Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

After spotlighting the St. Louis Browns yesterday, I found images of another team no longer in existence. It's the 2007 Ottawa Lynx in their final season, before the team moved to Pennsylvania and began a very successful run as the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs. Our date is July 19th, 2007. Above, we're about an hour before game time. Below, a just-about-ready for the majors Jon Lester is on the mound for the PawSox, pitching to outfielder  Chris Robertson , who also appeared for the Phillies in parts of the '06 and '07 seasons.

The St. Louis Browns played their final season in 1953, before owner Bill Veeck sold the club to a group that moved it to Baltimore. While not their best pitcher (that was likely future Yankee Don Larsen), their top attraction was the legendary Satchell Paige. His Browns uniform is displayed at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown.

The breaking news story this morning is the story from the MIAMI NEW TIMES connecting such major league stars as Alex Rodriguez, Melky Cabrera, Nelson Cruz and Gio Gonzalez (above) to a South Florida clinic specializing in anti-aging therapies and other somewhat suspicious supplements. Keep in mind, no one has been arrested, suspended or otherwise singled out by the Commissioner's office. But it's another of those revelations that puts too much of baseball's achievers under an even thicker cloud of suspicion.

One of several impressive young pitchers who helped the A's earn the AL West title in 2012, Griffin (seen here before a game at Yankee Stadium last September) turns 25 today. A righthander from the University of San Diego, Griffin posted a 7 - 1 record in 15 starts after being called up in late June.

Mets broadcaster Keith Hernandez shaved off one of baseball's most famous mustaches for charity at the end of last season. At this week's BAT DInner, a month before the first exhibition game telecast, he hasn't grown his back. Will he? Should he? (BTW, that's Cleon Jones to his left, sporting the impressive facial hair.)

For fans who've been wondering what number Kevin Youkilis would wear with the Yankees -- here's your answer. A couple of days ago, I passed the Yankees Universe store in Times Square where the souvenir shirts for the Yankees top off-season acquisition were on display. While he sported #20 as a Red Sox and White Sox player, that number belongs to (and likely will one day be retired for) Jorge Posada. So it was time for a new pair of digits. Unlike other non-retired numbers, where 30 will always represent either Mel Stottlemyre or Willie Randolph, 38 brings to mind Johnny Blanchard and a pre-Granderson 14 symbolizes either Lou Piniella or Moose Skowron, I can't recall a long-tenured Yankee whose name is quickly linked to #36. Maybe the best answer why Youkilis chose it came from my WFAN colleague Dov Kramer, who told me is represents double-chai (2 times 18), the Jewish numerical symbol for life.

A standing ovation capped last night's BAT Dinner in New York that honored Yogi Berra. Teammates Phil Linz and Jim Bouton, current Yankee Joba Chamberlain, Hall of Famer Joe Morgan, Rusty Staub and Ron Swoboda of the Mets and Cookie Rojas were among those on the dais, along with emcees Michael Kay and Len Berman.

With reports out this morning that Cincinnati's Great American Ballpark will host the 2015 All Star Game, it's time to post this image. Last summer, this special sign appeared below the big video board at Citi Field promoting the 2013 game.

2013 marks the Marlins 20th anniversary. Two World Series championships and three dismantlings of powerhouse lineups later, they begin this season with expectations no better than an expansion team. Even after the opening of Marlins Stadium and the rebranding as Miami's team a year ago, there remains a disconnect between South Florida baseball fans and the team. Will the relationship ever warm again?

While browsing through some "golden oldies" I've taken, I went back to my last visit to Veterans Stadium on Labor Day 2003. A couple things about this image grabbed my attention: first Brett Myers was at bat for the Phillies -- he's just signed as a free agent with the Indians. The information is on the screen to the right, and the picture of him at bat is on the left. Take a moment, though. Notice the size of the screens in proportion to the ballpark. They don't overwhelm or dominate your view. Have today's new stadiums (retro or otherwise) gone too far? Compare that to your outfield view at Citizens Bank Park, with its towering video and scoreboard combined with a light structure... ...or Yankee Stadium's wall of video and advertising?

Have you ever sat in the far upper corners of the grandstand, beyond the foul pole? Here's how it looked from the very top of Shea Stadium in New York. Its design, without traditional bleachers or a pavilion, put almost all its seats in four territory. To accommodate a capacity of 55,000, the stadium climbed high, very high. While not quite as high as the old Cleveland Stadium, the height and angle did create an imposing view -- as well as the reality that the action was a long ways off.

For Albert Pujols' birthday, here's an image of him with fellow future Hall of Famer -- and onetime Rookie of the Year -- Derek Jeter. Taken last July at Yankee Stadium.

