Results tagged ‘ Brooklyn Cyclones ’

“Wait Till Next Year” ~ A New Generation

2010
NEW YORK-PENN LEAGUE
CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Get your programs.
 
Pre-game Introductions
Tri City Valley Cats  vs.  Brooklyn Cyclones
 
Singing of the National Anthem.
 
First Pitch.
Cyclones’ dugout watches Cory Vaughn’s at-bat while the Valley Cats’ bullpen stays quiet.
 
 
Moon over the Parachute Jump
 
The Brooklyn Cyclones lost tonight to the Tri City Valley Cats in Game 2 of the New York Penn League Championship Series.  In a scene eerily reminiscent of the time when the Auburn Doubledays danced in celebration on this field in 2007; in a scene eerily reminiscent of the time the Williamsport CrossCutters danced in celebration on this field in 2003, so too did the young men from Troy, N.Y. celebrate tonight and dance on our field.

 
The Tri City Valley Cats; the team from Troy, N.Y.
are the NYPL Champs…and the celebration is on!
 
 
 

Troy should be congratulated for taking two straight from
 the Cyclones looking impressive doing it and showing
tremendous fight in their game the whole time. 
This team had power, comeback capabilities
and a knockout punch.

 

 
 

The Cyclones were sloppy at times during the two game series.  There is never a good time for erratic play.
But when it reared it’s ugly head and stared at the Cyclones, they quivered.  But that wasn’t it.  That’s not what did this team in. 

The offensive juggernaut that was this team’s line-up simply shut down.  There was no discernible slugging emanating from this Cyclone team; a team which set individual, team and league records for offensive production.  They scored one run tonight and only two in Game 1.  A combined 8 hits and 4 errors for the two games does not a champion make.

See you next year Pee Wee.
 
The team which achieved 51 victories, on cruise-control since perhaps the 2nd week of the season, who clinched their division earlier than the rest and by a substantial margin to boot, has left older Brooklynites and newer Lil’ Bumz rooters reciting a mantra, as true today as the days when it was more common to hear around these part;  ~ “Wait Till Next Year”.  The saying originated here.  It must be something in the water I guess.

The Coney Island Nine fell short of their quest for a championship.  And whether they bring back yellowed and frayed memories to mind or you’re a couple of generations down the line experiencing this resurrected Brooklyn phenomenon for the first time over these last ten years…, it’s painful all the same.

The events of 9/11 prevented a clear cut champion in 2001.  Clearly, no one was in any mood for dancing on any field then.  The Cyclones and Williamsport were declared co-champions.  Before having the opportunity to watch these Boys by the Beach have a party in our “Backyard”, as of tonight I have had the misfortune of watching three teams partake in such merriment.

“Wait till next year” ~ A time honoring(?) tradition passed down from generation to generation?

Yea…..Fugheddaboudit! 

Egg Cream Society*…, you may stand down now.  The summer season at Coney Island is now ended.  Further down Surf Avenue “The Cyclone” is giving her last rides of the season.  She’s only coming out to play on the dwindling weekends of Summer now.  Even Nathan’s Famous will pull in the tables soon as the days get shorter and they start feeding us behind closed doors.  They’ll again resume their annual duty as the standing Lone Sentinel on Surf Avenue (pictured left) until the calendar says it’s OK for things to get green again.  Till then, the Boardwalk is always available for lazy walks through Winter.

 
The games are over; the season is done. 

 
It’s time to prepare MCU Park for her off-season hibernation.
 
Cyclone’s GM Steve Cohen walks off into the night
pondering what could have been.
 
