Brooklyn print edition (PDF) - Caribbean Life

Aug. 31–Sept. 6, 2012 • Caribbean Life • Brooklyn/Staten Island • Page 88
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The game changers!
At this minor-league ball game, the fans play for quarters
BY ELI ROSENBERG
The Cyclones bullpen
wants to test your arm
— and collect your spare
change.
Brooklyn’s hurlers are
channeling Coney Island’s
carnival culture and racking
up quarters by challenging
fans to toss change
into plastic cups for a shot
at baseball memorabilia,
including a ball signed
by Mets ace and one-time
Clones starter Johan Santana.
The popular, but not necessarily
team-authorized
home-game tradition, is
simple to play, but hard to
win.
Players typically set up
three empty soda cups in
the bullpen, while cardboard
signs urge spectators
to try their hand from
a promenade one story
above.
Those who sink quarters
into the nearer cups get
balls autographed by Clones
players, and at a recent
game anyone who lobbed 25
cents into the furthest cup
took home a baseball signed
by Santana.
Of course, there’s an easier
way to snag a ball inked
by the two-time winner of
the Cy Young award.
“For sale: Johan Santana
autographed ball,” reads a
handwritten sign left on the
bullpen grass.
That hasn’t deterred
many fans from tossing
quarters — but Clones players
say they aren’t lining
their pockets.
It’s actually a way for
players to mingle with spectators
and an impromptu
form of fund-raising for
charity, according to one
Cyclones pitcher who spoke
with this newspaper on the
condition of anonymity
over fears he would get in
trouble for discussing the
so-called “quarters game.”
“It’s fun for us and it’s a
way for us to interact with
the fans,” said the hurler,
who claims the bullpen col-
lects between $30 and $40
per game and places it in a
bank account with plans to
donate it to the Gary Carter
Foundation at the end of the
season. “Last year it was
beer money — but this year
we talked and thought it’d
be nice to give back.”
Fans love the unoffi cial
mid-game entertainment
and there are plenty of repeat
customers who try their luck
with handfuls of quarters.
“One guy sunk it four
times in a row — I took
off my cleat and signed it
for him,” said the pitcher,
who claims the gimmick is
popular around the minor
leagues and other semi-professional
baseball leagues.
“We get some season-ticket
holders coming by every
game.”
Clones fan Mike Takach,
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Photo by Steve Solomonson
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TRY YOUR LUCK: (Left) Hit the far cup, and you get a ball autographed by two-time Cy Young award-winner and Mets pitcher Johan
Santana. (Right) A young fan tried his luck at last Wednesday’s game, but didn’t have the arm to win the cherished prize.
who took home an autographed
ball after a perfect
toss last week, likes the way
the “quarters game” lets
him connect with the pride
of Coney Island.
“It’s pretty cool,” said
the Long Island resident. “It
brings the audience and the
players together.”
Coach Rich Donnelly
said he knows about the
quarter-tossing, but prefers
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taking place on the fi eld
rather than the game taking
place in the bullpen.
“I’ve heard of it, but
didn’t pay much attention
to it,” he said.
MCU Park security
guards say the “quarters
game” is particularly popular
with Clones fans who
bring their kids to the ballpark.
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