Cyclones fans noticed last week that beloved avian mascot, Sandy the Seagull, had begun brandishing the spiky green top of a pineapple on the field before the visiting team batted in the ninth inning. No one knew why.
Vaguely menacing, the pineapple has become the subject of intense scrutiny by Cyclones fans. What could it mean, after all? Certainly, the pineapple was once a symbol of hospitality. Could Sandy — by taunting opponents with the spiky leaves from the pineapple’s useless top — be saying, “We invited you into our house. Now, get out!”?
“It’s sort of like he’s threatening to shove it up the other team’s … uh … fruit stand,” said Cyclones fan Claudia Canny.
Now it can be told: Sandy’s sugary symbol was a total fluke. In an exclusive interview with The Brooklyn Papers (“exclusive” because no one else asked, “interview” because we are fluent in Sandy’s trashy gull argot), Sandy recounted the story in full:
“I was up on the suite level late one game and I just needed a prop to get people going,” Sandy explained. “You know, [team cheerleader “Party”] Marty [Haber] has his monkeys, so I needed something. I saw an eaten pineapple lying on a tray, so I just grabbed the top and started waving it around. The fans got into it, and the team came back and won.”
Well, you know how superstitious seagulls are. Now, the pineapple is a ninth-inning tradition, whether the Cyclones were winning or trailing.
So that’s the story. No symbolism. No hidden messages. Just a seagull doing what he does best: Going through the trash for nourishment, creative or otherwise.
Relishing losses
Baseball fans often spice up the game by making side bets — “I’ll bet you Ragsdale steals second on this pitch,” “I’ll bet you Deaton strikes out two this inning,” etc — but only a sucker would bet on Relish to win the nightly “Hot Dog Race” at Cyclone home games.
The rules of this “competition” are simple: Midway through the fifth inning, three man-sized hot dogs, each wearing a cape of mustard yellow, ketchup red or relish green, race to home plate from the outfield wall. To date, Mustard has won 11 of the races to Ketchup’s 10. Relish remains winless.
Certainly, a frank in motion is an ungainly thing, so wipeouts can be expected. But what are fans supposed to think when it is always Relish (not his real name) on the ground, writhing in agony? Or that it’s always Relish who gets distracted during the race, stopping to sit on Santa Claus’s knee, sign an autograph for a fan, shake hands with a left-fielder or, in one notable flop, run across the outfield into the home bullpen?
They’re supposed to think that something’s wrong with Relish.
“He pulls his hammy a lot and he’s easily distracted,” said “Party” Marty, the team’s monkey-toting cheerleader. “My guess is that he needs medication for attention-deficit disorder.”
Officially, however, the Cyclones front office maintains that Relish’s failure is just bad luck. “He trains just as much as Mustard or Ketchup,” said a team source, “but things just don’t work out for the kid. But I do believe he lives up to his name, in terms of relishing life.”
Not on Monday. During a steamy day game, Relish broke poorly from the gate and collapsed a mere 10 strides into the race. Afterwards, this reporter rushed to the field and scored an exclusive interview.
“I just couldn’t handle the heat,” Relish said, panting. But when I started to ask about his other failures throughout the season — specifically the Santa debacle at the Cyclones’ “Christmas in July” promotion on July 27 — a burly Cyclones security guard pulled Relish away before he could face a barrage of hostile questions. And later, when this reporter cornered Relish as he waited at a traffic light in front of Nathan’s on Surf Avenue, the hot dog clammed up and covered his exposed meat from our photographer’s camera.
But someday, the truth — whatever it is — will come out.
And as any political observer knows, the cover-up is always worse than the crime.
AUGUST
5, 2002 ISSUE
This
seagull’s on the Dole
Our intrepid
reporter with Sandy the Seagull, who is brandishing the pineapple
he pulled from the trash.
Perry
Rianhard
Super Joe delivers
Rehabbing Mets outfielder Joe McEwing proved on Monday that there is more than one way to be a big star at the plate. After looking particularly bewildered by minor-league pitching — McEwing was 1-for-4 in his Cyclones debut — the popular Met treated his Cyclone teammates to lunch, catered by Gargiulo’s.
Mountains of pasta, chicken Marsala, potatoes and salad greeted the hungry Cyclones after their win over the Batavia Muckdogs — as was McEwing himself, a bandage over his ailing ribs, shaking hands with his teammates as they entered the clubhouse.
He later explained that it’s a tradition in baseball for a major-leaguer to buy his adopted team a meal any time he’s nursing an injury in the minors.
“Passing down traditions like this is what’s so great about the game of baseball,” McEwing told reporters. “I benefited from it when I was in the minors. And let’s face it, these guys deserve it. They don’t make that much money and it’s important for them to get a good meal.”
McEwing knows all about the minor-league life. Before joining the Mets in 2000, he’d spent seven of the previous eight years with various St. Louis Cardinals farm teams, including two-and-a-half years at the Class A level. But he’d never seen anything in his playing days like Keyspan Park.
“I told all these guys that they’re spoiled playing here with this facility and these crowds,” McEwing said, as Cyclone players filed by him with overloaded paper plates. “When I was in the minors, sometimes we’d be sharing a locker room with the opposing team.”
McEwing said he was pleased with his 1-4 (although not too pleased with a baserunning blunder that ended an inning), even though he was fooled by Muckdog pitchers all afternoon.
“It shows you that this game is humbling and it’s hard,” he said, when asked about the quality of minor-league pitching. “They throw the ball hard and you have to hit it. It’s a tough game.”
McEwing rejoined the Mets by Wednesday night’s game.
Paging Mr. Hyde
Charles Dickens would’ve appreciated Corey Ragsdale. After all, this season has been a tale of two shortstops — and both of them are the Arkansas native.
A second-round pick in the 2001 amateur draft, Ragsdale’s .188 average puts him well below baseball’s infamous Mendoza Line. But at the same time, Ragsdale leads the team with 15 RBIs (which is quite an achievement when you have only 22 hits). And even though he’s been on base less than 40 times, he’s stolen a team-leading 18 bases — including a 4-for-4 performance in Friday’s first-ever loss to the Yankees at Keyspan Park, which broke the Cyclones’ all-time record set when Wayne Lydon swiped three last year.
“I didn’t know it was a record,” Ragsdale said. “I guess I should have pulled out the base, Ricky Henderson style, and held it over my head.”
Clearly frustrated by his inconsistent hitting, Ragsdale said he was pleased to be helping the team with timely hits.
“I guess I focus better with men on base,” Ragsdale said. “I do like to come up in pressure situations.”
August 5 , 2002 issue
Joe McEwing, on a rehab assignment with Cyclones Monday.