Last one out shut off the lights…
Parting shots:
 
Can you see why I love this place so much?
We’ll get ‘em next year.
Mike.BTB
http://thebrooklyntrolleyblogger.blogspot.com/
http://thebrooklyntrolleyblogger.mlblogs.com/
 
 

Cyclones’ Celebration by the SeaShore

My Baby Bumz are going to play for the New York Penn League Championship against the Tri City Valley Cats this weekend.  This is my post for last night’s clinching game.  I respectfully invite everybody to visit my Blogspot page to read up on the First Round action, my thoughts and hopes for Backman’s Boys ~ my Cyclones by the Sea, as they vie for a Championship.  The posts are pact full of pictures.  I apologize for neglecting this page, but I’ve been caught up with the Cyclones and trying to get there as early as I possibly can after work and meeting up with the usual bunch of characters for pre-game high-jinks.  Truth is I can blog and do most things, like link pics, from my phone and post to my other……on the go.  Just know I do love you all, find you all fascinating and think you are authors of time well spent.  I like to remind you all of that sometimes. I enjoy this time.

OK..you saw my soft side….Shut up!

It’s Friday, I have plenty of time on my hands today and I’m about to go cruising the neighborhood in search of everyone’s posts.  See You There!

 

These were my thoughts for the playoffs as the Cyclones’ season came to an end.  The Baby Bumz set individual records, new team records and NYPL records this year.  This team finished with 51 wins; one short of their all*time record of 52 set in 2001..the frst and last time this club won the NYPL Championship.  Lot’s of pics.!http://thebrooklyntrolleyblogger.blogspot.com/2010/09/wild-times-at-coney-island-ahead.html

Dum Dee-Dum-Dum!  Rain and losing made for a bad night.  A two hour rain delay and an extra inning loss left me feeling un-easy.  These NYPL playoffs are best 2 out of 3.  After dominating the League all season long and being top seed, it was time to worry …already! Jamestown needed something to think about.  I thought perhaps a Coney Island style Attitude Adjustment was in order… Yea…that’s it!  More pics.http://thebrooklyntrolleyblogger.blogspot.com/2010/09/brooklyn-cyclones-facing-elimination.html

Game Two was a THRILLER!!!  Cyclones win in 12 innings.  What a great game!  What a great night.  I have no finger nails left…  Fugheddaboudit!!  The deciding Game Three is next.   Pics..Pics..Pics…Meet the players.  and more pics. http://thebrooklyntrolleyblogger.blogspot.com/2010/09/oh-doctor-mercy-cyclones-game-2.html

 

 

Friday, September 10, 2010

Celebration by the SeaShore

The Brooklyn Cyclones Win; Qualify for Finals.

We do’d it!  Well…, some of it. 

The Cyclones are half way there.  Where? – A New York Penn League Championship that’s where.

The Brooklyn Cyclones defeated the Jamestown Jammers tonight in a nail biter.  The final score was 6-4.  The Jammers had the bases loaded in the top of the 9 inning with no outs.  A force play at home plate off a grounder to first base secured the Cyclones’ first out.  The next batter struck out looking.  The final batter struck out swinging the the beach party down by the seashore was underway.

The Cyclones will face off against the Tri-City Vally Cats this weekend, who eliminated the Batavia Muckdogs for the New York Penn League Championship.

Either way, someone will be dancing on our grass.  The Cyclones are the top seeded team in the League this year and will enjoy home field advantage through the remainder of the playoffs..  The first game will be up in Albany/Schenectady N.Y.,  before the remainder of the series returns to Coney Island.

Batavia vs. Brooklyn would have been ideal; One against Two.  But this is the way it worked out and That’s Baseball.

The Cyclones dropped the first game to the Jammers but then won the following two games to clinch the first round series.

The game itself was full of thrills.  I even saw the longest home run I ever witnessed at MCU Park.  The field measures 414 feet to straight away center field and a home run by Blake Forcythe barely cleared the wall; but clear the wall it did.  The Cyclones maintain the longest home to center distance in all Minor League Baseball.

The first game in Coney Island will be Sunday.  The series opens up in Albany, N.Y.

