Cyclones Kick Off Fifth Season With Win Over Staten Island Yanks

In 1888, a baseball team nicknamed the Trolley Dodgers, with such notables as Darby O’Brien, Pop Corkhill, and Mickey Hughes, celebrated its fifth year in what was then the City of Brooklyn. Last night in Coney Island, the Cyclones marked Brooklyn baseball’s second five-year anniversary.The Coney Island Kids have no Darby, Pop, or Mickey, but they do have a Mookie, and, led by new manager Wilson, they kicked off another year in the New York-Penn League by beating the visiting Staten Island Yankees, 10-7.Right fielder Jesus Gamero hit a tiebreaking home run in the bottom of the seventh and drove in three runs, while Wilson immediately put his stamp on the team as the Cyclones stole five bases in six attempts. A record crowd of 9,303 showed up at KeySpan Park in Coney Island.Since baseball returned to the borough in the summer of 2001, the Mets’ Class-A affiliate has become one of the most prosperous franchises in all of minor-league baseball. The Cyclones regularly sell out their games to crowds over 7,000, and the team announced its one-millionth fan last July.“I don’t think anybody realized how big it was going to be,” said Cyclones media director Dave Campanaro, who has been with the club since its inception. “I think people knew that this was going to be popular and that the fans were going to flock to Brooklyn baseball, but I don’t think they realized just how excited and loyal and passionate everybody would be.”That appeal can only increase now that Wilson, a former Met outfielder and fan favorite, has arrived in Coney Island. Even at the team’s season-opening public workout on Saturday, legions of fans could be heard screaming his name. One particularly rabid fan showed up wielding a ticket he had saved from Game 6 of the World Series, in which Wilson hit the now legendary ground ball through the legs of Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner to force Game 7.But the Cyclones, who were only 3 or 4 in 1986, are less intimate with their manager’s famous grounder.“Believe it or not,” Wilson says, “Most of the kids, they remember me, and they say, ‘Were you that guy?'”Wilson, who played 10 years for the Mets and coached first base under Bobby Valentine from 1997-2002, is the third member of the 1986 World Champions to manage the Cyclones, after Howard Johnson and Tim Teufel. He spent the last two years managing the rookie-level Kingsport Mets.It’s a bit early to speculate on who the 2005 Cyclones’ stars will be – most of them played their first innings of professional baseball last night – but here are a few Cyclones who have a good chance of early success.Edgar Alfonzo, the nephew of former Met Edgardo Alfonzo, is in his third year in the system. The 20-year-old finesse pitcher pitched 42 innings last year for Brooklyn, striking out 33 and walking just 12 to the tune of a 3.21 ERA. Alfonzo throws a two-seam fastball that reaches around 84 mph, a four-seamer that hits 88, a curveball, and a changeup.Jabe Bergeron is a powerful first baseman out of Williams College, the alma mater of George Steinbrenner and Jim Duquette. He’s a bit old at 23, but he has a solid approach at the plate. Signed as an amateur free agent in 2004, Bergeron played briefly for Brooklyn last year and performed well in a 23-game stint at Capital City (a step above the Cyclones in the Mets’ minor-league hierarchy), hitting .292 with a .440 OBA.

Cyclones Kick Off Fifth Season With Win Over Staten Island Yanks

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