6	KeySpan Park
	Brooklyn, New York

KeySpan Park has been a multiple award-winner in the MLN Top 10 Ballparks. As the Brooklyn Cyclones enter their sixth season, local interest is still extremely high.  During their first five years, total attendance was 1,493,935, including 285,818 in 2005.  While these would be strong numbers for any Class-A Minor League team, they are simply phenomenal results for a “short-season” team that doesn’t start play until mid-June.

Located in the heart of Coney Island, the famed beachside entertainment zone, KeySpan park brought baseball back to Brooklyn in a big way.

Hawaii in Brooklyn

Since KeySpan Park is situated almost directly on the beach of Coney Island, it lends itself to some interesting ideas.  “For the first time, we’ll be holding a luau actually on the beach to show our appreciation for our season-ticket holders,” media relations manager Dave Campanaro explained. 

“We’ll also be holding our first wedding ceremony.  Following our game on July 8th, two of our season-ticket holders will be married on the field.  Our players will be holding up bats in a processional line for the couple to walk through, plus we’re even having a bobblehead of them made.”

Experts Take

Mike Castro, the webmaster of fieldsofdreams.com, has this to say:  “The park itself is a thing of beauty. In this era of cookie cutter minor league parks, the builders of KeySpan have managed to create something unique. The concourse is open, allowing the sea breezes to pass through unhindered. The concession stands are just that, stand-alone structures like you'd find on the boardwalk, rather than windows in a larger stadium structure. 

“If there is a finer new minor league ballpark with a better, livelier atmosphere than KeySpan, I would like to see it.”