New York Penn League Playoffs
Game 3
Brooklyn    6
Jamestown 4
Brooklyn wins series 2 games to 1;
advance to play Tri City Valley Cats for
2010 NYPL Championship
Game Three Gallery:
5:45 pm..the Early Birds started to file in…This young Cyclones fan
was armed with a “Biggie” riff and ready with his sign.
This is what this guy thought of Jamestown and their grapes.
Wally Backman signing autographs.
Top of the 9th inning…Brooklyn leading 6-4…
Jamestown loaded the bases.. 
After a force play at home (3 to 2 if you’re scoring) for the first out…,
Took this pic after the game was over but
#23 was pitching at the time of the pic above.
..Bases loaded; one out…
Batter looks at a called strike three during this at-bat..

…Two outs……..
STRIKE THREE!!!…(swinging)
Cyclones Win!!!
Infielders mug the pitcher…dugout rushing in…
Outfielders coming in to join…
..and here come the bullpen guys on the right…!
WooooHoooo!
Just a tad bit more to the right and they would have been exactly on the pitcher’s mound.
That could have been a great picture..  But this was special enough!
…finally the coaches made their way out to join the Lil’ Bumz in their celebration.
Skip, Wally ~ “Backman’s Boyz” ~ is the last one to make it out to the mound.
…And the Beach Bums with their annoying little pom poms sneak into the picture!
Fans start rushing the home team’s dugout to party with our
Seashore Sensation.  The Beach Party at Coney Island was on!
 
The final score shines brilliantly in the Coney Island Night.
The beach beyond the center field wall is dark with night but the lights of MCU Park shine down on Brooklyn’s backyard as it empties out.
Pee Wee on the left gives tonight a Thumbs-Up .
Sandy the SeaGull reminds us all, who’s Number One!
 
 
“Coverboy” Darrell Ceciliani
NYPL 2010 Batting Champion  .351 Average

 

Good Night from MCU Park,
Coney Island,
Brooklyn Sea Shore,
Earth!
 
Mike.BTB
http://thebrooklyntrolleyblogger.mlblogs.com/
http://thebrooklyntrolleyblogger.blogspot.com/

 

 

 

Pennant Fever in Coney Island

2010

NEW YORK PENN LEAGUE

McNAMARA DIVISION CHAMPS

BROOKLYN CYCLONES

2001 ~ 2003 ~ 2004 ~ 2007 ~ 2010

Our Baby Bums “doo’d it” again for the fifth time; We captured a division pennant.  Now the Cyclones will set out to chase, and perhaps tie the Club’s record for most wins in a season.  The record for most wins by the Cyclones was set by the original 2001 Cyclone team.  That team fashioned a 52-24 mark on their way to a NYPL Championship.  The 2010 Brooklyn Cyclones currently sport a 44-21 record.

Last night’s final was a 10-0 shutout road victory over the Connecticut Tigers.  Yohan Almonte (BKN) pitched the league’s first complete game shut-out of the NYPL season, surrendering only 6 hits on the night.  Almonte improved his season record to 8-4 and lowered his ERA to 2.00 with the effort.  The Baby Bums will return to Coney Island for a Tuesday game versus Vermont.  Including this Sunday afternoon’s game the Cyclones have eight games remaining on the schedule before the playoffs.  As the team currently with the best record in the league, the Cyclones will face the Wild Card team in the first round of playoffs.

I will be at the game Tuesday night to welcome our Boyz back, congratulate them Lil Bumz for the division pennant and root them on to another regular season victory against the

Vermont Lake Monsters.

The Cyclones have been an offensive juggernaut this season in terms of NYPL expected production levels.  Brooklyn has ridden a Core of Five that Drive this team.  Wally Backman has showed no hesitation using a set line-up and riding it.  That is a debatable strategy when organizational development is called into to question.  But the fact is, this is Brooklyn and the fan base demands just a little bit more from this team, than do perhaps our competition and their towns; to include Staten Island..  It’s a little bit of a delicate balance the team and the parent club have to balance.  But this team showed some very early promise and as they progressed through the schedule they showed no signs of slowing down.  I’d offer when a baseball team shows early indications of something special, and nothing transpires to blur that vision, you ride the wave.

