BKN Cyclones ~ Bums Win Battle of the Boroughs III

From the desk of:  THE SURF AVENUE SLUGGERS



BROOKLYN CYCLONES:  Sunday's Win In Coney Island Moves Them Closer To Yanks in Division, and Closer To Wild Card Teams.

The Brooklyn Cyclones took three of the four games this past weekend from the Rotten Staten Island Yankees to move within 6.5 games of the McNamara Division leaders.  The Cyclones took both games in Staten Island during the home-and-home four game series and split two games in Brooklyn.  The Yankees lone win of the series came Saturday with a 6-4 final score.  In the series, the Cyclones almost doubled Staten Island's run output over the series.  Brooklyn outscored the Yanks 30-17 over the four games.


Heading into tonight's games, the Auburn Doubledays and Mahoning Valley Scrappers are tied for the Wild Card spot.  Both are sporting 30-21 records.  The Williamsport Crosscutters, at 28-22, trail them by 1.5 games.  Then, closing in quickly, are the Brooklyn Cyclones.  After winning three of four this weekend, they are now 28-23, and only 2 games behind the Wild Card leaders.


The Cyclones start a six game road trip tonight with their first stop coming in Batavia, followed by a series against Mahoning Valley.  Then, the NY-PL has an off day next Monday before the NY-PL All-Star Game is played on Tuesday night; Aug. 16, 2011 in Lowell, Mass.; home of the Spinners.


I've always enjoyed the series between Brooklyn and the historical Batavia organization since the first season of Cyclone existence.  With a history dating back to 1939; and even earlier than that; Batavia has been a mainstay on the New York State Baseball scene since the days when the New York - Penn League was referred to as the PONY League; (Pennsylvania - Ontario - New York), prior to 1956.  Their history in that League reaches back to 1939.  And Baseball in Batavia reaches dates much earlier than that; as far back as 1897.


In 2001, Brooklyn's first year in the NY-PL, they gave out this poster when the Batavia Muck Dogs came to town.  It's been hanging on the back of my door to the Man-cave ever since.

This is a very important road trip for the Coney Island Nine.  With some positive results in Batavia, they'd head to Mahoning Valley and hopefully play for the coveted Wild Card spot; Auburn withstanding. 


The Cyclones are on the road quite a bit during the month of August.  They will have to play slightly better than their 12-12 record away from Coney Island in order to catch the Yankees for the Division Lead.  Eleven of the Cyclones remaining twenty six games will be played in Brooklyn where they have a 16-12 record.  So perhaps, the Cyclones' fortune in the standings may very well depend on how they negotiate the rough road ahead indeed.




Mike.BTB