BROOKLYN CYCLONES

Brooklyn Cyclones

The Brooklyn Cyclones is a minor league baseball team in the Short-Season A classification New York – Penn League, an affiliated with the New York Mets. They usually play at Key Span Park just off the boardwalk in Coney Island. As Brooklyn's only professional sports team since the Brooklyn Dodgers move to Los Angeles after the 1958 season, locals were interviewed gibbering about their excitement in Brooklyn getting a team of their own back. Fortunately for the rest of the country, everything settled down after a couple of days when the national media realized that this was just another minor league club, and really nothing to get that excited about. The Cyclones have two major mascots namely Sandy the Seagull and Pee-wee. Sandy is the main Cyclones mascot who has been with the team since the first year in 2001. Pee-wee were introduced in 2003 and are supposedly the adopted son of Sandy.

The Cyclones played their inaugural season against Mahoning Valley in the summer of 2001. It was formed by Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, the team brought baseball back to Brooklyn after a forty-four year hiatus. The team proved so popular that additional seats were added to the ballpark about three weeks after opening day. Indeed, the tickets were sold out quickly. They finished the season 52-24, 30-8 at their Keyspan Park home which led by pitcher Ross Peeples (9 wins, 1.34 ERA). They defeated the Staten Island Yankees, 2 games to 1, in the opening playoff round. The championship series was against the Williamsport Crosscutters, and the Cyclones traveled to Bowman Field in Williamsport, Pennsylvania and won the series opener. The potential championship clincher and the remainder of the series was cancelled due to September 11 terrorist attack in World Trade Center. In 2005, the Brooklyn Cyclones became the major partner of the High School of Sports Management, a new small school located down the block from KeySpan Park on West 19 Street and Mermaid Ave. They have continually sold out KeySpan Park and the games continue to draw large crowds from both Brooklyn and farther afield. In fact, the Cyclones set an all time single game attendance record of 10,073; 2,573 people over the seating capacity of the stadium in 2001.

The Brooklyn Cyclones are currently owned and operated by the Sterling Equities baseball family and are directed by the Office of the Chairman whose members include: Fred Wilpon as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; Saul Katz as President; and Jeff Wilpon as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. The consolidated ownership allows the Brooklyn Cyclones and New York Mets to function under one umbrella, with mutually beneficial interaction. They have become known as one of the most successful teams in minor league baseball. Although, the team lost several championships, the Cyclones had a season to remember.

For more information please visit: www.brooklyncyclones.com

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