The Brooklyn Cyclones have ridden that wave since the second week of the season all the way to the famous seashores off Coney Island and a post season birth in what’s proving to be one of the club’s finest seasons ever.

Darrell CECILIANI has been by far this team’s MVP if you’re asking me.  Maybe by the time I go through a little synopsis of the Five that Drive you’ll debate me.  That’s all good.

Darrell Ceciliani is hitting .351 after 65 games played in 262 at-bats with 92 hits.  He has 54 runs scored; 18 doubles; 11 triples; 34 RBI and 138 Total Bases while getting things started for the Cyclones at the top of the line-up.

In last night’s game the Cyclones tied their club record for most home runs in a season set, again, by the original 2001 team.  There are three primary reasons for that; 

Cory Vaughn (Greg Vaughn’s),  Rylan Sandoval and Jeff Flagg.

*Cory Vaughn ~ .305 batting avg. ~ 63 games, 236 at-bats ~ 39 runs ~

12 HOME RUNS ~ 46 RBI

*Rylan Sandoval ~ *.330 batting avg. ~ 47 games

9 HOME RUNS ~ 29 RBI

*Jeff Flagg ~ .258 batting avg. ~ 65 games

8 HOME RUNS ~ 45 RBI

The fifth player deserved of mention as part of my self-described

“the Five that Drive” this team is infielder Joe Bonfe.

.322 batting avg. ~ 63 games ~ 33 runs ~ 13 doubles

4 home runs ~ 27 RBI

 

This has been a very dominant buncha Baby Bumz. 

The league standings and statistic boards prove that out.

 

In my next Cyclone’s post I’ll review the pitchers who had a special season in their own right. 

 

Wally Backman has benefited from the parent organization getting most of their amateur players signed after the draft and in uniform in time for the start of the 2010 A Class-Short Season.  Wally has handled the players smartly, comported himself with professionalism, respect for the game and Brooklyn, and delivered fine baseball to the Borough of Kings.

 

This team is not a low-level minor league off the highway operation in my view.  This team is a very BIG deal to me and a MAJOR part of my life now as it has been since day one.  I watched everyday, girder by steal beam, as the home of my future Baby Bumz was being built.  I was in attendance for their first game.  I’ve experienced highs and lows with this team that rival the emotions I have for the Mets and MLB as a whole.  I plan summer around my Cyclones tickets purchase every year and work everything else around that.  What does that tell you?

 

I LOVE THIS TEAM!

 

My all-time ManCrush!

Picture if you will ~ Friday evenings, mid-summer, a Nathan’s Hot Dog, Baseball, home town team, fireworks night, lemonade, a cool ocean breeze coming of the beach at Coney Island, neighborhood friends, old Brooklyn Dodger fans, new young Cyclones fans, a stroll on the boardwalk after a victory, taking a ride on NYC LandMarks ~ Cyclone Rollercoaster or the Wonder Wheel, then a ten minute drive home with no traffic.  What’s better than that?

 

 

A relic of Coney Island’s glorious past….

 

…and an instance where the past came alive again with Coney Island’s

new LUNA PARK.  Luna Park was one of the four original main parks

comprising Coney Island in it’s famed heyday of 100 years ago and like the others,

burnt down multiple times, and after the last time, never restored again.

The new Luna Park replaces the AstroLand lot and is directly across the street from it’s original home.

This is just but a small taste of what we lost with the closing of

ASTROLAND PARK

..A cool little train ride through Hell.  Yippeee!

 

But after some…

and a few…

…we all learn how to keep marching forward….

Just like these two guys who used to hang out in Brooklyn once..

Pee Wee Reese and Jackie Robinson

..From Coney Island,

Let’s Go Cyclones!!!

