Aside from being the first switch-hitter in NYPL history to face an ambidextrous pitcher in Staten Island Yankees closer Pat Vinditte, Cyclones catcher Ralph Henriquez’s 2008 season was rather uneventful. Hitting .210 with one RBI in 62 at-bats, Henriquez never established himself as either the starting or backup catcher on the team and after the All-Star break, it seemed like he was the odd man out between fellow catchers Jordan Abruzzo and Caesar Cordido, prompting a reassignment to Savannah. His fortunes changed for the better with the Mets Single-A affiliate in Georgia, where he hit .273 with three RBI, but only appearing in nine games before the end of the season, it’s unknown where he’ll be at the start of the 2009 season. Chatting with DemBrooklynBums.com before his call up, Henriquez, who was traded for former Cyclone Josh Appell in late 2007, talks about his season and his time in Brooklyn.

DemBrooklynBums.com: What has this season been like for you so far?

Ralph Henriquez: It’s been a bit weird actually. At first, I thought I was going to be in Kingsport, but then I found out that I was ineligible to play there because I played a certain amount of games on a full season team last season. So then I got sent here. It was kind of a last minute thing. I really didn’t know what to expect. Since then, things have been OK I guess.

DBB: Do you feel you have certain expectations to live up to, considering you were traded for one of the Cyclones best relievers last season?

Henriquez: Not really. A bunch of my friends told me that he was a really good pitcher with some good stuff, but you can never think like that.

DBB: Considering that you were rushed here last minute, how have been getting acclimated to Brooklyn?

Henriquez: It’s really different from the Key West. It’s like a completely different world. There’s so many people driving here that it’s hard to get used to at times. Over there, I’ve never gone over 30 miles per hour. There was never any need to. I don’t think there’s a speed limit here. The park is really nice here though and even though it’s most of the same thing wherever you play this game, I’m enjoying my time here.

DBB: Tell us a little bit about your game.

Henriquez: I’m a real energetic catcher and like to take charge. I pride myself on being a leader as well. I like Victor Martinez a lot and I try and mold my game after him.

DBB: Just for the fans at home to get a better idea of what kind of player you are, what do you think your numbers would be if you played a full season?

Henriquez: I really have no idea. I just want to be behind the plate every single day. If that happens, then I’m happy.

DBB: If you got an opportunity to face Vinditte again, would you do anything different?

Henriquez: I’d go up there left-handed and see what happens.

Photo by Patrick Hickey Jr.

With the Cyclones hitting just .246 as a team this season, many fans have had a hard time figuring out exactly how the team is still in the playoff hunt this late in the season.

That reason however is an easy one- pitching coach Hector Berrios.

Entering his tenth season as a pitching coach and his fifth with the Cyclones, Berrios has consistently taken young pitchers to the top in Brooklyn. This season is no different.

Coming into the season, everyone in the organization knew that supplemental pick Brad Holt was going to be the bee’s knees, but no one could have possibly pondered how successful relative unknowns Jimmy Johnson, Chris Schwinden, Erik Turgeon and Roy Merritt were going to be. All picked in the 22nd round or later in the 2007 and 2008 drafts, many believed these youngsters were simply needed to fill out the roster.

Instead, they’ve been stalwarts on the mound and have played an integral part in the team’s success, thanks in part to the hard work of Berrios behind the scenes.

“It’s been a real pleasant experience with these guys this season,” he said. “Once these guys got their feet wet this season, they all really took off. You’re seeing it right now.”

In his five years in Brooklyn, Berrios has kept the Cyclones in the top three in team ERA every season and has consistently made heroes out of the most unlikely. Take the 2008 22nd round pick Schwinden for instance, who came into the season coming out of the bullpen sparingly, to only find himself one of the team’s dominant starters by the All-Star break.

For players like Schwinden, Berrios is an angel that makes their first year in professional baseball a dream come true, rather than a nightmare.

