Rome Emperors (ATL) @ Brooklyn Cyclones (NYM)
July 26, 2024
HR: Christopher Suero (BRK), Omar De Los Santos (BRK)
Attendance: 5,068
Time of Game: 2 hours, 35 minutes
Stadium Facts
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Opened: 2001
Capacity: 7,000
Level: High A
League: South Atlantic
Time of Game: 2 hours, 35 minutes
Stadium Facts
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Opened: 2001
Capacity: 7,000
Level: High A
League: South Atlantic
The second game of my late summer trip ended a streak of 11 straight games in the upper two levels of the minor leagues and took me back to the level I started with in April, a High A South Atlantic League game. But this wasn't in some small town in the middle of nowhere. No, it was in the largest city in America: New York City. More specifically, in the borough of Brooklyn. I took a commuter train from New Jersey into Manhattan and then the subway down to Coney Island. I've probably been to NYC at least a dozen times, but this was my first time at Coney Island, which feels like a whole different planet from the rest of the city. I met up with a friend for this one and we explored the Coney Island boardwalk along the ocean beach, walked past a tightly arranged amusement park and visited the original Nathan's Hot Dog location, where the annual 4th of July hot dog eating contest takes place. All of these spots are mere blocks from Maimonides Park, providing an atmosphere unlike anything I've ever experienced at a professional sporting venue.
While it makes sense that the Cyclones are a Mets affiliate, it is my understanding that Brooklyn baseball fans whose families have been there for generations aren't necessarily loyal to either of the New York MLB teams. Many remain fans of the Dodgers even 65+ years after they departed Brooklyn for Los Angeles. A statue of Brooklyn Dodgers legends Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese greets fans as they enter the park. Maimonides Park is a unique place. The ballpark itself is not particularly extravagant. The open concourse is almost completely exposed to the elements. Thankfully, this was a very nice night. From most points on the concourse you can see the Atlantic Ocean well beyond the right field wall. Beyond left field is the aforementioned amusement park, including the Cyclone wooden roller coaster for which the Brooklyn team is named. Unlike a similar wooden roller coaster I saw in Altoona, this one is still fully operational and hearing its riders scream on occasion provides yet another unique aspect of taking in a game here. This was the first, but not the last, minor league park I have visited which has an artificial playing surface. Not sure if that has always been the case or if it is a somewhat recent development. The Cyclones had been a short-season NY/Penn League team for the first ~20 years of Maimonides Park's existence. It wasn't until the minor league re-org that went into effect in 2021 when Brooklyn became a full season affiliate. There is so much to see and do in and around this ballpark that I would imagine even those who couldn't care less about baseball would still have a great time.
This Friday night game featured a matchup between the Cyclones and the Emperors from Rome, Georgia, making this by far the furthest a visiting team had to travel for any of the minor league games I've attended this year. I would imagine most of the Rome players didn't mind spending a week in New York though. It is certainly unlike most stops in the South Atlantic League. While Maimonides Park is usually a great park for pitchers, that was not the case on this night for the Rome hurlers. Emperors starter Luis Vargas didn't make it out of the second inning. The Cyclones strung together six hits and five runs, sending 10 batters to the plate in the bottom of the second. Vargas wasn't effective, but didn't get much help from his defense either. An error and a somewhat generously scored infield hit greatly contributed to the five run frame. The best hit of the inning belonged to Cyclones catcher Christopher Suero who doubled off the wall, missing a homer by just a couple feet. He cleared the wall in his next at bat with plenty of room to spare, which was part of another big inning for Brooklyn. Suero's two run homer was followed up by three more hits in a four run fourth inning, which was the second time in four innings in which every player in the Cyclones lineup came up to bat. For good measure, Brooklyn added two more in the sixth on a two run bomb by Omar De Los Santos that gave the Cyclones an 11-0 lead through six. Meanwhile, Brooklyn starting pitcher Kade Morris had not allowed a single base runner to this point. He took a perfect game into the seventh inning. However, the leadoff hitter in the seventh put an end to that drama with a base hit up the middle. The next two hitters would also single on groundballs that found holes. A couple batters later after Morris had been relieved, a triple knocked in two more Emperors runs causing Morris' final line to not look nearly as impressive as it should have. He gave up three hits and three earned runs in 6 1/3 innings with no walks and six strikeouts. This dominant performance wound up being his finale with the Mets organization. He was traded to Oakland in exchange for Paul Blackburn a few days later. The A's must have liked what they saw in this one. The end of the perfect game attempt pretty much ended all remaining drama in this one. A few more runs would score before the game finally ended in a 12-5 Cyclones victory. I would love to see what the "time of possession" numbers were in this game because it seemed like Rome spent almost the entire game in the field. The Cyclones recorded 15 hits and took seven walks. The Emperors did rack up seven hits in the final three innings, but did not take a walk in the game.
After this very fun afternoon and evening in Brooklyn, I embarked on what became a very long night's journey back to New Jersey. That's a story for another time, however. The next day, I drove to Connecticut for my first real visit to Hartford.
Next ballpark: Dunkin' Park in Hartford, CT
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