Mike.BTB

http://thebrooklyntrolleyblogger.blogspot.com/

http://thebrooklyntrolleyblogger.mlblogs.com/

 

Bobbleheads, Jersey, A Rant and an Autograph

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Coast to Coast

This is for my Man, Roberto
@

“Vin Scully is My Homeboy”
This cat is the
Khan of Bobble-heads!!
I promised him some pictures of bobble-heads I’ve received over the years
at Brooklyn Cyclones games.
“Brooklyn Legends” series ~ Don Newcombe
 
 
Brooklyn Borough President, Marty Markowitz
 
 
Warner Fusselle
Brooklyn Cyclones Radio Announcer and
voice of “This Week in Baseball”
 
 
 
 
Brooklyn Bridge Bobble
NYC Landmark, Cyclone Roller Coaster; Coney Island
Newly re-named MCU Park; Home of the Brooklyn Cyclones, Coney Island
 
Home Plate Stone
 
Cyclones Cap Stone
 
Cyclone Alumni who played for Mets
 
2001 Cyclones Pitching Coach,  Bob Ojeda
“Brooklyn Legends Collection”
 
Brooklyn born, Met Favorite,  LEE MAZZILLI
Brownsville ~ Tilden High School’s
WILLIE RANDOLPH
 
 
Brooklyn Dodger ~ Carl Erskine
“OISK”
 
One of Brooklyn’s Mascots ~ PEE WEE
 
 
How’s that for some West Coast love Kid?
Mike.BTB
http://thebrooklyntrolleyblogger.blogspot.com/
 
 
 
 

 

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Brooklyn Jersey on Broadway

I saw this guy walking under the Broadway El this morning.
You know me….I screamed out and told him to let me get a picture.
Dude!…ever hear of a washer machine?
You’re lucky I liked the jersey and wanted to post it.
Do Brooklyn some justice and wash that jersey….aight?
Mike.BTB
 
 

 

 

As/of  Wednesday  Aug. 11th

#36 “ACCOSTED”

As I watch Manny Acosta blow this game for the Mets tonight by serving up a Grand Slam to Melvin Mora (and now giving up a 5th run in this miserable 8th inning melt-down) there are only two thoughts that come to mind.

*First ~ Jonathan Niese pitched 7 really good innings against the Rockies.  Jerry Manuel took him out after the 7th inning.  Niese and Manuel shook hands in the dugout and did the Bro-Hug too.  Now he has to settle for a No Decision.  That’s baseball.

The Niese Line ~
7 innings; 5 hits; 1 earned run; 7 strikeouts; 0 walks; 108 pitches/71 for strikes.

Oooooh!  Ooooh!   Then guess what I learned?.!  Manuel said Niese didn’t pitch the 8th inning because of a hamstring tweak?  Niese was like, Huh?  Niese says he suffers no such thing and made a little reference to scar tissue.   Hmmm.  K-Rod never warmed up.  Then again he…..Ahhh forget it!

 
(It was shortly after this posting KRod went Clubber Lang on his Father-in-Law)

**Second ~ And really most important to me…..

WHAT THE HELL IS MANNY ACOSTA DOING WEARING

JERRY KOOSMAN’S NUMBER 36?

That is disgraceful and unacceptable!!!!!

Hey Mets!!!!!!!! ~ retire the number so as to never make this mistake again!

UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!

Former Mets’ relief pitcher and present Colorado coach Bob Apodaca could have done a better job than Acosta for us tonight. 

***The Mets have given up the most Grand Slams in MLB this season; NINE.  Wanna know how many Grand Slams the Mets have this season?  The answer is equal to the chance of this team winning the World Series this year.

Hey Melvin Mora (former Met by the way…traded for…..ahhh forget it!), Thanks for the autograph a couple of years ago in Baltimore!  You may have given my team the “kick in the posterior while we’re down” we needed.

 
Mike.BTB
http://thebrooklyntrolleyblogger.blogspot.com/
 
 
 
This is the last push to get the VOTE in for
WEEK 7
HALL of VERY VERY GOOD
 
The voting is open till this Sunday Aug.15th
 
 
We’ll take an HoVVG sanctioned break at the conclusion of
this week’s voting.
 
