A few half-hour earlier than a mid-August Brooklyn Cyclones recreation, a household of three, a reporter and a middle-aged man wearing a Jedi gown walked into an elevator at Maimonides Park. Because the door closed they usually started their ascent, the Jedi turned to the others and requested, “So, what planet are you all from?”
“Um, Brooklyn,” responded the matriarch of the household. The Jedi proceeded to hum “Mad About Me,” by the Mos Eisley Cantina home band, Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes, as if to inform them he was from the planet Tatooine.
When the elevator doorways opened they usually stepped out onto the concourse, they joined a whole bunch of different Jedi knights and Padawan learners fanning out throughout the ballpark, mingling with the mere mortals who got here geared up with scorebooks, pencils and baseball gloves. Out past the right-field wall, within the space often called the Yard, just a few hundred others have been pounding brews and taking part in cornhole, blissfully unaware {that a} baseball recreation — the occasion that their ticket stated they’d paid to see — was about to start. The 2 most important attracts on this explicit Saturday have been Star Wars Night time and the $50 all-you-can-drink deal.
The subsequent afternoon, followers who got here to see Brooklyn’s 6-0 win within the collection finale between the Cyclones and the Aberdeen IronBirds have been additionally there for bottomless mimosas on the rooftop and to play catch in left discipline earlier than the primary pitch.
In sum, it was simply one other summer season weekend at this ballpark on the boardwalk — residence of the Cyclones, the Excessive-A affiliate of the Mets — the place youngsters run the bases after the final out is recorded and veteran season-ticket holders lead the gang in chants. It’s also the one spot on the town this baseball season to see a profitable native skilled group.
This summer season, the professional group with the perfect report in New York Metropolis performs its residence video games not within the Bronx or Queens however in Brooklyn. Because the Mets and the Yankees wallowed in fourth and fifth place at the beginning of this week, the Cyclones held a two-game lead over the Jersey Shore BlueClaws within the South Atlantic League’s northern division.
“Stevie Cohen should purchase the Mets, however he can’t purchase these vibes,” stated Josh Schoen, referring to Steven A. Cohen, the billionaire proprietor of Mets, and never Steven J. Cohen, the longtime vice chairman of the Cyclones.
Schoen, 31, used to have season tickets at Yankee Stadium, although he stated he additionally roots for the Mets. He and a gaggle of buddies went to the sport in Brooklyn to take pleasure in “the booze and the ambiance.”
“They usually win greater than the Yankees and Mets,” he added of the Cyclones.
From the place Schoen was standing within the Yard, it was tough to comply with the motion on the sphere. Followers might see by way of solely a portion of the right-field wall, prompting Caroline Kelley to jokingly ask her boyfriend, Brian O’Reilly, if she might stand on his shoulders to see over the barrier whereas they performed cornhole.
Allie Ditkowich was celebrating her thirty third birthday on the Cyclones recreation that night time.
Standing close to the see-through part of the wall, Ditkowich and her “Metsy Bestie” Ben Engle lamented the misfortunes of their favourite M.L.B. group. Brooklyn misplaced to Aberdeen, 8–3, nevertheless it was nowhere close to as brutal as what occurred in Queens that day. Atlanta took each video games of a doubleheader from the Mets by a mixed rating of 27–3.
Elizabeth Beller-Dee was standing on the concourse on the right-field aspect of Maimonides Park along with her 19-month-old daughter, Leslie.
She stated she had been coming to Cyclones video games since 2001, the group’s inaugural season: “They’re an important gateway drug to skilled baseball.”
Her 4-year-old son, Henry, was not along with her. He was off elsewhere within the ballpark “getting skilled to be a Padawan.”
When the sport ended, 1000’s of followers migrated over to the seats down the right-field line close to Part 20 so they might line as much as run the bases. However first, the Empire Saber Guild, a fan membership that wears costumes from the Star Wars universe and performs choreographed mild saber reveals, took the sphere to stage a battle. Because it did, the children within the stands chanted, “Struggle! Struggle! Struggle!”
After order had been restored to the galaxy, it was time for fireworks. Solely after the grand finale did the sphere gate lastly open for followers to run the bases.
At brunch on the rooftop the subsequent day, Maurice Geary, who lives in Barbados, stated coming to Coney Island for the Cyclones, the amusement park and Brighton Seaside was his favourite factor to do in New York.
His pal Amy Maxmen stated she hated sports activities however had rapidly discovered that Sunday’s expertise can be totally different.
“There’s quite a bit happening,” she stated. “There’s quite a bit to take a look at over right here. There’s brunch. All you’ll be able to drink. Good occasions.
“I’ve solely been to severe baseball video games and didn’t like them,” she added. “I like the concept of this being minor leagues. That is a lot better for me.”
When the sport began, the regulars have been already in place close to the first-base dugout. David Pecoraro was carrying a Cyclones bucket hat, in addition to a T-shirt with No. 7 and “Alfonzo” spelled throughout the again — for the previous Cyclones supervisor Edgar Alfonzo — and lots of zinc oxide on his face. A pedantic scorekeeper, Pecoraro has been a season-ticket holder for a couple of decade.
His favourite reminiscence, Pecoraro stated, was attending a recreation along with his son, Danny, in 2019, when the Cyclones clinched the championship over the Lowell Spinners.
“The Brooklyn Cyclones expertise is about having a good time on the seaside and attending to see the longer term Mets,” he stated.
The hope is that these future Mets will convey their successful methods with them to Queens, sooner quite than later.