Leading the team in RBI, hits, runs, on-base percentage and extra-base hits, Luis Rivera will be a key component for the team’s playoff run, hitting .306 since the All-Star break, Rivera looks to go into the postseason on a consistent note. So no sports betting for him.

Clones DH and catcher Ralph Henriquez is hitting .354 over his last ten games.

Matias Carrillo has walked only three hitters in 28 plus innings this season.

If he’s 6’3,175 pounds and has braces, it’s Mets prospect Wilmer Flores.

Going through seven other shortstops this season, due to a combination of inconsistent play and chronic injuries, the Brooklyn Cyclones got the baby-faced middle infielder on Aug. 28 from the Mets other Single-A affiliate in Savannah, where he played just one game and collected three hits. Before being sent to Savannah, Flores was starring for the Mets Rookie league team in Kingsport, where he was hitting .310 with eight home runs and 41 RBI.

That’s a lot of traveling for anyone, nevertheless a 17-year-old.

With seven hits in his first four games in Brooklyn however, he’s already become a fixture in the starting lineup. Because of that, it looks like his traveling days are over this season.

“You watch him hit and you know it’s something you can’t teach,” said Cyclones manager Edgar Alfonzo. “He’s very young, but after you watch him in batting practice, you see that he has a routine and he sticks with it. He’s going to be a very good player.”

Because of all the praise he’s received for his play on the field and maturity off of it this season, Flores is having an absolute blast in his first year in professional baseball.

“I always dreamed to be here, but I never thought I’d be here this fast. It’s been amazing,” he said through a translator. “The traveling is part of my job. I have to do it, but it’s been fun too. I’ll play wherever they want me to. I love to do this.”

Playing with players up to nine years older than him this season, you’d expect the youngster, who still has a good four years before he can legally drink a brew after a game, to feel a bit out of place.

In spite of his age and the ages of his teammates though, Flores is looking forward to proving himself in Brooklyn and loves being around older players.

“There were a lot of younger players in Kingsport and in Brooklyn, there are more experienced guys,” he said. “It’s a tougher league and I’m learning from my surroundings. It’s good for me to be in this locker room. In Kingsport, the pitchers threw a lot of fastballs, but here, I’ve been seeing curve balls, change-ups and sliders too. It’s a good test for me.”

Considering how large Flores is and how many years he has left to grow, one would expect him to end up a first baseman or a corner outfielder by the time he makes it to the big leagues. Right now however, Flores is focusing on being the best shortstop he can be.

Already showing solid range and a more than adequate arm on the field in his short stint in Brooklyn, Flores doesn’t want to think of moving to another position right now.

“Right now I’m playing shortstop,” Flores, who models his game after Derek Jeter, said. “And that’s what I’m going to continue to do. If they want to move me later that’s fine. I just want to play baseball. This is what I love to do.”

Nevertheless, while idolizing the current Yankee shortstop, Flores doesn’t see himself becoming a playboy any time soon.

Because for him, baseball comes first.

“I’m not worried about any female fans,” Flores said. “I’m here to play baseball.”

Link-

Box score to last night’s 5-2 Cyclones win.

Photos by Ron Hatcher

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.

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

However, unlike the pitching staff that was again on it’s game, Brooklyn’s bats couldn’t lend a helping hand in a 2-0, three-hit loss to Batavia.

11-12 at home this season, the Cyclones still seem confused at the plate behind their hometown fans and are searching for answers as the season begins to wear down.

“It’s hard to win when you have only one hit going into the ninth inning,” said Cyclones skipper Edgar Alfonzo.”

The game remained scoreless through the third, as Brooklyn starter Brad Holt [3-3, 2.08 ERA] and Batavia’s Thomas Eager [3-3, 1.83 ERA] were strong early on, allowing only a hit apiece.

“I got ahead early and got a lot of ground balls,” said Holt. “I felt really good and the defense was strong behind me.”

Things opened in the fourth however, as Holt got himself into a bases loaded jam and ended up coughing up a Chris Swauger single that gave the Muckdogs a 1-0 lead.

Throwing 36 pitches in the inning, Holt was replaced by Mattias Carrillo in the fifth. Carrillo gave up two hits in 1.2 innings pitched, with one being a solo home run by Colt Sedbrook that stretched the Batavia lead to 2-0.

Jeff Kaplan was then summoned out of the bullpen to finish the fifth and kept the game at 2-0 the rest of the way. The Mets Single-A affiliate’s offense continued to struggle off Eager and George Brown however, who replaced him in the sixth and gave up just one hit through the final three innings. Adam Reifer then had mop up duty and despite leaving two runners on, retired Ike Davis for the last out of the game .

