The Brooklyn Cyclones are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, and play at Maimonides Park, just off the Coney Island Boardwalk.
Brooklyn won six division titles and two NYPL championships. In 2001, the Cyclones were declared co-league champions with the Williamsport Crosscutters, being forced to prematurely end their championship series due to the September 11 attacks, despite the Cyclones leading the series one game to none. Their second NYPL championship came in 2019, representing the first title for a professional sports team based in Brooklyn since the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers. Brooklyn won its first South Atlantic League championship in 2025.
The club was owned by the Mets from its inception through 2024, when it was sold to Diamond Baseball Holdings, a conglomerate that operates over 40 Minor League Baseball teams in the United States and Canada.
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History
The Cyclones began as the St. Catharines, Ontario, St. Catharines Blue Jays (later St. Catharines Stompers) in 1986 as a team in the New York–Penn League. They were named for their parent club, the Toronto Blue Jays. In 1995, the team was sold by the city of Toronto to a group of local investors which included former Toronto catcher Ernie Whitt.
In 1999, New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani announced a deal that would bring two minor league baseball teams to the boroughs outside Manhattan. New ballparks would be constructed for the Staten Island Yankees and the Cyclones. Prior to the 2000 season, the team was bought and moved to Queens, becoming known as the Queens Kings. The club played its 2000 season at Jack Kaiser Stadium on the St. John's University campus in Jamaica, in the borough of Queens, remaining a Blue Jays affiliate for one last season.
A "name-the-team" contest was held to determine a new name for the franchise. The winning selection, Cyclones, refers to the famous Coney Island Cyclone roller coaster at nearby Astroland amusement park on Coney Island. The Mets' Double-A affiliate, the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, are also named after amusement park rides, specifically, the 6 antique carousels found in or near Binghamton, New York.
The team's new park, which was then called KeySpan Park, was completed in time for the 2001 season. Brooklyn had been without professional baseball since the Brooklyn Dodgers left Ebbets Field for Los Angeles, California in 1958. After approximately three weeks of play, additional seats had to be added to the stadium to accommodate fans.
The Cyclones managed by Edgar Alfonzo played well in their opening season with the best record in the league (52–24), where they led the NY Penn-League with a 2.35 team ERA. They defeated the Staten Island Yankees in a classic NYPL opening playoff round. The deciding game won by the Cyclones 4–1 featured trickery by Catcher Brett Kay who faked giving up on a play only to receive a laser throw from John Toner to tag out a runner at the plate. Advancing to the championship series against the Williamsport Crosscutters. The Cyclones traveled to Bowman Field in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, winning the series opener on September 10, 2001 by a score of 8–4. The potential championship clincher was scheduled for September 11 in Brooklyn. However, due to the September 11 attacks, all minor league baseball playoffs were canceled. The Cyclones and Crosscutters were declared co-champions.
Alumni
The first Cyclone to break into the major leagues was infielder Danny Garcia, who made his debut with the New York Mets on September 2, 2003, at Shea Stadium. Scott Kazmir, who played with Brooklyn in 2002, made his major league debut with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2004. Still with the Rays in 2008, Kazmir was tagged with the loss in Game 1 of the 2008 World Series. He is the first former Cyclone to reach the World Series, though Lenny DiNardo, who pitched with the Cyclones in 2001, won a World Series ring with the Boston Red Sox in 2004 while on the Disabled List.
Mike Jacobs, who was a member of the inaugural 2001 Cyclones team, made his Mets debut on August 21, 2005, hitting a three-run pinch-hit home run off Washington Nationals pitcher Esteban Loaiza. In 30 games with 100 at bats for the Mets, Jacobs hit 11 home runs and had 23 RBI before being traded to the Florida Marlins after the season.
In April 2006, Brian Bannister became the first Cyclone pitcher to make his debut with the Mets in a game against the Washington Nationals at Shea. The following April, sidearm reliever Joe Smith, who pitched for the Cyclones in 2006, made his major league debut on opening day for the Mets against the St. Louis Cardinals. Smith pitched a scoreless third of an inning in the Mets win. First baseman/outfielder Nick Evans was called up on May 24, 2008, as an injury replacement. Evans, who played with the Cyclones in 2005, had 3 doubles in his first major league game. Ike Davis played for the Cyclones in 2008. In 2012, Davis led the Mets with 32 home runs. Daniel Murphy made his Mets debut in 2008. In 2015, Murphy was the NLCS MVP in the Mets series victory against the Chicago Cubs. Juan Lagares was called up by the Mets in 2013 and won a Gold Glove in 2014. In 2015, Michael Conforto was called up by the Mets and hit two home runs in Game 4 of the 2015 World Series, becoming the third youngest player to hit two home runs in a World Series game. The Mets would lose the World Series as former Cyclone Wilmer Flores struck out to make the final out. The strike out was caught by former Cyclone Drew Butera of the Royals. Pete Alonso made his Mets debut in 2019. Alonso broke the rookie home run record with 53 home runs and won the NL Rookie of the Year.
As of 2022, the Cyclones had sent 60 players to the Major Leagues. The current and former major leaguers who are Brooklyn Cyclones alumni and the teams they last played for (or are currently playing for) are:
Yearly results, managers and coaches
NOTES:
Bob Ojeda, Howard Johnson, Tim Teufel, Mookie Wilson, and Wally Backman all played on the 1986 World Champion NY Mets.
Frank Viola, Edgardo Alfonzo, Royce Ring, Marlon Anderson and Endy Chavez played for the Mets during their careers.
Bobby Malek, Yunir Garcia, Sean Ratliff, Rafael Fernandez and Luis Rivera played for the Brooklyn Cyclones.
