Following the June draft, there’s a lot of interesting names at Brooklyn right now—from Brad Holt. To help provide some insight on the team, we contacted Ed Shakespeare. Ed’s covered the Cyclones since 2003 for The Brooklyn Paper, and he wrote When Baseball Returned to Brooklyn: The Inaugural Season of the New York-Penn League Cyclones, the story of the club’s formation and first season in Brooklyn.

Well, first of all, what’s your background? Where’d you get your start? How did you wind up covering the Cyclones for the Brooklyn Paper?

I covered sports at various times, not usually full time. I’ve also been a teacher. I wrote a book called When Baseball Returned to Brooklyn, published by MacFarland, about the first year of the Cyclones. After I published that, I talked to people with The Brooklyn Paper. The first year I covered it, 2003, I shared the job of covering the Cyclones with Gersh Kuntzman, and then he became too busy with the editing, he does a little writing now about the Cyclones, but he was too busy to do it extensively. About four people cover the Cyclones for the paper, but I do a lot of it.

Mets fan?

(laughs) Well, that’s a long story.

Dodgers fan first?

Well, actually I rooted for the Giants. I always rooted for the Dodgers in most World Series because they were usually in it and the Giants weren’t. If you were a Dodgers or a Giants fan, you rooted for the National League in the World Series, even if they were your rivals. You rooted for them because you hated the Yankees. A good friend of mine who taught me a lot about baseball was a Dodgers fan, so I always liked the Dodgers, but I was a Giants fan, except for the World Series. I’ve actually seen the Dodgers play home games in three states—Brooklyn, in Jersey City, and in Los Angeles.

And after the National League left New York, almost all the former Dodger and Giant fans became Mets fans. I’m more neutral on the Mets now that I cover their minor league team. But I’m a National League fan, which made me a Met fan for many years. I basically root for whoever’s playing the Yankees; I root for Boston a lot in the other league. (laughs)

Is Ed Shakespeare your real name?

You mean the Ed? Why would I make up Ed? (laughs)

Yes it’s my real name. I’ve also written plays and stuff, and to use Shakespeare as a penname would be obnoxious. It’d be like if an actor used “Pacino.” I don’t think you should use a famous name as a pseudonym. My Uncle was named William Shakespeare. Usually people believe it’s my name, and some aren’t quite sure, but they totally disbelieved my Uncle.

So you were preordained to write in some capacity.

(laughs) I don’t know.

So what’s the atmosphere like in Keyspan Park? How is it different than the other New York-Penn League parks?

Better food upstairs for the writers. (laughs)

There’s a lot of media coverage, and there are often sellouts at Keyspan Park. When I go on the road, there’s usually only one member of the media besides myself. Sometimes guys who cover the Cyclones are there, but the year after I wrote the book I went down to Columbia, South Carolina to do an epilogue, and I was the only person in the press box. There was a scorer, a PA announcer, and myself. It was eerie. Two people were waiting for players after the game. There’s crowds and barricades at Brooklyn!

It’s calmed down a little bit, but it’s a very different atmosphere, particularly from some of the older franchises around the league: Oneonta, Batavia, Jamestown, to some extent Auburn, Vermont, Williamsport—they’re more like how the league used to be. Smaller crowds, laid-back/informal atmosphere. In Batavia, to get to the club offices, I was told “you go to the kitchen, and make a left at the sinks”. And that’s how you get there! You go through the concession kitchen, you go through the other door, and you’re in the team offices—it’s just one big room. It’s really different. Some of the newer franchises, and the franchises closer to larger metro areas, are more like mini-major leagues—might draw five-to-seven thousand per game, the stadiums are newer—like Aberdeen.

Many of the parks in upstate New York are still charming but smaller and older! I remember in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the Cyclones had a sun delay there, because when that was first built, they played exclusively day baseball, so it was okay to have the sun where it was. But for evening games, the sun was occasionally right in the batter’s eyes.

So to really answer your question, yes it’s more of a different atmosphere. It could work both ways for the players. You could lose sight that the main reason to be there is development. You could say that with the crowd and all the media, I think it’s sometimes harder for the players to relax. If you break in and you’re struggling in Brooklyn, that’s different than breaking in and struggling in Oneonta. It’s almost a sink-or-swim type of thing. Sometimes it seems like a letdown when they get promoted! It’s got its good points. The fans in Brooklyn still boo players. Until you get used to that—some players have never been booed. The fans love the team, but they’re hard on you when you struggle. Fans know a lot about the players, more so than in other places. They really follow them, and they try to get to know them personally, talking to them after or before the games. It’s a different situation in Brooklyn.

Do think that helps prepare them for playing for the Mets someday?

Oh, definitely. And the Mets have to be careful and not put a player there until they’re ready for it. But if you get to the Mets, playing in Brooklyn is great preparation for it, because there’s more pressure and a larger crowd. You get used to the media, and I think the fans are more aggressive than in most places. Sometimes, there will be more media covering a Brooklyn minor league game than certain major league stadiums! Opening night of the first season they had around 400 media people there—that’s incredible for a minor league game! You’re never going to see that anywhere else!

Let’s talk about pitchers. How good do you think Brad Holt can be? And are there any other pitchers on the Cyclones who intrigue you?

I definitely think Holt has major league potential. He’s always had a good fastball, and now he’s working more on his changeup and curve. Of course, he struck out 14 people last week. Other than Holt, it’s hard to say who has real big-league potential, because there have always been players who’ve done just okay at Brooklyn and made it to the majors. Obviously, everyone knew Kazmir had a shot, and the Mets/Brooklyn fans were really angry when he was traded. You have [Yusmeiro] Petit, Matt Lindstrom made the majors, but you didn’t know that when he was in Brooklyn. Carlos Muniz, too; you really sometimes can’t tell. Luz Portobanco, who passed away early this year, he had a lot of potential. He was on the initial Brooklyn team, and I talked with Bobby Ojeda, who was the pitching coach. He thought that he was great, and Edgar Alfonzo, even after Luz passed away, said that even now he thought Portobanco was going to make it (he wound up pitching in a Nicaraguan League).

Tune back in tomorrow for the conclusion of our interview as Ed gives his take on the hitters and more.