With State Island’s win, the Cyclones now find themselves four games back of the McNamara Division lead and know they have to start producing at home if they want to make the playoffs this season.

“We can’t explain it, it’s crazy” said catcher Ralph Henriquez in reference to the team’s play at home this season. “On the road, we’re much more aggressive and at home we freeze up. With four weeks left, we know we’re still in it though. We just have to come out and play hard and anything can happen.”

Notes-

Mets first round pick Reese Havens made his return to the starting lineup on Saturday after missing over two weeks with a pulled groin.

According to Alfonzo, Havens will most likely start at shortstop today as well.

Alfonzo also said that Holt was taken out of the game due to the team’s late arrival today and didn’t want to tire him out. After the game, Holt was fine and actually said he thought he could have pitched into the next inning.

Henriquez reached base twice in the game, once on an error and once with a single in the ninth.

Video-

Reese Havens bomb dies in the Coney Island wind.

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Pics by Ron Hatcher and Jim Dolan. Video by Patrick Hickey Jr.

Subbing for injured first baseman Ike Davis who injured his foot a few days earlier, Jacobs was brought to Brooklyn to provide a jolt to an offense in desperate need of one and the leadership that comes with being a two-time New York Penn-League All Star. Hitting just .176 with three hits in four games with his former team, Jacobs’ time in Brooklyn didn’t go exactly as planned, but it did serve a purpose.

Alone in the Cyclones clubhouse after a 9-4 loss against Staten Island on Sept. 4, the shaggy haired catcher packed his bags and talked about his season with the same reporters that watched him slug 12 home runs and 46 RBI last season.

“I’m not hitting the ball as good as I was last year, but I’ve learned a lot,” Jacobs said. “The game is simpler and even though I still make mistakes all the time, I know what they are now and it’s much easier to fix them than it was before. It’s a slow process, but I feel like I’m learning and that’s what being in the minors is all about.”

Spending a week in Brooklyn has afforded the slugger the opportunity to work on his game and continue that process. Quickly becoming one of the boys, Jacobs grew a mustache because every one else on the team had been doing so for about two weeks in a ritualistic effort to get the offense rolling. While Jacobs insists he won’t let his wife see it when he gets home, he proved in a short time that he’s still the same leader in clubhouse he was last season and the year before.

His play on the field isn’t exactly what it was last season however. Before being sent to Brooklyn, Jacobs, In spite of a solid .380 on-base percentage and 20 walks, was hitting .223 with 14 RBI in 38 games with St. Lucie,. Because of those struggles, Jacobs relished the chance to get to work with a coaching staff that watched him flourish last season.

“My swing is not the same as it was last year at all,” said Jacobs. “The coaches here, [Edgar] Alfonzo and [Guadalupe] Jabalera know me better than anyone. The coaches in St. Lucie are just starting to know what to expect from me. Over the past week, I’ve worked really hard and I feel a lot better about my game and I’m looking forward to going back to work.”

Despite heading back to St. Lucie, Jacobs wasn’t about to dismiss his week back in Brooklyn or the two All-Star years that preceded it.

Instead, he deflected the attention to his now former teammates, believing that they have what it takes to do something the teams he was an instrumental part of didn’t- win a NYPL championship.

“It was nice to be back. I missed you all,” he said to the handful of reporters surrounding him. “This a great place to play and winning matters a lot here. Most of the time in the minors, it’s about development, so it’s fun to have that type of competition, it takes you back in college. But being back here for a few days, I’ve gotten an opportunity to play with some great guys that I’ve seen develop in just the week that I’ve been here. I’m looking forward to hearing about this guys taking it home this season.”

Links-

Box Score to last night’s 5-2 Cyclones win.

Photos by Ron Hatcher and Jim Dolan

John Servidio though has been the most consistent of the ragtag bunch of Brooklyn players that have kept the team in playoff contention this season.

Neverthless, in a move reminiscent of the 2006 Cyclones that some felt made more roster moves than their big league counterparts in order to win ballgames, the Barry University product was sent to Kingsport on July 11 in an effort to spark the offense that was collectively hitting just under .250. Scoring only eight runs in four games without their leading RBI man, Servidio was back in the Cyclones lineup on July 15, completing a wild four-day trip along the East Coast.

10-7 since Servidio rejoined the team, the coaching staff doesn’t see him going anywhere again this season.

“He was our best player the first few games,” said Cyclones skipper Edgar Alfonzo. “We’re happy to have him back now too. He makes us better and does a lot of things for us.”

