Sports

CYCLONES COUNT ON AUSSIE GAHAN

Even in Australia, the old adage rings true that in baseball, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes it rains.

Less than an hour before the Brooklyn Cyclones were set to host the New Jersey Cardinals in New York-Penn League action last night, the skies over KeySpan Park opened, unleashing a torrential blanket of rain on the field. Players sprinted for cover, away from the rolling thunder and spikes of lightning in the distance.

During rain delays in Australia, Brooklyn pitcher Matt Gahan remembers the card games, the staring out at the rain puddles from the dugout and even the occasional beer in the clubhouse.

For all you Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents out there, Gahan is 25, one of the oldest members of the Cyclones. And he doesn’t need baseball, as the amiable Australian is an accountant by trade back home.

“We have trouble over there,” Gahan said of Americans’ perception that Australians are happy all the time. “It’s not like everything’s fine. But it’s much smaller back there. You have your friends from high school and I guess people are closer because its much smaller scale than here.

“But it’s not like we’re all hopping around on kangaroos.”

Going to play in a small town such as Pittsford or Binghamton would have made for a little easier transition for Gahan, who hails from Agonellaban, New South Wales, Australia, high on the east coast of the country several hours north of Sydney. But now the admitted “Crocodile Hunter” fan, who actually visited Steve Irwin’s zoo back home, is at ground zero of the busiest city in the world.

“Everything’s a bit more fast [in New York],” Gahan said. “There is a bit more bustle than I’m used to, and I would never drive a car here. I can drive, but I wouldn’t want to here. The drivers here are just mad.”

Mets scouts noticed Gahan during an open tryout in Australia last year, where the right-hander’s mid-90 heat and swerving slider got him an invite to extended spring training. So, this summer, the accountant traded his suit and tie for the mound and the ball.

“I remember watching Kirk Gibson hit that home run in the World Series,” Gahan said. “I always wanted to do that and be there. I forgot about that dream to go to college and get my education, and now that I’m here, I would love to play in the majors.

“I never thought I would come over here and be part of the Cyclones,” said Gahan, who developed a love for the Phillies when his dad returned from the States with three caps.

His older brothers got Los Angeles and Oakland hats, and he, with his size 6 head, took the Phillies cap and started following the team. But now, of course, he’s a Mets fan.

“I just want to be part of a winning team,” Gahan said.

For now though, he might want to bust out that Phillies’ cap again.