve’s strength as a fan was in getting foul balls. At St. John’s University in 2000, when the Cyclones were known as the Queens Kings, Steve would often get numerous foul balls from the same game. But the attendance there was only in the hundreds per game, and Steve hasn’t been able to maintain that ratio competing against the thousands at Keyspan.
Mark Lazarus, is a 5-foot-6, 156-pound third baseman from Flatbush whose baseball weakness was his small size. As a player, his crowning achievement came on an alleged stickball blast of the equivalent of four sewers that rocketed out of a schoolyard in his Parkside Avenue neighborhood a mere 43 years ago. As a fan, his strengths are his leather lungs and sense of humor when it comes to opposing teams. His fan weakness is that his voice lasts for seven good innings and if he begins shouting hard too early in the game, he can become hoarse and progressively muted by the eighth inning.
But the fans aren’t the only ones acting as the 10th man. It takes a lot to put on the show at Keyspan, and here are some people who help make it happen.
George Reeder, the Cyclones’ assistant groundskeeper, is a 6-foot-2 Coney Island resident who looks and moves like he could have been a smooth-fielding first baseman. The gangly Reeder was a basketball player at Boys High School in Brooklyn back in the mid-1960s. Reeder’s weakness might be his modesty in failing to mention earlier that he played on one of the best school basketball teams in New York City’s history. George’s strength is his knowledge of the job and his ability to pass that knowledge on to beginning groundskeepers.
Ori Kairy, the Cyclones’ batboy, plays second base for Frances Lewis High School and hit .429 as a junior this season. He is 5-foot-7 and 130 pounds. His strength as a batboy is his baseball knowledge and his ability to move well on the field during infield practice. Another strength is his arm, which enables him to throw souvenir soft baseballs into the upper stands at the end of games. His weakness is in getting the water cooler out to the dugout.
This sampling of off-the field personages is necessarily limited. Later in the season, you will read here of new Cyclones in the on-field line-up. You may also read about more fans and employees in the Brooklyn off-field line-up.
After all, to paraphrase a slogan from the former award-winning television drama “The Naked City”: There are 8,000 stories at Keyspan Park, and these are only some of them.
Paper columnist