“Hector is an amazing pitching coach,” said Schwinden, who made the NY-Penn League All-Star team this season under Berrios’ tutelage. “He’s always there for us and you know he’d take our side in a fight if he had to. He’s gives us so much information and he always leaves it up to us to take it. He prepares you for so many things on the mound and by doing that, he makes you a better pitcher than you were before.”

A ninth round pick of the San Francisco Giants in 1983, who played parts of two seasons at the Triple-A level, Berrios knows how tough life in the minors can be.

That alone has played a huge part in his success as a pitching coach.

“Your the first guy that they learn from and that experience lasts a lifetime,” said Berrios. “I don’t like to do this just so they get to the big leagues. I always try and make sure that they know I care about them and I’m very passionate about their success. That creates a real bond and I don’t think any of them ever forget Brooklyn and what they learned here.”

Becoming a father figure to the players he coaches, Berrios has put together quite a resume for himself over the past half decade in Brooklyn, as Florida Marlins reliever Matt Lindstrom, Royals starer Brian Bannister and current Mets relievers Eddie Kunz and Joe Smith have all passed through his bullpen in Coney Island.

That, Berrios said, is something he’ll never forget.

“It’s been an awesome ride and it’s great that I get calls back from guys that feel that comfort and they know they can talk to me when things are going bad or even when they are going good.”

The way the team has pitched this season, it’s fair to say that he’ll be getting plenty of phone calls this winter.

“I don’t even want to think about where I’d be without him this year,” said Turgeon. “I was so lucky that I got the chance to come here and work with him.”

Link-

Box Score to last night’s 5-4 Cyclones Win.

Photos by Patrick Hickey Jr. and Ron Hatcher.

Growing up in the Dominican Republic in the early 90s, Cyclones closer Yury Santana was probably the only youngster who wasn’t thinking about throwing no-hitters for the rest of his life. A shortstop by trade, Santana instead envisioned himself starting the double play, making diving stops and stealing would be singles from unsuspecting hitters with his glove and rocket arm.

There was just one problem though.

He couldn’t hit well enough to stay in the lineup everyday.

A lifetime .197 hitter through his first season in professional baseball, Santana knew that in order to make his big league dreams come true, he’d have to do something incredibly drastic. Known for his defensive skills and amazing arm, Santana and the Mets organization decided it was in his best interest to become a pitcher.

He hasn’t looked back since.

“In the beginning it was tough and all I could do was throw hard,” he said. “[Former Met] Randy Niemann worked with me a lot and showed me how to throw strikes and taught me to not focus on throwing hard. I used to get in trouble a lot because that’s all I could do. Now, I feel like a pitcher.”

Things didn’t originally start out the way the 26-year-old would have liked however, as he was lost for most of the 2006 and 2007 seasons after Tommy John surgery. Originally signed as a free agent by the Mets in 2003, Santana knew that his 2008 season would have to be a special one or his career would most likely be over.

Making the NY-Penn League All Star team after leading the team with 10 saves and striking out 28 hitters in only 20 innings this season, Santana has not only cemented his spot in Brooklyn, but he’s become a prospect worth watching.

Seeing his development throughout the season, Brooklyn pitching coach Hector Berrios has loved what he’s seen from the fiery reliever and believes that despite his age, he has a bright future ahead of him.

“He’s got three pitches he can throw for strikes, but it’s more about the mental game with him,” Berrios said. “He’s not used to being in the pitcher’s shoes yet. When he does well, he as high as a roller coaster ride, but when he does bad out there, he’s really hard on himself. That’s what we’ve worked on this season with him. He’s come a long way in a short period of time.”

Under the tutelage of Berrios, Santana has thrived out of the Brooklyn bullpen and quickly become a leader in the clubhouse. Giving Berrios credit for his swagger on the mound and the development of his slider, Santana doesn’t want to think about where he’d be without his pitching coach’s help this season.

“I’ve worked with Hector a lot,” said Santana. “With his help, I have become a much better pitcher. We’ve worked everyday on my slider and it’s made a big difference on the mound.”

With the confidence and experience of a veteran and the work ethic of a rookie with everything to prove, Santana isn’t ready to let his feel-good story come to an end just yet.

