The Heckler

By Tim Ferguson

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – “Time for a rally Chiefs, he can’t pitch!  Swing and a miss, that’s right you are out of here,” Syracuse Chiefs Heckler shouts.

            This is one of the first sounds you hear when you take your seat at NBT Bank Stadium in Syracuse.  Lloyd Broadnax, the Chiefs' heckler, is the loudest supporter of the home town team.  He doesn’t sit in a luxury suite, or behind home plate.  Section 205, near the visitors’ dugout, is his domain.

NBT Bank Stadium is filled with the echoes of his voice from literally every location in the ball park.  Whether you are in the press box trying to meet your deadline, or eating a hot dog down the third base line, Broadnax seems to travel with your ear.

            Broadnax, 53, says he moved to Central New York from Brooklyn to live with his sister in the early part of last decade following the death of his mother.  He says he could have had a baseball career if addiction and life hardship hadn’t plagued him.  An avid fan of the New York Mets, but living in Syracuse he has adopted the Chiefs as his own over time.  Attending games in Central New York has become his connection for his passion to baseball.

            “Just heckling the other team, getting on the opposing players,” Broadnax said. “That’s the most exciting part of the game for me, yelling and interacting with fans.”

            But, it wasn’t until after the 2003 season that he would get a favorable nod from the Chiefs to be their lead “heckler.”  He was actually called out by some of the Syracuse players for heckling them, instead of the opposing team.  Broadnax realized that it was time for him to direct his taunts toward the visitors instead.

            His enthusiasm for the Chiefs does not provide the perfect ball park experience in his eyes, however.  “I would like to see more fans at the games,” Broadax said. “If we could have more people in the stadium, it would really help me to make the environment more exciting.”

            Broadnax says he travels all around the International League to cities such as Rochester and Scranton, and even the opposing players have developed affection for him.  He says he has established quite a fan base of his own for his efforts. 

“A lot of people come up to me and say I am doing a great job,"he said. "Kids tell me I am awesome. I just hear a lot of really good things said about me,”

            Broadnax says he has developed great relationships with some of the current Chiefs.  He has been able participate in a local Chiefs Wiffle Ball clinic, and even threw out a “first pitch” last season as a reward for his support of the team.

            “It has its ups and downs [being a fan of the Chiefs], but I keep it fun,” Broadnax said.  The Chiefs were on their way to a ninth straight win the night we talked with him, but he wasn't taking any specific credit for their success. 

“I just take credit for the moments, like when the first basemen dropped the ball tonight for Lehigh," he said. "Sometimes I think maybe I had something to do with that,”