You got a question, you ask the 8-Ball.
So…Will Saturday’s annual Seinfeld Night at the Brooklyn Cyclones minor league baseball game be sold out? Will fans line up outside Maimonides Park in Coney Island hours before first pitch? Will the “Seinfeld” themed bobblehead giveways be listed on eBay for hundreds of dollars?
“All signs point to yes!” as Puddy would say.
That scene from the iconic sitcom will be immortalized by this year’s promotional giveaway at the stadium: with Patrick Warburton, the actor who played Puddy, in attendance for fan meet-and-greets; with one of the two bobblehead giveaways depicting his character in his 8-ball jacket; and with many fans in attendance wearing that famous multi-colored leather coat.
All fans in attendance at what will be the tenth iteration of the event since it began in 2014 will also receive “The Kramer” painting bobblehead — which on the eve of the game was already listed for presale on eBay for as much as $120.
“Tickets for the game are on StubHub and SeatGeek, which is not a normal thing for a minor league baseball team,” Billy Harner, the Cyclones assistant general manager who first came up with the idea of Seinfeld Night, told NBC Local in 2023. “That’s because it’s Seinfeld from start to finish.”
Actual baseball will of course be played as the Cyclones, a High-A affiliate of the New York Mets, take on the Jersey Shore BlueClaws.
There will be Seinfeld-themed contests before, during and after the game. That includes the grand finale known as the Elaine Dancing Contest where participants recreate Elaine Benes’ infamous “little kicks” dance routine that’s “more like a full-body dry heave set to music.”
Fans recreate Elaine Benes’ infamous “little kicks” dance while competing in the Elaine Dancing Contest at Seinfeld Night in Brooklyn. Courtesy: Brooklyn Cyclones
There will be fans wearing puffy shirts and red-dotted sweaters, foul poles renamed Festivus Poles, and menu offerings like Beef-a-rino, a big salad and chocolate babka.
“It’s basically a Seinfeld fan convention with a baseball game in the background,” Harner said.
Harner grew up in Brooklyn watching “Seinfeld” every Thursday night on NBC with his father. In 2014 as the team’s director of communications, he was brainstorming with staff for the Cyclones’ upcoming promotional schedule and read in the New Year’s Day edition of Newsday that the 25-year anniversary of the show’s premiere would take place on July 5.
He came up with an idea that worked out far better than Kramer’s plan to open a pizza place where you make your own pie.
“The two or three of us that had seen the show looked at each other and were like, ‘We have to do this!’” Harner said.
When news broke of the first Seinfeld Night in Brooklyn, and the Keith Hernandez “Magic Loogie” bobblehead giveaway, the Cyclones’ website crashed. Word had quickly spread from WFAN to ESPN to Del Boca Vista.
“The story appeared on the local news in all 50 states,” Harner said. “One of those media tracking services said we got the equivalent of three Super Bowl commercials of exposure.”
Fans, he said, came to the game from 26 different states and seven different countries. One who traveled from Winnipeg slept in his rental car in the stadium’s parking lot so he could be first in line on gameday the next morning. He then overslept like Jean-Paul and was second in line.
“I thought that was very appropriate for Seinfeld Night,” Harner said.
The event has evolved and grown in popularity, with tickets now harder to get than a house to rent in Tuscany. Contests have included the Junior Mint toss (It’s a small mint!), the run around the bases where anybody named Jerry gets a head start (I choose not to run!) and a race to eat a Snickers bar the fastest with a knife and fork (How do you eat it? With your hands?).
“It’s gotten to the point where people plan their summer and trips to New York just to be here for this,” Harner said.
There have been cast member appearances by the actors who portrayed Soup Nazi, J. Peterman, Kenny Bania, Jean Paul, Mr. Lippman, Lloyd Braun, Bizarro Jerry/Kevin and Jackie Chiles.
“When we had Jackie Chiles here, it was like we had the Beatles for Seinfeld fans,” Harner said.
The dream is that one of the big four – Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer – will one day show up at Seinfeld Night in Brooklyn.
“This has sort of become what we’re known for,” Harner said. “It puts a little pressure on us to try to top ourselves each year. But it’s a really cool night because there’s so many people in the ballpark that love the show.”
And so many people wearing 8-ball jackets.
Editor’s note: The original version of this story was published in 2023 and has been updated.
