We have the first staff hire for the new Staten Island Atlantic League team launching in 2022: Gary Perone, most recently assistant GM of the Brooklyn Cyclones (High-A East), is the new GM.
The announcement was made tonight on WABC Radio’s “Cats at Night” on Wednesday by team partners Eric Shuffler and John Catsimatidis.
Perone is a resident of Staten Island and a native of Brooklyn. From silive.com:
Perone, a 48-year-old father of four and former professor of sports management at Long Island University, routinely helped lead the Cyclones to the top of the NY-Penn League’s attendance records each season. He also received numerous awards for his promotional efforts, including Minor League Baseball’s Larry MacPhail Award for promotional excellence.
“I’m excited about having a team back on Staten Island and having that venue is important to the community,” said Perone. “Eric and John are committed to making this work, they’re great people who understand what it takes to make this thing go and we’re going to bring a great brand of professional baseball to Staten Island.
“I’m grateful to the Mets organization, we had a great run of success,” he added. “This opportunity to rebuild and see this happen [on Staten Island] is exciting. It’s a good challenge for myself at this point in my career and I’m excited to be at home in my community…it’s really cool to be a part of this.”
It will be an interesting change for Perone. With the Cyclones, an assistant GM doesn’t need to hire coaches and recruit players in the same way an Atlantic League GM does. And then there’s the issue of relaunching in a market abandoned by MiLB: the new Staten Island owners and local political leaders have a completely different vision of how a ballpark will be part of the community, hosting a wider variety of events.
Next up for the new Staten Island team: the selection of a team name and branding, which is expected in mid-November.
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