The voice of Keyspan Park has gone silent.
Dom Alagia, whose courtly “Now batting for the Cyclones…” has filled the stadium by the sea since the Brooklyn Cyclones’ first game in 2001, will not be returning, The Brooklyn Papers learned this week.
“I’ve done it for five years, but they tell me they want to try something different,” Alagia said. “What? Is there some kind of term limit?”
Alagia said his firing was ironic because he got the job in the first place because he’s not “a screamer,” he said.
Unlike other pro baseball stadiums, the Cyclones have typically chosen history over hysteria in the announcing booth, allowing other characters, like former cheerleader “Party Marty,” or mascots, like Sandy the Seagull, whip up the fans.
So that’s why Alagia is so stunned to be packing up his vocal chords.
“They used to tell me they liked the way I did the announcements — very professional, like [Yankee Stadium announcer] Bob Sheppard.”
Sheppard, Alagia quickly pointed out, has been introducing the players at Yankee Stadium since 1951.
“No term limit for him,” Alagia said.
A spokeswoman for the Cyclones did not return calls for comment.
The Cyclones’ other living legend, radio announcer Warner Fusselle, will return for his sixth season. Fusselle has covered every one of the team’s games, peppering his broadcasts with a colorful Southern drawl reminiscent of Brooklyn Dodger radio announcer Red Barber.
June 17, 2006 issue
