3/26/09

MiLB.com Interview With Clones




In this, the final installment of "At Home With," we speak with Brooklyn Cyclones media relations director Dave Campanaro. Since their inception in 2001, the Cyclones have ranked among the top drawing teams in all of Minor League Baseball.

MiLB.com: How would characterize your team's fan base? Has it grown or changed in recent years?

DC: Brooklynites are extremely passionate about baseball -- and about anything that is distinctly the borough's own -- so we're fortunate in that we meet both criteria. When the Cyclones were born in 2001, the fan base was starved for professional baseball. It had been 44 years since the Dodgers left for LA and Brooklyn's heart still hadn't healed (and probably never will). That first year was all about baseball returning to Brooklyn, but it was also about introducing the Minor League atmosphere to a Major League market. Most New Yorkers had very little, if any, experience with Minor League teams -- the promotions, the wackiness, the between-inning contests, the zany antics. In those first couple of years, I think we introduced a whole new world of baseball to the New York market, and we've been building on that ever since.

As time has gone on, our fan base has become much more familiar with and knowledgeable about, the brand of entertainment (and baseball) we offer. They have come to love the Cyclones for who we are and what we do, rather than seeing us as a potential replacement for the Dodgers (which are super-sized shoes that no one can fill). We still have our share of baseball purists and historians, but every year we see more and more families, kids and casual fans who enjoy not only the game itself, but all the entertainment that surrounds it.

The fact that we can appeal to both is what makes the Cyclones experience so special, and what makes our fan base so diverse.

LINK for more: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090325&content_id=531135&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp

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