Scribe marks 20 years on Cyclones beat
After congratulating me on my 20-year anniversary of covering the Brooklyn Cyclones, radio broadcaster Keith Raad asked me to join him in the booth for an inning of on-air guest commentary about my early Cyclones memories.
My actual coverage of the Cyclones didn’t start until the end of the 2002 season, when there was a vacancy at the Home Reporter newspaper. However, it was the Cyclones’ inaugural 2001 season that drew me and thousands to Coney Island to see young minor league players fulfilling the role of the reincarnation of the old Brooklyn Dodgers.
From mid-June to Labor Day 2001, it was as if the circus had come to town and stayed the whole summer. Sellout crowds cheered on the Nathan’s Hot Dog race and were stirred up by “Party Marty” to do the wave, and kids danced on the dugouts between innings.