Stop the presses – we got a playoff hunt on our hands! A real live pennant race, Mets fans, right here in NYC! No, not the Mets of course, but the next best thing…
There is a Cyclone Warning for the five boroughs!
As recently as two weeks ago the Brooklyn Cyclones were scratching and clawing, and trying to contend for a wild-card berth in the NY Penn League Playoffs. But lo and behold, the seemingly unstoppable Staten Island Yankees, are wilting in the heat of summer.
Back on August 2nd, the Mini Evil Empire, stood alone atop the division standings at 33-11, good for a .750 winning percentage. The Cyclones meantime, were languishing 6.5 games behind them. Since then, the Yankees have lost 12 of their last 16 games, dropping their record to 37-23, and their winning percentage to .617.
Those scrappy boys from Brooklyn, obviously smelling blood in the water, have turned up the heat on the Yankees and the rest of the league as August wears on. With a record of 26-23 on Aug. 6, the Clones have now gone 8-2 in their last ten games, to improve to 34-25 which moved them just 2 1/2 games back. The Cyclones are playing their best baseball of the year.
And if that isn’t cool enough, the Clones are also chasing Williamsport for the wild-card. At 36-24, Williamsport is 1.5 games ahead of Brooklyn, one up in the loss column, with 15 games to go. They too, have won 8 of their last 10 games. Williamsport’s final 14 games of the season may work against them because 9 of those games are on the road, and while their home record is 22-8, their road record is 14-16.
The Yankees are 9/6, Home/Away for their remaining games, and the Cyclones are 7/8. The S.I. Yankees and the Cyclones finish out the season with the final three games in head-to-head competition. Hopefully those games will have a lot of meaning.
