Cyclones vs. Spinners

Sarah and I biked down to Coney Island yesterday for the Cyclones' final regular-season game. Playoff slots had already been determined, so there wasn't anything at stake, which might have been why both teams kept putting in new pitchers. It was weird.

Carlos Beltran was playing for Brooklyn on rehab. He had a solid hit for his second at-bat, and some good if unspectactular fielding, but I think he struck out swinging a couple times. Not really a big hitting day for anyone, actually, with a really strong wind coming in off the water.

Ultimately an exciting game, with Brooklyn attempting a rally in the ninth but unable to overcome the 4-2 deficit. We were glad we brought sweaters, and didn't stick around for the fireworks show scheduled for ninety minutes later.

The ride down was fun, it was our first time going down into Brooklyn from the new neighborhood, which really just means we take Bedford down and then go West on Caton Ave where before we would have been going East on it. I think next time I'm going to stay on Bedford and take Church instead; maybe it was just West Indian Day Parade traffic last night, but I think Caton is usually pretty crazy.

Cyclones @ Yankees

Well we finally made it to the Ballpark at St George on Staten Island, which was as awesome as advertised. The seats along the third base side have the best views of the harbor. Crazy thunderstorms prompted two separate rain delays, neither of which were called when it was actually raining...very bush league, guys.

Great game, though. The Yankees came back against an early Cyclones lead, but couldn't quite overcome the Brooklyn powerhouse. Wish it hadn't run so long that the ferries were on their hourly schedule by the end, but what can you do.

Barcode Question

You know when you buy tickets to something, or check in for a flight, online, and they send you an Url you can click on to print your tickets out at home? And then you bring in the ticket and they scan the barcode? The tickets are full page deals, which seems like such a waste: can I print 2- or 4-to-a-page and still have them scan?

May try a few mini tickets in Staten Island just to check.

Having not been to a Cyclones game (yet!) this summer...

...I have no idea whether, or in what capacity, the team may have made use of Jay-Z's "Brooklyn (Go Hard)", but now that I'm thinking about it, it seems like an ideal stadium chant.

Of course immediately you run into the problem of, with the "Brooklyn, we go hard" chant and then "Brooklyn" spelled out over it, is doing that as a group in an audience setting really something that is rhythmically within the grasp of your average baseball fan?

And then of course I realized that minor league baseball was probably not the sport for which Jay-Z intended the song to function as a cheer, and I looked up the lyrics and he even mentions how he's going to "bring the Nets" in a verse of the song.

So I'm an idiot basically, but also I hope they've been playing the song at KeySpan.

Cyclones @ Doubledays

I listened to most of the first game of the New York–Penn League championship series via internets radio last night. What's to be said, we just pretty much got out-pitched. Dillon Gee pitched an awesome start, but when you aren't scoring runners then that's a lot of pressure to leave to your bullpen.

Friends came over for a TV watching party, so I only heard part of the carnage in the eighth. Hopefully we'll do better tonight at home!

Where's my Cyclones at?

Why is SNY not showing game one of the NYPL championship series tonight? Sure it's just single-A, but there's no Mets game tonight, no live coverage of anything in the 7-10 slot, and they're playing for the freaking championship. I realize the 'clones don't have a camera crew and broadcast team that travels around with them everywhere, but they do televise the odd game so it's not like they can't work something out. Ah well.

Also, I've had so much going on lately, I never got to see them play with Ramon Castro on rehab assignment. I'm not sure if he's still going to be playing with them even.

Cyclones vs. Yankees

Our friend Sachar hooked us up with free tickets to Monday's day game against the Yankees, so Peter and I roused ourselves in the early light of morn (I was still reeling from a late night of partying the night before) to bike down to KeySpan. It was a beautiful day, and our last chance to catch the Cyclones hosting Staten Island in the regular season.

At some point during the game, Peter noted that the two umpires both adopted a wide stance before each pitch. As the pitcher began his motion they would squat down, but for a few seconds they'd just stand there in their wide stances:



Here are some details:



Pretty impressive! I tried to watch some of the game in a similar wide stance, but was not able to hold it for very long at all.

The game was really good...there were lots of weird errors by the Yankees and awesome plays by the Cyclones. I was buying hot dogs and missed the 3-6-3 double play that finished the top of the first. I did catch the DP to end the top of the third, when second baseman J.R. Voyles fielded a grounder, tagged out the runner with an awesome spin move and then threw it to first in the same motion. And the Cyclones caught two runners trying to steal second. Pretty sweet.

