Brooklyn Cyclones - History

History

The Cyclones began as the St. Catharines, Ontario-based St. Catharines Blue Jays (later St. Catharines Stompers) in 1986 as a team in the New York - Penn League. They were named for their parent club, the Toronto Blue Jays. In 1995, the team was sold by the city of Toronto to a group of local investors which included former Toronto catcher Ernie Whitt.

In 1999, New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani announced a deal that would bring two minor league baseball teams to the boroughs outside Manhattan. New ballparks would be constructed for the Staten Island Yankees and the Cyclones. Prior to the 2000 season, the team was bought and moved to Queens, New York, becoming known as the Queens Kings. The club played its 2000 season at St. John's University in Jamaica, New York, in the borough of Queens, remaining a Blue Jays affiliate for one last season.

A "name-the-team" contest was held to determine a new name for the franchise. The winning selection, Cyclones, refers to the famous Coney Island Cyclone roller coaster at nearby Astroland amusement park on Coney Island. The team's new park, which was then called KeySpan Park, was completed in time for the 2001 season. Brooklyn had been without professional baseball since the Brooklyn Dodgers left Ebbets Field for Los Angeles, California in 1958. After approximately three weeks of play, additional seats had to be added to the stadium to accommodate fans.

The Cyclones managed by Edgar Alfonzo played well in their opening season with the best record in the league, 52–24 where the led the NY Penn-League with a 2.35 team ERA. They defeated the Staten Island Yankees in a classic NYPL opening playoff round. The deciding game won by the Cyclones 4 to 1 featured trickery by Catcher Brett Kay who faked giving up on a play only to receive a laser throw from John Toner to tag out a runner at the plate. advancing to the championship series against the Williamsport Crosscutters. The Cyclones traveled to Bowman Field in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, winning the series opener on September 10, 2001 by a score of 8 to 4. The potential championship clincher was scheduled for September 11 in Brooklyn. However, due to the September 11 attacks, all minor league baseball playoffs were canceled. The Cyclones and Crosscutters were declared co-champions.

The 2002 season was filled with inconsistent play and questionable pitching decisions by manager Howard Johnson leading to a .500 season. Scott Kazmir pitched to an incredible 0.50 ERA in five starts and had 34 strikeouts in only 18 innings pitched.

In 2003, the Cyclones managed by Tim Teufel won the McNamara division title with brilliant pitching led by starters, soon to be Major Leaguers, Matt Lindstrom and Brian Bannister and by relievers Robert Paulk and Carlos Muniz. Despite a drop in run production, the Cyclones pitching staff willed their way into the Playoffs, beating the Oneonta Tigers 2 games to 1 only to lose in the NYPL Championship to the Williamsport Crosscutters 2 games to none.

The 2004 season brought the most complete Cyclones team ever. Managed by Tony Tijerina, three batters hit over .300 and five starting pitchers made their starts in rotation for the last 55 games of the season except one game. The Cyclones won the McNamara division title only to lose to the Tri-City Valley Cats in controversial fashion. With the series tied, the Cyclones were leading 3 to 0 in the 3rd inning when the games was held up and eventually cancelled by rain, which wiped out the score. After another rainout, Game 3 was played from the beginning where the Cyclones lost the deciding game 7 to 1. A new rule was placed by the NY-Penn League that any games suspended because of rain, if a team or teams have scored runs in the game, the suspended game will be picked from the inning when the game was called.

The 2005 season managed by Mookie Wilson was hampered by inconsistent relief pitching that hampered games in the later innings despite a good offense. The Cyclones finished third and missed the playoffs. On August 23, 2005, The Cyclones and KeySpan Park hosted the first-ever New York – Penn League All-Star Game, which was won by the National League-affiliated team by a score of 5–4. Also that year, the Cyclones became a major partner of Brooklyn's High School of Sports Management, a small school located down the block from MCU Park on West 19 Street and Mermaid Ave.

