Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

Rafael Soriano, coming off a season where he converted 42 of 46 save opportunities, opted out of his contract with the Yankees today. Does that upstretched finger mean he's the number-one reliever on the free agent market? With Scott Boras representing him, do you think he'll get a contract for four years and $60-million? Or even come close? That's what Yankees president Randy Levine hinted to reporters. Is any reliever not named Rivera worth that kind of money? Please share your comment.

Pablo Sandoval took home the MVP trophy... But the Giants' World Series sweep -- just like 1954, when they knocked off the Indians -- was a team effort. Hats off to skipper Bruce Bochy and a well-balanced team that never quit. Here's Sadoval's career record, from baseball-reference.com .

The first player ever in World Series history to homer his first three times up in a game, here's some more (vintage Spring Training 2010) Pablo Sandoval. And below, a "second star" to the resurgent Barry Zito, who went the first 5-2/3 innings in the Giants 8 - 3 opening game victory over the Tigers.

...are heading back to the World Series for the second time in three years. That's Pablo Sandoval, a/k/a Kung Fu Panda. His Giants, once down three games to one, capped their stunning rally by blanking the Cardinals 7 - 0 last night to win the National League Championship Series. (Teammate Marco Scutaro was named series MVP.) I really need to get to AT&T Park, which earns nearly as many raves as Camden Yards among baseball's generation of neo-retro stadia. This picture came from a 2009 game in Philadelphia.

Turning 39 today, I had to spotlight Ichiro: these vivid images are from a late September Yankees game against Oakland. Above, he gets out of the way of a some high-and-tight heat. Below, he's flying around the bases, after smacking a double. Here's some food for thought: while it's generally agreed that Ernie Banks is the best player who never appeared in the World Series, does Ichiro also belong in that same discussion?

Andruw Jones made baseball history: the 19-year old Braves rookie becomes the youngest player ever to hit a home run in the World Series. He did it not once, but twice in Atlanta's 12 - 1 pounding of the Yankees. Ironically, the Yanks went on to win that series in six games. And Jones has spent the last two seasons of his career playing in the Bronx! Ironically, Jones' heroics came on the birthday of the man who previously held the record -- Mickey Mantle, who who was just shy of his 21st birthday when he homered against the Dodgers in 1952.

Jim Leyland -- seen here at a Grapefruit League game in 2011 -- has shepherded his Tigers back to the World Series after sweeping, dare I say I crushing the Yankees four-straight. Now, his hard-hitting, tough-pitching squad gets almost a week off as they await the Cardinals-Giants NL winner. You know Detroit's big name stars: Cabrera, Verlander and Fielder. But the man in the dugout -- or in Spring Training, just outside it -- deserves his due for pushing his club past the White Sox in the division, surviving a tough Division Series with Oakland before steamrolling the Boys from the Bronx.

The last thing anyone expected to see at Yankee Stadium was Derek Jeter not get up after making a diving stop on Jhonny Peralta's hard-hit ball in the 12th inning. After all, this was the Captain, the glue that's held the team together for the past 17 seasons. Especially in the opener of the 2012 ALCS, where again Raul Ibanez had rescued the team with another 9th inning home run to cap an improbable 4-run rally. Apparently, there's a limit to such a thing as Yankee Stadium magic. Scoring opportunities in the 10th and 11th innings fizzled. And then, Detroit rallied to take the lead in the 12th -- but then real disaster. Jeter, making the kind of agile play fans had seen hundreds of time, came down awkwardly on his left ankle and screamed. This time, we didn't see a bruised and battered #2 shake off the pain. Instead, he had to be carried off the field. And in his 159th post-season game -- one where earlier, he'd become the first player ever to reach 200 hits during...