There was also a weird disputed call. Looking at the game log, I think it had to have been in the bottom of the second. I believe what happened was that Bouchard tried to check his swing on a 3-2 pitch that wasn't in the strike zone, and the plate umpire called him out while the infield ump said he had not come all the way around and it was ball four. So Bouchard took his base and Voyles advanced to second, there was a little discussion, and Bouchard was called out. The Cyclones' manager came out to argue the point, to no avail. Then the Yankees' manager came out to argue that Voyles should have to return to first, since there was no walk. The umpire let Voyles keep second, scoring it a stolen base. Weird!

Towards the end of the game, Peter enjoyed a helmetful of ice cream:



After the game we went to the beach to fly Peter's kite. I fashioned a parachute device out of some paper clips, rubber bands, and a couple napkins, and we were able to send it up the kite string and have it come drifting gently down onto the beach. Really cool. I didn't get a picture of the parachute, but here's Peter flying the kite:



Update: I put together a little web page about the parachutes we made for the kite.

Update: So Sachar made a video of one of the parachute launches, and I had linked it here because I was drunk and forgot that one could just embed that shit. Check it:

Cyclones vs. ValleyCats

Yesterday my friends Peter and Jen had tickets to the Cyclones, and Peter and I went down separately and met them to watch Brooklyn defeat the Tri-City ValleyCats, 7-3.

I was there early, so I enjoyed a beer in the bar out in front of the ballpark, and watched the end of the Yankees 21-4 victory against Tampa Bay. What the fuck.

When Peter and Jen got there and we went to find our seats, I was still hungry from the bike ride, so I immediately chomped down on a foot-long:



Other friend Peter met us a short while later.

The game was cool. Moises Alou started, on rehab assignment from my New York Mets, and played I think eight innings. He got at least one RBI...can you get an RBI while hitting into a double play? So that was cool. I decided to root for reliever Greg Mullens on discovering that he's Canadian and a Columbia alumnus (nullumnus), but then he gave up the first run. Ah well.

Also during the game, they periodically announced our Mets' progress in their extra-innings game at Los Angeles. They managed a win, ending the three-game series 2-1.

After the game we rode the Cyclone, which is insane. I don't do a lot of roller coasters, but this one seems exceptionally violent. Or maybe I'm just getting old. But it was fun. And then Peter and I biked back.

The best way of getting between Coney Island and South Brooklyn by bicycle is sort of an open question, and so we're always trying new routes. Peter's innovation this time was to use the quiet residential streets just East of Ocean Parkway, and it was very fast and safe, so I think we're getting close to nailing down the ideal route.

Back in the neighborhood, we met Andrew at the bar. When I left, my front tire was flat. I should have time to change it before I need to go anywhere else.

Cyclones on TV!

I wasn't interested in the home run derby, so I'd planned on reading my book while I had dinner at a local Mexican joint. To my pleasant surprise, the Cyclones were on TV! I guess with no big league games, SNY had decided to show some local ball. I caught the last three innings in their loss to the Jamestown Jammers (nullus!). For some reason my beloved Brooklyn Cyclones were wearing what appeared to be St. Patrick's Day–themed uniforms. Maybe their regular ones were at the cleaners?

One thing I noticed on the close-up shots that I hadn't seen at the live game was that when these kids put someone out, they're visibly happy. You can tell they're just totally psyched to be playing pro ball, and they can't help but break into a huge grin after making a catch or striking out a batter. Great stuff.

Also, I noted at least three very questionable calls in Brooklyn's favor. Really hope it was a coincidence rather than conspiracy. I looked up the standings and the Cyclones are above .700, so they really don't need the aid of any biased umperialism.

Later, I went to the bar and met up with Peter, who'd seen part of the home run derby on the TV at the gym. I guess the participants chilled out on recliners between rounds...on the field! Weird. We ran into our friend Francis and talked baseball.

Cyclones Season Opener

During the week following our visit to the park, Peter and I decided we'd have to see some more real baseball. He's in the same boat I am, never really having been a serious fan but now getting into the game. We looked into it, and the season opener of the Brooklyn Cyclones against their rival Staten Island Yankees was only a week away. Andrew and Kate said they were in, so I grabbed some standing-room tickets online.

Both Kate and Andrew had to cancel on the day of the game. Peter and I biked down to KeySpan Park separately, because he was a little late leaving work. I arrived in time to grab a beer before the first pitch.



We posted up behind Section 14, and had a great view. There were plenty of empty seats, but we didn't even feel the need to move as the game went on. It was a total blast, and the Cyclones triumphed. It's a beautiful park, the weather was great, and you knew watching it that this was most of these kids' first pro game, ever. I'll definitely be back.

It did start to rain just before we got back to our neighborhood. No biggie.