Second-Time Opponent, Long-Time Foe

It was a clear, 71-degree evening on Coney Island when Cyclones designated hitter Ralph Henriquez approached the righthanded batter’s box to face Yankees reliever Pat Venditte on June 19, 2008.

Brooklyn trailed Staten Island 7–2 in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs and only a runner on first, the end of the game seemed nigh.

That is, until, the switch-hitting Henriquez and the switch-pitching Venditte embarked on a stalemate that would, quite literally, rewrite the baseball rule-book.

Venditte, adorned in a six-fingered glove, switched the mitt to his left hand so he could pitch to Henriquez in a favorable, righty-to-righty matchup. Seeing this, Henriquez crossed to the lefthanded batter’s box. Naturally, Venditte repositioned his glove onto his right hand.

After negotiations between flummoxed home plate umpire Shaylor Smith, Cyclones skipper Edgar Alfonzo, and Yankees manager Pat McMahon, it was finally decided that Henriquez must first declare a side of the plate from which to hit.

He stuck with his first choice: the righthanded batter’s box. Venditte countered by placing his mitt on his left hand. Eight minutes after first approaching the plate, Henriquez struck out on four pitches, and the ballgame was over.

When the Cyclones host the Yankees at MCU Park tonight for the start of a three-game set, it may only be the second series of the season in the “Battle for the Bridge,” but it will be the 114th time that the cross-borough foes meet since Brooklyn’s inaugural season in 2001.

Though it features an ever-changing cast of characters, the rivalry is reborn every year, complete with wacky, one-in-a-million plays that seem only possible in a Brooklyn/Staten Island showdown.

For instance, there was the time in 2003 when Yankees pitcher Matt DeSalvo plunked Cyclones infielder Andy Wilson in the back of the head. The hit-by-pitch sparked a 28-minute, benches-clearing brawl in Staten Island that led to 11 ejections between the two ballclubs.

Then, there was the time in 2004 when, in the bottom of the 10th, Cyclones outfielder Derran Watts plopped down the “Bunt Heard ‘Round the Borough.” As Yankees pitcher Shaun Parker fielded the bunt in front of home plate, he airmailed his throw into the right-field corner of Keyspan Park, allowing Watts to sprint around the bases for a walk-off, 3–2 Brooklyn victory.

More recently, there was Opening Day in 2016, when Brooklyn and Staten Island played a 20-inning marathon that lasted five hours and 39 minutes. Cyclones infielder Dionis Paulino, who also joined Brooklyn for the start of this season before his recent call-up to Columbia (A), was tagged with the loss after allowing a run in the top of the 20th.

You never know what to expect when the Cyclones and Baby Bombers meet. Their first three contests of 2018 have been fairly run-of-the-mill — 7–0 and 4–2 victories for the Cyclones that followed a 3–1 Yankees win on Opening Day.

But, including tonight, there are nine more cross-borough showdowns scheduled this summer. In a rivalry that has only grown juicier over its first 17 years, there’s no reason to expect anything less in year 18.

— Dom

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Cyclones vs. Yankees —6 p.m. at MCU Park

RHP Kyle Wilson (0–1, 9.45 ERA) vs. RHP Roansy Contreras (0–0, 1.64 ERA)

Tickets: brooklyncyclones.com/tickets

Listen: brooklyncyclones.com/listen