These two guys delivered the big hits as the Yankees eliminated the stubborn Orioles in game five: Raul Ibanez (#27) opened the scoring with a 5th inning RBI single and Curtis Granderson (in the cage) homered in the 7th inning. Combined with the nine-strikeout complete game effort of CC Sabathia -- who became the first Yankee with a post-season complete game since Roger Clemens in 2000 -- New York moves on to face Detroit in the ALCS.

While I've followed the Yankees-Orioles series most closely, another, possibly even more remarkable rebound occurred last night in Washington. The Cardinals, down 6 - 0 after three innings, scratched and clawed and whittled the Nationals lead down, before  shocking the Nationals with four runs in the 9th for 9 - 7 win in the fifth and deciding game of their NLDS series. Here's the box score and statistics from Baseball-Reference.com . I don't see the Cardinals as often -- they generally come into New York just once a year. This picture came from a Spring Training game back in '07. But on the morning after they shocked the team with the best record in the National League -- at Nationals Park -- the heroics of unsung (and by me, still unphotographed) Pete Kozma and Daniel Descalso deserve some praise in this space.

...delivered Baltimore's biggest hit of the series, so far. 20 year-old rookie 3rd baseman Manny Machado led off top of the 13th inning with a double and came around to score on JJ Hardy's double. That run made the Orioles 2 - 1 winners in ALDS game four and forced the series to a winner-take-all game later this afternoon.

As Yankees radio voice John Sterling loves to note, when you go to a baseball game, there's a chance you might see something you've never seen before. That happened last night, when Raul Ibanez homered to tie the Yankees - Orioles playoff game in the bottom of the 9th inning -- and then won it when it was his turn to bat leading off the 12th. No player in the history of post-season baseball, reaching back to 1903, had ever tied and won a game with two home runs in the 9th inning or later! As the night's unexpected hero -- keep him mind, he entered the game in the 9th to pinch hit for a slumping Alex Rodriguez -- Ibanez knew he'd soon be greeted at home plate by his delirious teammates. After all, Raul had brought the Yankees to withing one win of reaching the American League Championship Series! What a thrill to see it all from section 324!

The last time my friends and I were at Camden Yards, in August 2007, the rain began mid-way through batting practice and the game never began. Now with the Orioles a day away from hosting the Yankees in game one of the ALDS, let's hope the weatherman deals a better hand to the ballplayers than we got on a stormy summer night five years ago.

Congratulations to Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, who became baseball's first Triple Crown winner since 1967. This season, he led the AL with 44 home rubs, 130 RBIs and batting average (.330) -- an MVP-worthy year as he helped Detroit win the Central Division. One thing more about Cabrera, who's been one of baseball's best hitters since arriving with the 2003 champion Marlins as a 19-year-old rookie -- every player who has won the Triple Crown since 1900, including such hallowed names as Mickey Mantle, Frank Robinson, Carl Yastrzemki, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig and Ty Cobb -- has gone onto be inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame. No doubt, Cabrera is a big factor in the Tigers finishing first in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1934-'35. Here's a list of previous Triple Crown Winners from baseball-reference.com .

Raul Ibanez has been clutch for the Yankees this season -- 10 of his 19 home runs have either tied a game or put the team ahead in a game. Last night, the 40 year old bailed out the Bronx Bombers again -- his 9th inning pinch homer tied it up with Red Sox. And his "seeing eye" single three innings later drove in the winning run. The Yankees escaped with a 4-3 victory and held onto their slim AL East lead over the Orioles entering the final day of the regular season.

Congratulations to the Oakland A's, who clinched a post-season berth with last night's win over the Texas Rangers. They're back in the post-season for the first time in 2006. Their 1991 Media Guide, with a cover celebrating classic moments in club history, dating all the way back to its roots in Philadelphia, ranks with one of the most attractive ever published.

October 1st, 1973 -- the Mets clinch their second NL East title in four years, defeating the Cubs 6 - 4 at Wrigley Field. Tom Seaver got the win, while Tug McGraw worked the last three innings (in which only one Chicago player hit the ball out of the infield) to earn the save.