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One Millionth Fan Welcomed To KeySpan Park
The Brooklyn Cyclones set another milestone Tuesday evening as the one-millionth fan passed though the gates of KeySpan Park in Coney Island on a typical hazy, hot and humid New York summer evening. Steve Cohen, general manager of the Cyclones remarked, "There are no better baseball fans than those in Brook-lyn. Reaching this milestone in our fourth season is an incredible feat… We hope that we’ll have millions more fans to come." The millionth fan was, coincidentally, Coney Island-born Joseph Gajdos, a 45-year-old retiree, who now lives in Staten Island. The first time visitor to KeySpan Park, said, "I’m honored. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. I was looking at my ticket when they read the number and as I looked at my number, I turned to my friends and said, ‘I won." They couldn’t believe it." The surprised and elated fan missed out on a million dollar prize offered by utility company KeySpan. Gajdos missed on three attempts to throw a strike at a target set up at home plate. Nevertheless, he was presented with a Cyclones jersey and a trip for two to see the Mets in spring training next year in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Setting attendance records has be-come habitual for the Single A Penn League of the New York Mets since the team played its inaugural game at $39 million KeySpan Park on June 28, 2001. Originally set for 7,500 fans, the Cyclones quickly added 500 additional seats before opening day in the first season when the demand for tickets was overwhelming and team owners realized fans were hungry for baseball in Brooklyn after a 44-year drought following the Dodgers move west to Los Angeles. Before the end of the debut season, the Cyclones set a league attendance record that was enhanced by the season’s end as the seaside ballpark on Surf Avenue in Coney Island had attracted more than 289,000 fans. The following season the Cyclones drew more than 315,000 fans to break their own record. In 2003, attendance slightly fell off to just under 310,000. The Cyclones are the only Single A minor league team that has ever drawn over 300,000 fans in the 36-home games season. The Cyclones, who were quickly dubbed the Baby Bums, made a whirlwind debut in Coney Island three years ago that thrilled the sold-out crowd, as they staged a dramatic 10th inning 3-2 victory. After trailing for a rather lackluster eight innings, the first home run in the sparkling new park was hit by second baseman Edgar Rodriquez in the bottom of the ninth with a man on base to notch the score at two and sent the game into extra innings. The four-bagger also ignited what was, up until then, a rather subdued crowd that was almost ready to depart disappointed, like Brooklyn Dodger fans did many, many times.
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