Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider and Roy Campanella played professional baseball in Brooklyn, N.Y. So did Gil Hodges, Pee Wee Reese and Sandy Koufax.

This season, Grant Psomas, 21, a Keystone Oaks High School graduate, is playing pro ball in Brooklyn.

And while it's not with the major-league Dodgers -- who left Brooklyn after the 1957 season for Los Angeles -- it has nonetheless been an interesting experience playing baseball in the 70-square-mile borough of more than 2 million people.

Psomas, a 15th-round draft pick of the New York Mets, is a starting third baseman on the Brooklyn Cyclones of the Class A short-season New York-Penn League. This is the Cyclones' fourth season and the team has been a huge success story, averaging more than 8,000 fans per game and more than 100 percent capacity at KeySpan Park since its inception.

"This is a real neat place to play. You can see Coney Island Amusement Park in back of left field, and the [Atlantic] ocean is in back of right field," said Psomas, who played three years at West Virginia University.

"I really wasn't expecting this many people, this kind of atmosphere. We have great fans. They can get on the other team's back pretty good. I'm just glad I play for the home team. In most ballparks, it's loud at times and quiet at times. Here, it's loud the whole game."

Psomas, 6 feet 3 and 185 pounds, drew the attention of Mets scouts after making loud noises with his bat. He hit .343 (68 for 198) for West Virginia this season and led the team in home runs (nines) and RBIs (45).

Last summer, he led the Pittsburgh Pandas of the wooden-bat Great Lakes Summer College League in batting average at .382 (50 for 131) and was voted by managers as the league's pro prospect of the year. Psomas was one of 62 players in the 11-team Great Lakes League who were selected in the draft a month ago.

This past week Psomas raised his batting average 20 points to .244 (19 for 78) with Brooklyn. He leads the Cyclones (18-10) in walks with 12.

The biggest adjustment he's had to make with Brooklyn is moving from shortstop, the position he played in college, to third base. Psomas has found reaction to be more important than lateral movement at the hot corner.

"Grant's been doing a good job for us," Brooklyn manager Tony Tijerina said. "He has good size, the potential to hit for power. He profiles out as a corner infielder. But he can play shortstop, so he's diversified as a player."

Tijerina said Psomas "will get to the next level" of minor-league ball once he gets more experience.

A Green Tree resident, Psomas is the seventh player who played summer ball with the Pittsburgh Pandas in the past three years to play minor-league baseball for a major-league affiliated team. Others include Brant Colamarino (Oakland Athletics organization), Brad Rea and Josh Sharpless (Pirates) and Matt Dalton (Toronto).

"Grant Psomas isn't a flashy player," said Frank Gilbert, 58, the Pandas' general manager. "But watch him for a week and you see this guy can play the game. Grant understands the game He has the size and ability the pros look for. He has a little pop in his bat and will probably be a double-digit home run hitter as he moves up the ladder."