Despite missing a few games while in Kingsport, Servidio is still leading the team with 16 RBI and is tied for the team lead with three home runs this season, which has cemented himself as the everyday right fielder in Brooklyn. Possessing a rocket of an arm in the outfield as well, Servidio has four outfield assists and has made several spectacular catches at Keyspan. That all combined with a big smile and boundless energy on the field have quickly made him a fan favorite.

For those reasons, Servidio originally had a hard time understanding why he had been demoted. However, he believes his time away from Brooklyn gave him a better understanding of how the business of professional baseball works and how things can change in an instant.

“There was a lot of different emotions running through my mind at first,” said Servidio. “I was really bitter at first, but ultimately it comes down to the way I play and it doesn’t matter if it’s the Gulf Coast League, here or anywhere else. I was upset at first because this is the first pro team I’ve ever played for and all the guys that have been here since the beginning bonded. I didn’t want to play anywhere else.”

Obviously never getting an opportunity to acclimate himself in Kingsport, Servidio is thrilled to be back in Brooklyn.

“I was happy and excited to pack my bags,” Servidio said. “Everything feels like it’s coming back together now. Over there [in Kingsport] is more like you’re put on the field every day to play, but here is more of like a college mentality. This team wants to win every day and we’re all really close. I really love it here.”

Now with an opportunity to continue to thrive with teammates he respects and cares for and fans that cheer for him as soon as he steps on to the field, the 23-year-old doesn’t have to be reminded to soak in every special moment.
Because to him, being able to play professional baseball everyday is a dream come true.

“I’m where I dreamed to be,” he said. “Even when I’m struggling, I’m not in a bad place. I know that I’ll work through it. I know I’m not here by accident, but I’ll never take it for granted that I’m here. I go to bed every night happy and I wake up every day ready to have the best day of my life.”

Link:

Box Score to last night’s Cyclones 3-2 win

Video:

Cyclones in Pictures July

[youtube BoeqC3jrS4Y]

Photos by Ron Hatcher.

That doesn’t mean that Lutz doesn’t understand the impact the Hall of Famer had on the game though.

“Growing up, my dad and I were huge Mets fans, but there’s no doubt, Mike Schmidt is the greatest third baseman of all time,” said Lutz who is hitting .429 with five RBI through the Cyclones first four games this season. “He’s a Hall of Famer for a reason.”

Stoic, yet passionate on the field, Schmidt, who was at Keyspan park on June 19 in conjunction with Prostate Awareness Night, was a huge fan favorite during his playing days and someone millions of kids growing up in the suburbs of Pennsylvania and mean streets of Philly aspired to be like.

“I respected the passion of the people in Philadelphia; it’s something they grew up with,” said Schmidt. “I’ll never be remembered as a get down and dirty Lenny Dykstra type, but I think I survived the test of time. What really impresses people is how long I lasted in the big leagues and it’s something that I’m really proud of.”

Even today, Schmidt’s reputation in Philadelphia and the baseball world is still one of legend. Growing up, Lutz, too, must have heard countless people tell him that he could be the next Schmidt.

“I’ve watched a lot of tape of him,” said Lutz, who was just barely three years old when Schmidt decided to hang up his cleats. “You’d be surprised how much you could learn from watching tape of someone that good.”

Still only five games into his professional career, Lutz knows that he still has a lot to learn, but already has shown the same kind of moxy that made Schmidt a star in the game, running hard on every ground ball he’s hit so far this season and showing remarkable range from third.

“We’ve been so impressed with the way he’s played this year,” said Cyclones skipper Edgar Alfonzo. “He’s worked so hard this offseason and it really shows on the field.”

While he didn’t get a chance to pick Schmidt’s brain before or after the game like he would have liked, Schmidt had some advice for him and anyone else that wants to make it to the big leagues one day. A game that looks much different than it did when he played 25 years ago.

“There’s so much more talent at every level of baseball today,” said Schmidt, who was also an 11-time All-Star during his career. “There were probably 100 players vying for my spot when I was at this level and it narrowed out as I climbed the ladder. Today, there are probably 2,500 players trying to vie for a spot on a big league team. To surface as the number one guy out of 2,500 means you’ve developed as a player far more than I did when I was playing in the 70s. Because of that, I have a lot of respect for these kids. The talent pool today is incredibly high, but if you work hard everyday and watch the great players and try and emulate them and spend time in the offseason to perfect your craft, you’ll be headed in the right direction.”

Notes:

Ike Davis signed?- According to a source in the Mets organization, first round pick Ike Davis is expected to sign with team by the MLB All-Star break at the latest.

Church in Keyspan?- The source also confirmed that Ryan Church will be joining the Cyclones on  Thursday.

Photos by Patrick Hickey Jr.

Links:

Box Score to last night’s 4-2 Cyclones win.