The 2006 season managed by George Greer mirrored the team name. A 7 game losing streak to start the season was followed by a 10 game winning streak which led the streaky Cyclones to the NYPL Playoffs in a dramatic extra-inning victory against the Vermont Lake Monsters in the final game of the season. The Cyclones would lose to the SI Yanks in the NYPL opening playoff round 2 games to none. On July 20, 2006, the Cyclones and the Oneonta Tigers took part in the longest game in the history of the New York – Penn League, a 26-inning marathon that the Cyclones lost, 6–1. The game took 6 hours and 40 minutes to complete. The Cyclones scored their lone run in the first inning; Oneonta tied the game in the fourth and then did not score again until they scored five runs in the top of the 26th inning. Cyclones manager George Greer was ejected from the contest in the first inning for arguing an umpire's call on a force play at second base.

The 2007 season managed by Edgar Alfonzo had the second most successful season in team history with a 49–25 record. With a consistent offense, great pitching and the best defense in the league, the Cyclones powered their way to winning its fourth McNamara division title and sweeping the SI Yankees in two straight games in the NYPL opening playoff round. Game One produced the best road win in team history when the Cyclones beat the SI Yanks 8 to 4. However, the Cyclones went on to getting swept in disappointing fashion by the Auburn Doubledays for the NYPL Championship. After giving up a leadoff home run to shortstop Matt Bouchard, current Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Brett Cecil pitched one hit ball in 7 innings as the Doubledays won the game 4 to 1. On September 7, 2007, during the final regular season game (a 5–4 victory over the Lowell Spinners), the Cyclones set an all-time single-game attendance record of 10,073—2,573 more than the stadium's seating capacity in 2001. That season, the team won its fourth McNamara division title.

The 2008 season managed again by Edgar Alfonzo was marred by a poor start but recovered with a torrid finish at 45–30, narrowly missing the playoffs after losing the final game of the season to the Aberdeen Ironbirds 5 to 3 in extra innings. The team produced Major Leaguers and current New York Mets Ike Davis and Jenrry Mejia. But the team was marred with an inconsistent offense with less than average results with runners in scoring position.

On June 23, 2009, the team was renamed to "Baracklyn Cyclones" in honor of president Barack Obama. The team wore specially designed patriotic uniforms and the first 2,500 fans in got free Obama bobbleheads (with Obama in the new Cyclones jersey). Tickets prices were lowered for the game (Economic Stimulus Plan). They also gave away 1,000 band-aids (Universal Healthcare), let anyone named Barack in free of charge (naming rights), and gave away two tickets to anyone who was a plumber named Joe (Joe the Plumber special). Internet sensation Amber Lee Ettinger (aka Obama girl) made a special appearance and threw out the first pitch. Anyone with the name Palin or McCain got a free bleacher seat (Bi-Partisan Consolation Prize), and fans were given discount coupons and American flags after the game (Clear Cut Exit Strategy).

On August 23, 2009, Cyclones pitcher Brandon Moore threw a 7-inning no-hitter in the first game of a doubleheader against the Aberdeen IronBirds, 5–0, at Ripken Stadium. Moore walked three and hit one batter, with only one IronBird reaching second base. This came seven years to the day Miguel Pinango threw a nine-inning one-hitter for the Cyclones, pitching 8 ⅔ innings of no-hit ball.

On February 4, 2010, the team announced that the new name of their home would be called Municipal Credit Union (MCU) Park. (From 2001 to 2009 the stadium was known as KeySpan Park.) In addition to the naming rights, MCU and the Cyclones entered into a comprehensive 11-year marketing partnership that launches the Cyclones’ 10th season in Brooklyn. The partner agreement is scheduled to last until 2020.

The Cyclones' main rival are the Staten Island Yankees, a rivalry often called the "Battle of the Boroughs", after the boroughs of Brooklyn and Staten Island, or the "Battle for the Bridge", after the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge which separates the two teams. Only 13 miles (21 km) apart, the two teams have the closest proximity in Minor League Baseball. The two teams generally sell out the games which pit them against each other. Other regional rivals include the Hudson Valley Renegades and the Tri-City ValleyCats. A major contribution to this intense rivalry is the fact that both parent teams are also based in New York (the Mets in Queens, and the Yankees in the Bronx).