 

Babies, Bums and Freaks, Oh My!

June 19, 2010
CONEY ISLAND

Our iconic Parachute Jump; a relic of Coney’s glorious past.
Brooklyn
Today is a special day in Brooklyn.  This day represents two things for it’s denizens.
Coney Island plays host to two Brooklyn institutions:
The Mermaid Parade
and
OPENING DAY
for
The Brooklyn Cyclones Baseball Club (A)
How I would love to take you into the glorious past of this strip of Brooklyn’s beach front.  We think of it as an extension of our backyards.  It’s really a place just like the rest of our neighborhoods.  There’s no gate; entry fee; hand stamp; open time; close time, structure, organization or central authority.  It doesn’t even have a sign saying “Welcome to Coney Island” per say.  It’s just somewhere we live our normal lives but with rides, food, baseball, freaks, bums and a beach.  You know, the normal stuff.
It’s not corporate and sterile.  We know the owners of the various attractions like I know the owner of the world famous Cyclone Roller Coaster for years.  Coney Island is an evolution of good, crazy, wacky and down right stupid ideas for the servicing of human curiosity, tickling their psyche, old fashioned entertainment; and a little bit of shock value but harmless fun for your senses.  There is no other place like Coney Island nor will there ever be.  At present the once Capital of the East Coast (100 years ago) is in a major state of flux.  Part of the uniqueness to Coney was the multitudes of individual ownership of the various parts of the area.  Coney Island was never and should never be a centrally controlled, homogenized entity.  The great varied minds who delved into entrepreneurship in Coney and the evolution of the park over the decades is what made Coney great.  Presently, there’s a land grab under way by groups looking to detract from Coney’s uniqueness and incorporate more traditional aspect to the area like Condos and attractions to make the place a more year-round destination.  As it stands, Coney Island’s attractions are seasonal.  But the place is never really closed.
Condos?
PLEASE with that NOISE!!
Get that BUM outta here!!

For me it’s a few stops on the train.  Stop signs and traffic lights make it an excruciating eight minute drive for me.  There is no denying the breeze off the beach and the screams coming from the NYC Landmark Cyclone Roller Coaster; the background anthem of the Side Show performers championing their talents and cries for “Shoot the Freak” on the boardwalk all make for an experience you will only get here; in my backyard.

Steeplechase Park; Current location of MCU Park, Home of the Brooklyn Cyclones
Then and Now
The Wonder Wheel and The Cyclone are both NYC Landmarks.
Both are well into their 80′s and still thrill us today.
THIRSTY?
FREAKS?
Today’s KING and QUEEN of the MERMAID PARADE
And yes, today is the Mermaid Parade.
Our much beloved Pagan Festival starts at 2:30pm.
I will heading over there in about an hour from now and get my day at Coney started with a good ol’ Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog;
sight of the Hot Dog Eating Contest coming on the 4th of July.
I’ll be there too!!

The Brooklyn Cyclones game time is 6pm.  I’ll be in attendance for
OPENING DAY.
New York – Penn League ~ Class A

BROOKLYN CYCLONES
vs
STATEN ISLAND YANKEES

“Battle of the Boroughs”
“The Ferry Series”

In 2001 our BABY BUMZ were born.

Let’s Go Cyclones!!!

Mike ~ BTB


*************************************************************

This is the last day to vote for this week’s candidates for the
HOVVG
Hall of Very Very Good.
Check the link-bubble to the right, read up and participate.

Mike Lieberthal NEEDS HELP!!!
His election is in limbo with 5 vote FOR and 5 AGAINST.

Where will the last minute help come from?
Will there be a Lieberthal push?

Remember…ties lose out.

E-Mail me candidates for next week’s election process.
I have two in the box.  Gimmie more!
at
tripletoright@yahoo.com

This week’s results will be posted tomorrow with great delight!

