Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Baseball Returns to Brooklyn

Aired June 26, 2001 - 07:12   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LINDA STOUFFER, CNN ANCHOR: Some baseball fans never really got over the Brooklyn Dodgers leaving New York for the West Coast. But last night, the crack of the bat could be heard once again in Brooklyn.

And CNN's Bruce Morton says the fans loved it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRUCE MORTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Matthew Peterson, 19, throws the first pitch of the Brooklyn Cyclones' first home game to Maximo Made, 19, of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers at KeySpan Park in Coney Island -- a ball.

Baseball, in a way, is back in Brooklyn. But is it? The old Dodgers, who left 44 years ago, are legends, were heroes, won pennants, a World Series. Roger Kahn covered that team and wrote a book about them: "The Boys of Summer." This isn't that, he notes.

ROGER KAHN, AUTHOR, "THE BOYS OF SUMMER": I'm mostly offended by trying to sell it as, "Baseball is back in Brooklyn," as though there was any connection between Hall of Fame players and the single-A players they're going to have. Five percent players on that level ever get to sit on a Major League bench.

MORTON: Yes, defenders say, but...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not the Brooklyn Dodgers. They were a championship Major League team. We're the Brooklyn Cyclones, a Class A affiliate of the New York Mets. But just the fact that the community has taken on to this team so fast and so nicely, it's very fulfilling.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

MORTON: In fact, they have sold most of the tickets they have for this season. And opening night was -- well, opening night: kids, caps, autographs, not very many empty seats either. One of the hopes is that the team will bring people back to Coney Island. The old amusement park isn't the draw it used to be. And the ballplayers themselves, just starting out, just want to play, not study Brooklyn history.

MIKE JACOBS, CATCHER: For most us, it's just to be able to play, see what happens, see if we have the chance to make it to the big leagues.

ROBERT MCINTYRE, SHORTSTOP: It's nice to be in Brooklyn, you know, but just playing ball anywhere, no matter where it's at. And it's really what we wanted to do. And so it really doesn't matter where we're at.

MORTON: Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Yankee fan, threw out the first ball. And the Cyclones, in white now instead of practice blue shirts, played. And Joe Pignatano, a catcher on the team that left 44 years ago, was there.

JOE PIGNATANO, FMR. BROOKLYN DODGERS PLAYER: Baseball is baseball. You can't change that.

MORTON: They won't be the heroes, the legends of summer. They'll be the new guys, the young guys, the boys from Class A. They won their opener 3-2.

Bruce Morton, CNN, Brooklyn.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com