coney island baseball

Yankee Stadium is cost-prohibitive option for a full-family adventure this year, but we've heard great things about the minor leagues in the city. This afternoon we made our way, via Coney Island, to Keyspan Park, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones (minors for the NY Mets).

Coney Island has always been a slightly magical place for me. It's a worn out pin-up girl. She's gritty, frayed, and way past her prime, but there is something about the smell of the ocean, the colors, and the swirl of activity that make you feel as if you have been transported to a slightly different dimension--a scrappy, dirty, surreal neighborhood intended to be an urban oasis at the end of the Q line.

 

KeySpan Park has views of the boardwalk and Astroland in one direction, the ocean in the other. For fifteen bucks you can sit behind home plate and the kids got to run the bases at the end of the game. Auden was glued to the field and seemed to follow a great deal of the action. Colton was completely uninterested and we took turns touring the stadium with him. The Cyclones won 8-4. While we did have misgivings about supporting the Mets organization, we were really excited about beachfront baseball. The Staten Island Yankees also have a beautiful stadium, just steps from the ferry terminal, and we hope to pay a visit soon.

 

I pulled out my Pentax K1000 for the trip and am anxious to see what I got. It's the camera my dad shot with in Vietnam and I've always enjoyed it. I am amazed how difficult it is to switch back to 35mm--like so many other things, the instant gratification of digital has completely spoiled me. While the weight and sound of the camera is incredibly satisfying, I couldn't get past the inability to review the shot immediately. On the other hand, it makes me remember the excitement of getting film back from the processor--reliving the images captured and better understanding what it was you saw.

 

more coney island photos at Flickr.com