NY Minor League Teams Pitch In For "A Prayer For America"
Overflow crowds at Yankee Stadium are diverted to new minor league parks in Brooklyn and Staten Island.

Ray Z. Perea

New York - 09/24/01 - The minor league sports world of New York pitched in to help in the healing process of the terrorist attacks on America.  A prayer ceremony was held at Yankee Stadium on Sunday for the families directly affected, and the country.  The event was called, "A Prayer for America." The large number of families of victims and emergency workers would not allow everyone to fit into Yankee Stadium.

So, as their major league counterparts did earlier in the week, the Brooklyn Cyclones and the Staten Island Yankees, minor league teams of the New York Penn League, opened up their stadium doors to the people in their communities to watch the event on the big screens. 

"The suggestion came from the Mayor, that the team take part", says Dave Campanaro, Media Relations Director for the Cyclones.  "The Mayor was instrumental in the re-birth of baseball in Brooklyn, so it was a natural and nice fit for KeySpan Park to be involved in the ceremony", Campanaro also said.  

For people who could not make it out to the Bronx this was a way to be apart of the event.  The crowd who attended the prayer ceremony needed to be out with their peers, a display of strength in numbers. 

The Cyclones used their video board and audio capabilities to pipe in the proceedings from Yankee Stadium. Tickets to get into the ceremony were passed out to the community at local police precincts. 

Campanaro estimates at least one-thousand people were in attendance at KeySpan for Sunday's event, which lasted about three hours. 

During the N.Y. Penn League 2001 season, the Brooklyn Cyclones broke the attendance record for the league, averaging near eight-thousand fans a game.

They were also named co-champions of the league along with the Williamsport outfit.  There were no post-season playoffs in minor league baseball due to the events of 9/11/01.

Emotions on the Staten Island side things hit close to home.   This community was hit hard, many firefighters who were a part of the rescue at the WTC made a daily commute to the city from Staten Island.  Many families in the area lost loved ones. Many widows were in the crowd.  Many said that they took some solace in being around other widows in their grieving.

The turn out at Staten Island was large. "There were near two-thousand in attendance at the stadium on Sunday," said Rose Deinnocentiis, Media Relations Director for the Staten Island Yankees. She also gave credit to City Hall,  "The Mayor's Office and the Red Cross played a major part in the events that took place at the Ballpark at St.George".  

The Media Relations Department at both sites credited the Mayor's Office with the energy that put this particular healing process into motion.  The Mayor's Office was unable to be reached for comment for this article. 

Just like the rest of the country, minor leagues are ready to show American pride.  In true minor league fashion it will be solid, and without much fan-fare.  The appreciation of pride and support from fans in minor league communities is  truly major league.