“I love having the game in my hands,” he said. “I love being a closer. I’ve worked really hard this year in Brooklyn and I think I’m ready to pitch in Double-A next season. I just have to keep throwing strikes. It’s the same ball there, nothing different.”

Link-

Box Score to last night’s 7-2 Cyclones Win.

Update- 5:45 P.M.

Second baseman Kyle Suire and center fielder Rafael Fernandez were added to the Cyclones roster from Kingsport today. Suire was hitting .297 with nine homers and 36 RBI in only 48 games. Fernandez was hitting .259 with four dingers and 31 RBI in 57 games. Neither will be in the starting lineup tonight.

Photos by Patrick Hickey Jr. and Ron Hatcher

Missing 75 games last season with the Cyclones in 2007 after breaking his foot on opening day, third baseman Zach Lutz was looking forward to proving just how good he was in 2008.

For the first few weeks of the season, things seemed to be going according to plan, as he was outshining every player on the team, including the trio of Mets first round picks, Ike Davis, Reese Havens and Brad Holt.

Coming into the season with a vastly redefined upper body, Lutz appeared to be in the best shape of his life.

Looks can sometimes be deceiving though.

Currently rehabbing in Florida after re-injuring his foot a few weeks ago, Lutz was hitting .333 with three homers and 12 RBI in only 24 games with Brooklyn this season and admits now that he was only playing at 75-80 percent during that time. Skeptical of his return to Brooklyn this year, Lutz has been told by the organization to put this season behind him and focus on 2009.

“I hate to say this, but from what we’ve been talking about, the focus is really on the long-term,” he said. “The organization and I really don’t want to come back and risk anything. I want to play more than anything right now and everybody knows it, but everyone is telling me to look out for myself and my future. It really hurts when you hear something like that, but when you sit down and think about it, it makes perfect sense.”

Seen icing his foot after nearly every home game this season in Brooklyn, many reporters wondered just how hurt Lutz actually was, but considering how exceptional his play was on the field, no one thought it was anything more than soreness from a year on the shelf.

Things were a lot worse than they seemed however.

“Every three or four games, I’d have to sit out because it [his foot] was acting up,” said Lutz. “There were times after games this season where I couldn’t even walk without it hurting. Right now, I really don’t know what the point would be in trying to come back because I’m not even at the level I was at when I was there. I don’t feel I’m even close to that level now. I have a walking boot on now and I still have problems with my quad.”

For a 22-year-old that has been a star at every level of baseball he’s played at, staying away from the game may be a bit tougher than it seems. A student of the game, Lutz spent the offseason in 2007 throwing baseballs with his mother and working out his upper body with his father, all while keeping his foot elevated like the Mets wanted him to, for nearly five months. By doing so and playing injured this season, Lutz has proven he’s a warrior that wants to succeed in professional baseball, perhaps more than anyone else in the sport today.

Knowing that, the next few months may be difficult ones for him.

“When I was in college, I’d have a game at three right after school and by six, I’d be home running or have my mom throw golf balls at me,” Lutz said. “I’d have a class the next day at 7:45 and I’d be up at 5:30 running and hitting. This is what I love to do and it hurts so bad not to be able to do it. I just have to be patient now. I’m only 22 and I don’t want to risk losing my career. There’s nothing I can do. ”

Nevertheless, Lutz is focused on coming back a better player and one that is completely healthy.

“I’m going to come into Spring Training in great shape,” he said. “I want to get back to where I was before and I’m going to everything I can to get there. I know I was doing well when I was in Brooklyn, but I know I could do more. When I would hit a ground ball toward the line at third, I know that I could run it out if I wasn’t hurt. The same thing goes for some of the singles I hit that could have been doubles. I stole a bunch of bases in college too and to not be able to do that was really frustrating. I want to make sure it never happens again.”

Link-

Box Score to last night’s 8-3 Cyclones Win.

Photos by Jim Dolan and Ron Hatcher.

Carl Erskine was just a wide-eyed 21-year-old from Indiana when he made his major league debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers on Jul. 25, 1948.

