By Mac Montandon
August/September 2001


Above: The Cyclone logo on the cap (top) combines the barbed B from the Brooklyn Dodgers with an interlocking C derived from the famous roller coaster (bottom left) that is the team's namesake. The stadium's aisle markers (bottom right) show the connection between the New York Mets and their new Single-A farm team.
On June 25, when the Brooklyn Cyclones took the field at Keyspan Park, they shared more than a borough with the beloved erstwhile Brooklyn Dodgers. They also shared a B. As in the barbed white B that stood alone on the royal blue background of the Dodger hat. It is still one of the most recognizable sports symbols, though the club that first used it memorably split town 44 years ago.

The new team's design nods toward Dodger history, then updates it with a bright red interlocking C for the home hat and a gold one for away games. The Cyclones plucked the colors from the sign of the 74-year-old boardwalk roller coaster that is their namesake. The hat's blues--a navy shell and bill for home, a light blue bill for away--refer to Coney Island's ocean vistas. "The club went to great lengths to engage the region," says Anne Occi, vice president of design for Major League Baseball Properties, which works with major- and minor-league teams to develop uniforms and helped the Cyclones with their look. (The Cyclones play in the New York--Penn League.)

Part of the design process called for the team to secure permission for use of the B from the Los Angeles Dodgers, who still own the rights to the Brooklyn Dodger name. Though in the past the Los Angeles franchise has denied other businesses access to the Dodger brand, this was clearly a different matter. "We understand the importance of baseball in Brooklyn," says Dodger president, Bob Graziano.

They aren't alone. In the first month the Cyclones sold nearly 1,500 hats, mainly through their Web site (www.brooklyncyclones.com) and by phone. Interest in the cap has been global: the team has made Internet sales to customers in Japan, London, Alaska, and other far-flung places. "That's because of the mystique of Brooklyn baseball," says R. C. Reuteman, Cyclones senior vice president.

At this rate, the New Era Cap Company expects the Brooklyn hat to be among the most popular minor-league caps of the year. New teams with new designs are invariably the hottest items for the company, which manufactures caps for about 200 clubs, including all 30 major-league baseball teams.

The Cyclone model is noticeably sedate compared to its minor-league brethren, who have names like the Hickory Crawdads and the Lynchburg Hillcats along with wild animal-laden uniforms to match. Brooklyn's style reflects the reverent place the Dodgers still occupy in many a fan's heart. "The hat is very traditional," notes designer Occi. "There are no new, modern colors."

The club is in a sense resurrecting the sacred baseball myth built by the likes of Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, and Jackie Robinson. With that in mind, the Cyclones have created a cap natty enough to make New York magazine's style column while also getting a thumbs-up from the powers that be. "It's very classy," says the Dodgers' Graziano, "very appropriate given the history of baseball in Brooklyn."

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