Last July 25th as the Binghamton Mets visited the New Britain Rock Cats and we're jst a few rows behind the foul screen. Green grass, crisp white uniforms for the home team. We're as close to the action as anyone who isn't in uniform. Is there a nicer sports moment to recall on a chilly winter's morning?

Yesterday, many Connecticut radio colleagues came together at the memorial service for longtime friend and colleague Gary Peters. After the service, several of us gathered for lunch and the chance to swap stories. That gave me the pleasure to spent time with legendary WICC broadcaster Al Warren. When the conversation turned to baseball, I learned he was a devoted Cardinals fan, and has made several visits to spring training over the years. As we wait out the month until pitchers and catchers report, here's a glimpse of a 2005 pre-game meeting for pitchers and catchers at Roger Dean Stadium.

American League club owners approved an experimental trial of the designated hitter on January 11th, 1973. (The vote wasn't unanimous -- it was by an 8-4 margin.) April 6th that year, Ron Blomberg of the Yankees made history as the first DH in a regular season game. 40 years later, that so-called experiment is still going strong. Having first helped extend the career of aging stars such as Tony Oliva, Orlando Cepeda and Harmon Killebrew, it became the path to stardom for Harold Baines, Edgar Martinez and (left) David Ortiz. There's no doubt using the DH has made American League games different -- but  it is a better brand of ball? Do you mind the difference in strategy compared to the DH-less National League? Managers in each league now deploy their bullpens in  somewhat different ways. Now, four decades into the "experiment," is it finally time for both leagues to agree on one set of rules?

Yesterday's announcement that the Baseball Writers of America had, for just the eighth time ever, failed to elect any candidates to the Hall of Fame didn't come as a huge shock, Speculation to that effect had been floating around for weeks. Steroid-tainted stars, and other candidates who failed to convince 75% of the voters that they fit the definition of a Hall of Famer will result in a quieter ceremony this summer. With the three selections from the pre-Integration era all dead more than 70 years and Ford Frick (broadcasters award) honoree Tom Cheek having died in 2005, the lone living recipient will be JG Taylor Spink (sportswriter) recipient, the longtime Philadelphia baseball writer Paul Hagen. His picture and biography will be added to this wall:

110 years ago today, when Frank Farrell and Bill Devery purchase the American League's Baltimore franchise for $18,000 and move the team to Manhattan. As the Highlanders, they were nothing special, playing second fiddle to John McGraw's Giants. But during the mid-1910s, they became the Yankees and under owner Jacob Ruppert, began assembling the players, that once relocated across the river to the Bronx, built baseball's most impressive tradition of excellence. The collection of names and signed balls are from the current Yankee Stadium's museum.

Sometimes a picture reveals more than you'd expect. I took this during batting practice before an A's - Yankees game last September. Some of the people in Monument Park are watching the A's as they warm up on the field. Some of the A's are looking in toward the batting cage. And I'm among those close to home plate looking out at them.

Time does fly -- Alfonso Soriano turns 37 today. We began hearing about him 15 years ago as a highly touted Yankees prospect, before he took over at 2nd base for Chuck Knoblauch in 2001. That fall, he smacked a World Series homer, that if not for the D'backs fluky bottom-of-the-9th rally, would have brought another title to the Bronx. With quick wrists, surprising power and impressive speed, he blossomed into a star in 2002 and '03 before being traded for Alex Rodriguez. His years in Texas, Washington and the Cubs (whom he joined as a pricey 2007 free agent) saw some good numbers. But Soriano never moved up to truly elite status, as one of the best players in the game. And he never had an RBI or scored a run in a pair of NLDS appearances with Chicago. You have to wonder how his career might have evolved had he remained in the Bronx, surrounded by Jeter, Posada, Giambi, and eventually Cano.

Dusty Baker will mark the 45th anniversary of his major league debut with the Braves this coming September. It's been a great baseball life for the Southern California native, who made history on the 1977 Dodgers when he was one of those who made it the first team ever with four players hitting 30 or more home runs. While sabermetricians aren't keen on  his strategies, he's won division titles managing Giants, Cubs and Reds. I snapped this photo during batting practice in June 2012 at Citi Field in New York.

Eduardo Nunez has long been considered the Yankees top infield prospect. But he failed to stick as a utilityman in 2012 because of erratic fielding. With Derek Jeter still healing from surgery for the broken ankle he suffered in last October's ALCS, Nunez will likely see a lot of action early in the season as Jeter rounds back into shape. The realities of time also have to be considered: Nunez turns 26 this June, eleven days before Jeter hits Jack Benny territory.

Just back from a holiday week vacation in upstate New York -- which included the Cooperstown visit I posted about a couple of days ago. I couldn't resist sharing this image of a pair of cardinals perched on a bush. All you'd need is a bat at a 30-degree angle under the birds to properly simulate the St. Louis ballclub's famed logo.