BTB

 

Angel in my Outfield

Angel Pagan; Center Fielder; New York Mets
For a while it was fair to say of him; If it wasn’t for Bad Luck,
he’d have no Luck at all.
Injuries are a reason he does not figure more prominently into the minds of Mets fans and less so in the collective Baseball thinking.  I fought the Pagan fight hard on the radio shows when everyone played the role of naysayer against him.  In spring training of 2008 he was having a tremendous spring and I believed he was winning the day and deserved to be the Mets’ starting left fielder because of it. 
An injury short circuited that campaign and the Mets wound up signing another useless aged body for the position that year (eh..hem).  I remember being a little saddened in 2006 when we traded him to the Cubs and did nothing to really speak of there.  I was very happy when we re-acquired him for the 2008 season.
Even before this season started I wanted very much for Pagan to be the starting center fielder with Carlos Beltran still rehabbing from surgery.  The Mets incredulously brought in Gary Matthews Jr. who is presently accumulating outs at an 84% clip.  I keep screaming and kicking something every time I see him waste any of our precious 27 outs we get per game.  OUTS are like WEEDS.  If they were hard to come by everyone would want them.  But having Matthews here to fail miserably did solidify Pagan’s role in center field.  I’m very happy he has also remained injury free so far.  The Mets would be in even deeper doodoo we think we are in, if it weren’t for him playing a solid center field and being equally capable at the plate.

I’ll admit it.  I have a Man-Crush on Angel Pagan.  It’s not something new.  But it is to you.
This is my 10th year of Crush for Pagan.

In 2001 the Brooklyn Cyclones (A-affiliate of the NY Mets) were born right here in my backyard;
Coney Island.
The first year in the New York-Penn League was a magical year for us Brooklynites cheering on our Cyclones; ecstatic to have Baseball back in the Borough.  We won our division and advanced through the first playoff round.  We were actually playing for a championship in our first year.

Angel Pagan was an outfielder for that Cyclones team and a crowd favorite.

The Brooklyn Cyclones and the Williamsport CrossCutters were tied at one game apiece in the Championship series, with the deciding game to be played in Brooklyn on a Tuesday night.

That game was all I had on my mind that morning.  My thoughts about Brooklyn winning a championship were the very thoughts swirling in my head, right up until the moment the events of 9/11 started taking place and changed everything.

That Championship Series was never resumed and both teams were declared co-Champions.

But like all teams we root for who do well, or were special to us, You Remember.  This isn’t a tie-in, in any way to the events of that September morning.  This is merely to tell you, from their June Opener till that Sept. morning, how special that team became to me.  From that morning on, I can’t live without them.

Angel Pagan was a member of that team.
 He was one of the swirls in my head when things started to transpire downtown.
Teams, players, years, and sometimes tragedy are unforgettable, to say the least.
And that’s where Angel Pagan stays safely tucked away; indelibly branded in my memories regardless of how the rest of his career here goes.

As someone who is committed to the notion Carlos Beltran and the New York Mets are irreconcilably divorcing eachother, I’m glad Angel Pagan was finally able put together a good enough sample to warrant confidence with his baseball abilities.  It’s not like Beltran is getting Wally Pipp’d here.  This has to do more with my CRUSH on Pagan and less to do with our Beltran situation.  Is Pagan the player of Beltran’s callibur?  No.  Hardly.  But he’s been a tremendous help around here and I hope he enjoys many more years to come in a Met uniform.

As for Mets fans…  If you’re clinging to a hope that Beltran will come back and help, if not be a force on this team again?  Let Go!  Beltran is not going to do anything to jeoperdize next year; his contract year.  Having said that, I believe I already informed you I was one of Beltran’s biggest fans; still am. 
But that ship has sailed.   (yes…Already).

I’m satisfied with my Angel in our Outfield.