Edgar Alfonzo and Edgardo Alfonzo are brothers and the only managers to lead the Brooklyn Cyclones to NYPL championships.
Leon Lee was named Manager for the 2004 season, but resigned during Spring Training due to an indecent exposure incident.
Tom Signore left the team in July 2014 due to a concussion and was replaced by Dave LaRoche. Signore was named the pitching coach for 2015, but was forced to miss the season due to the concussion and LaRoche filled in.
David Davalillo joined the Cyclones late in the 2014 season after the DSL Mets finished their season.
Retired and honored numbers
A total of 10 numbers hang on the press level of Maimonides Park.
Brooklyn Dodgers: 4: Duke Snider; 14: Joan and Gil Hodges 17: Carl Erskine; 36: Don Newcombe; 42: Jackie Robinson;
Brooklyn Cyclones: 6: Danny Garcia; 19: Brian Bannister; 20: Dillon Gee; 35: Ángel Pagán;
NOTE: A Cyclones player may still wear these numbers, with the exception of 14, and 42. The numbers that may not be worn by Cyclones players are numbers that have been retired by the Mets.
On August 22, 2011, the Brooklyn Cyclones also honored Pia Toscano, who sang the anthem prior to a game in 2003 by putting a plaque on the press level.
On August 15, 2014, the Cyclones added Joan Hodges, the widow of Gil Hodges, to the ring of Honored Numbers.
Mascots
The Cyclones have two mascots, Sandy the Seagull and Pee-Wee. Sandy, the primary mascot, has been with the team since the inaugural Cyclones season in 2001. Pee-wee was introduced in 2003 as Sandy's adopted son. Sandy is named for Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax, while Pee-Wee was named after Brooklyn Dodgers shortstop Pee Wee Reese. Even though Hurricane Sandy damaged MCU Park and Coney Island, the Cyclones kept the name Sandy on their mascot.
In 2006, the team introduced a new unnamed mascot: a blow-up "ZOOperstars!" type pelican. Despite a contest to name the character, it was never given an official name. The Pelican has not made an appearance since the 2006 season. In 2008, Maverick the Wonder Dog was introduced. He was a real Chocolate Labrador Retriever who was owned by one of the Cyclones staff members. The goal was to have Maverick learn tricks like picking up baseballs and bats. Like the Pelican, Maverick lasted only one season.
A Hot Dog race is held at every game at Maimonides Park, which is sponsored by Nathan's Famous. The first Nathan's store is located two blocks away from the ballpark. The three hot dogs currently racing are Ketchup, Mustard, and Relish. For many years Relish has become a fan favorite because he either wins very few races or none at all during the season.
On field entertainers
MCs
2001–2003: "Party Marty" Haber, a member of the Cyclones front office.
2003–2019, 2022–present: King Henry, A local entertainer. In 2013, King Henry became the main on field entertainer. He was not brought back for the 2021 season before returning in 2022.
2007–2010: Jay Moran, who had served as PA Announcer in 2006.
2011: Jason Negron
2012: Dan Pecoraro, a member of the Cyclones front office.
2021: Christina Moore, a member of the Cyclones front office.
In 2013, Bucky the Buccaneer was introduced. Every time the Brooklyn Cyclones would score a run, this pirate themed mascot would run around the field from one dugout to the next, waving his rally flags in excitement. Bucky was played by a first year intern, Daniel DePasquale. He worked with the Brooklyn Cyclones for 2 seasons.
Beach Bums and Surf Squad
The original "Cyclones Beach Bums" were a group of men and women who entertained the ballpark from 2003 through 2008, were seen all over the ballpark dancing, interacting with fans, and handing out promotional items. In 2009, the beach bums were introduced as an all women dance team.
Following the 2016 season, the team was rebranded as the Surf Squad and reverted back to being a co-ed dance team with a promotional focus.
Public address announcers
2001–2005: Dom Alagia.
2006: Sean Howard for 1 month, replaced by Jay Moran a PA Announcer at St. John's.
2007 – July 2010: David Freeman, who had served as PA Announcer for the Queens Kings. Freeman left to become an MLB Scorer with the Mets and Yankees.
August 2010 – 2021: Mark Fratto, who also serves as the PA Announcer for NYCFC, the Washington Wizards, the Westchester Knicks and NJ/NY Gotham FC.
2021 Colin Cosell
Media
WKRB (90.3 FM) was the official radio station of the Cyclones. It served as radio home for every Cyclones season through 2016, with the exception of 2012 when WSOU was the official radio station of the Cyclones. Cyclones games will air occasionally on BCAT and SNY.
2001–2011: Warner Fusselle and Reginald Armstrong served as radio voices of the Brooklyn Cyclones for the first two years and Warner continued until his death on June 10, 2012, a week prior to the 2012 Cyclones season.
2012: David Rind, Vincent Coughlin and Chris Paizis, who all called Seton Hall baseball, split the broadcasting duties, with Rind serving as the road announcer.
2013: David Greenwald served as the radio voice of the Cyclones for 1 year on WKRB.
2014–2017: Stu Johnson. In addition to Brooklyn Cyclones games, Stu also announced Brooklyn Bolts games on WKRB. Jake Eisenberg joined Johnson in the booth for the 2017 season.
2018–2022: Keith Raad, along with Dom Savino (2018–2021) and Nick DeLuca (2022). Raad left the Cyclones in 2023 to join the Mets radio broadcast team.
Print Media
2001–present: The Brooklyn Paper has covered every Cyclones game since the team's inception. Columnists for The Paper following the team through the years include Gersh Kuntzman and Ed Shakespeare. The Paper's Cyclones section is edited by Vince DiMiceli.