As a matter of fact, he was younger than many of the players that currently play in the borough today with the Mets Single-A affiliate, the Cyclones.

Despite his rural upbringing, Erskine quickly found a home in Brooklyn and carved out a successful 12-year, 122-win tenure with the Dodgers, helping them win the World Series in 1955, where he went 11-8 with a 3.79 ERA in 194 innings of work. A few years later in 1957, he and his teammates were shipped off to Los Angeles, where he played the final two years of his All-Star career, but it was never the same for hard-throwing righty, as he won only four games in his final two seasons.

During his time in Brooklyn, the borough became his second home and his second family, the players he shared a clubhouse with in Ebbets Field for ten years, slowly left the team once they got to Los Angeles via trade or retirement.

“The Brooklyn team that I came up with in 1948, basically stayed together until 1958,” said Erskine. “It wasn’t until we moved to Los Angeles that they started making changes. On our off days, the whole team would go on picnics together and our children were raised together. In the Ebbets Field clubhouse, before every game, Roy Campanella would stand up and say ‘The same team that won yesterday is the same team that’s going to win today,’ He put that in our minds and we knew that’s what we had to do.”

Coming back to Brooklyn on Aug.17 to have his number 17 honored by the Cyclones, Erskine, now 81, was thrilled to be back where his major league career began over 60 years ago.

The Brooklyn fans turned out for the occasion as well, as a standing-room only crowd of nearly 8,000 filled with many of whom grew up watching Erskine hand-cuff hitters as children, stood and watched their childhood idol talk about his playing days in Brooklyn.

“Even with all the World Series experience and playing on all those great teams, I think this is probably the cream on the top of everything,” Erskine, who had a street named after him in Brooklyn in 2002, said. “To be back on Brooklyn soil after all these years and in a ballpark in Brooklyn is very meaningful to me. It’s almost like a fantasy.”

Spending time with some of the Cyclones before the game started, the two-time author shared some of his knowledge of the game with them as well. Considering them “his grandchildren,” Erskine was happy to give advice to the youngsters and “continue the bloodline of Brooklyn baseball.”

“There are two things we don’t know about life,” he said. “One is when we are going to die, which is a good thing. The other thing is we never know what we can really accomplish in life if everything went right and we push ourselves as hard as we can. Look at me, I got more out of this skinny little body because I played on a great team and no one tried to change who I was. You have to believe who you are is better than something you read about or something you’ve seen somewhere else.”

Looking back on his career, Erskine couldn’t help but smile when remembering how he felt when he first found out he was coming to Brooklyn.

Originally worried that he’d have a hard time adjusting to life in the borough after growing up in Anderson, Indiana, Erskine was surprised at how accommodating the place really was.

“I was a skinny kid from Indiana, who could throw hard. But to be picked out of the Midwestern culture and placed in a big city like Brooklyn was unbelievable,” Erskine, who also threw two no-hitters during his career, said. “Only to find out that Bay Ridge, Brooklyn was exactly like my hometown. I knew the barber and the butcher and everyone knew me. If I pitched a good game, I’d come home from Ebbets Field and be in the middle of a street party, with balloons in the trees and the whole nine yards. It was amazing.”

Like all good things in life though, Erskine’s playing days had to come to an end, as arm troubles plagued an otherwise solid major league career.

Ironically however, his playing days also played a big part in his life after baseball as well, as his natural abilities as a leader played a big part in his future success as a college coach at Anderson College, where he won four championships in 12 years and several successful business ventures in his home state of Indiana.

Because of that, Erskine has no regrets and is grateful for the opportunities playing in Brooklyn has afforded him.

“It would be unreal for me to say there was something I didn’t get to do,” he said with a smile. “I stayed in the big leagues for 12 years and even though I didn’t get into Cooperstown, how many guys have a street named after them in Brooklyn? I guess a lot of people in the safety department are still Dodgers fans. How could you wish for anything other than that?”

Photos by Patrick Hickey Jr., Ron Hatcher and Jim Dolan