BTB
 
Thank You:
click for
my Memorial Day Appreciation
 
 
http://thebrooklyntrolleyblogger.blogspot.com/
http://thebrooklyntrolleyblogger.mlblogs.com/
 

Montague Street and Court, Where History was Made

Montague and Court, Jackie Robinson Dedication and Ebbets Field Mural

The Mission Statement ~  It’s too easy using readily available pictures of Ebbets Field and the old Brooklyn Dodgers from books and other sites, etc. etc. for purposes of reflection, waxing nostalgic, and driving ourselves crazy.  That’s not what I’m doing.  I’m looking for the footprint in the dried up river bed.  I’m cracking slabs of shale, and breaking slate to find what is left behind.  I’m looking for evidence, underneath layers of urban sediment.  I’m looking for the fingerprints of Baseball left upon Brooklyn.

Here in the Borough of Kings, the soul of the Boys of Summer, Dem Bums, Brooklyn’s beloved Dodgers still lives on.  Whether we wear our Brooklyn Dodger jersies at a Cyclones game in Coney Island,  paying a toll to drive over the Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge, or walk into any sporting goods store in Brooklyn, the essence of the Dodgers is everywhere.  Somewhere there’s an old season ticket holder on 18th Avenue wearing his Dodger cap carrying a brown bag of fruit or vegetables as part of a daily routine.  I’m telling you as fact, before the sun goes down on the day, that person would have spent at least a couple of seconds thinking about his/her Bums.

Today the Trolley is pulling up to the corner of Montague Street and Court Street, in Downtown Brooklyn.  On this corner stood the building where the Brooklyn Dodger Baseball Club Offices were.  Their offices were not located within Ebbets Field.  The offices and Ebbets were a short distance from each other within 2 miles or so.

Today there is a bank occupying the location.  Outside, on the front of the building, in 1998 a plaque was dedicated honoring the sight, and the history which took place within it’s offices.
Inside the bank itself is a marvelous mural depicting play at Ebbets Field.  If you notice the buildings in the backround behind center field, they are still there on Bedford Avenue.
 
I hope you all enjoyed today’s Trolley Ride to a place where history was made.
Thank you for stopping by.
BTB
 
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I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Brooklyn digs out from the snow






One Foot. That’s how much snow fell last night. It’s nice and serene when it’s coming down, although last night was just a little more blizzard like because of the wind. It’s the digging out part that’s not too fun. If you’re home in, I dunno…Green Bay and you’re reading this, I hear you laughing at me. That’s cool! I almost moved to Florida back in the mid 90s. I can’t even explain to you how happy I am I never did. There were many reasons why I didn’t move. Nothing necessarily stopped me , per say. One big reason is simply, I love the change of seasons. Autumn is my favorite. I need my four seasons. Another reason is I’m just a major urbanite at heart. My sister lives in FLA. I’m in Florida all the time; I’m very familiar with it. The truth is I just love living in NYC too much. Now this is the one you’re going to get a kick out of. One of the biggest reasons why I didn’t move, AND I didn’t even want to move upstate which for a long time I’ve toyed with doing, is because of something that happened 10 years ago as of this coming June2010. They put a baseball team in my backyard! The Brooklyn Cyclones of the New York-Penn League were born in 2001 and play in a beautiful park in Coney Island. That ended any notions I had of ever moving from Brooklyn. I’ve lived in Argentina when I was young for a short time for familial reasons but was back in the States for school. I lived in (West) Germany for 2 years. The point is I’ve been out of this country and like to get to as many places in this country as I can, money, time and work permitting of course. I say this in all humbleness and in admiration for my little plot in life….I love Brooklyn. I think this is the greatest place in the world. And if The New Jersey Nets basketball team can overcome their legal battles and get their financing issues straight and sucessfully complete their migration to Brooklyn…? FUGhEDuBOUDIT!!!!

Enjoy the pictures.

P.S. I typed up a nice big log about Joba and the Yanks last night for some good HOT STOVE….and hit delete by mistake! Grrrrr! I’ll try to get that thought through today. I’m all shovelled out and my wife made some soup. Blog ya later.

 
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