Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

Another New York baseball fixture from this winter's BAT Dinner, Mets shortstop Bud Harrelson. One of his most famous moments came in the 1973 National League Championship Series, where a day after joking that the Reds (who'd been shutout on two hits by Jon Matlack) hit like he did, Pete Rose knocked him down hard sliding into second base attempting to break up a double play. Moments later, a brawl broke out between both sides -- and the game was in danger of being forfeited before calmer was restored. Several years later, Bud and Pete were teammates in Philadelphia. In fact, Harrelson was the last Phillie to wear #14 before Rose. After Pete signed as a free agent, Bud switched to number-15 for the 1979 season.

Baseball is a game that's been passed down from generation to generation. Most fans picked up the interest from parent. So when former Yankee pitcher Dennis Rasmussen told last month at the BAT Dinner that he'd brought his son to meet his former teammates and friends around the game, it made a perfect image of the night. Who helped fuel your interest in baseball? Did they ever help you land an autograph or create another precious memory that helped bond you with the game? Leave a comment and share your story of the person who helped you become a fan.

I am so glad that I had the chance to meet Jim Bouton at this winter's BAT Dinner in New York. The North Jersey native starred for the Yankees at the end of the Mantle/Berra/Ford dynasty: winning 21 games in 1963 and 18 more in 1964. There's an image of his cap flying off while pitching from the mound in the Bronx. The nickname Bulldog. The uniform number 56. Of course, there was his game-changing book Ball Four -- whose candid, insider's viewpoint broke a lot of old taboos, helped launch him into a career as a local TV sportscaster and changed the sense of what sports books should be.  One more example of his being ahead of the curve (pardon the pun) is Big Leage Chew -- he's one of the developers of the bubblegum product designed to resemble chewing tobacco but without the harmful health risks. You can connect with Jim online through his website . His thoughtful rebelliousness, a sense of marching to the beat of his own drummer made him feel like "one of us....

The Yankees' Grapefruit League season took an unexpected turn Sunday when outfielder Curtis Granderson (who led the team last year with 43 home runs) suffered a broken right forearm. Hit by a J.A. Happ pitch his first time up this spring, "The Grandy Man" -- seen above in last year's playoffs against the Orioles -- will miss 10 weeks. The knocks an even bigger hole in the Yankees power arsenal. A team that lost Raul Ibanez, Russell Martin and Nick Swisher to free agency and Alex Rodriguez to hip surgery now sees its best remaining long-ball threat go on the shelf until early May!

Doesn't that sound like the most romantic town in baseball? It's 2009 at the Astros spring training home, Osceola County Stadium. Perfect sky and a close-in view as the Astros welcome the Yankees. And below, Houston honors its trips to the post-season.

We're at Bright House Field in Clearwater: a Phillies tradition since the 1970s has been wearing green uniforms on Saint Patrick's Day -- and then auctioning them off after the game for charity. And in 2009, the Reds picked up the spirit by adding green caps to go with their typical pre-season red shirts. Luck of the Irish, perhaps? But those green shirts have also been a good sale at souvenir stands both in Florida and Philadelphia.

Peoria Stadium, the pre-season home of Padres and Mariners. On March 11th, 2010, we're watching the Cubs stretch before their game with San Diego. The managers (Lou Piniella and Bud Black) and the umpires have their pre-game chat.

Dodgertown was the onetime Vero Beach military base Walter O'Malley bought in the late-1940s to give his club the first campus-style training facility -- and to avoid the segregationist restrictions that forced other teams training in Florida to board their black and white players separately. It was the Dodgers' springtime home for 60 years. Befitting a club that honors its tradition, the street signs inside Dodgertown were shout-outs to those who made their mark in Blue. Finally, a rerun of one from my very first post in 2007, and still my favorite ever taken at a night game in any ball park. I've posted other pictures from Holman Field over the years, Click this link and enjoy!

We're at Al Lang Stadium in Saint Petersburg, Florida. Long before spring training facilities became campuses, the Cardinals held much of their practice at the same ballpark they used for games. Maybe a starker contrast was the greater degree of access a humble radio reporter had to the workouts. These were not shot with a zoom lens. These were taken just a few feet from the batting cage. Just a few feet from me, Cardinals coach Red Schoendienst was keeping an eye on his charges, as they round into shape for a season that ended with St. Louis' second pennant of the 1980s If you enjoyed these, click here for another set of St Pete images from the same trip that I posted in 2008.

Back to our Spring Training parks. He're the inviting view as you approach the Tigers spring home in Lakeland, Florida from the parking lot.

For those of us who grew up with the Yankees in the 1940s, '50s or '60s, Mel Allen was was the first baseball voice we remember. And it's great seeing a young fan like this one  learn the impact this son of Alabama and treasure of New York had on the national pastime. Born 100 years ago today on Valentine's Day 1913, the unforgettable Mel Allen.

I visited Scottsdale Stadium in 2010... the weather was surprisingly imperfect (cool and cloudy) by Arizona standards. But the place was packed as fans got a preview of a Giants team that went onto win its first World Series title since moving west.

Continuing our Spring Training theme, we're at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. One of its standout features greets fans as they arrive -- a Florida version of Monument Park, featuring retiring Yankee numbers.

Despite the record-setting snowfall this weekend here in the Northeast, is there any day that gives you a clearer sense that spring is really approaching than when pitchers and catchers report to training camps? Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing some pictures from my March visits over the years to Arizona and Florida. Today, the Royals offices in Surprise, Arizona.

With pitchers and catchers reporting over the next few days, it's a good time for me to get into that spring training mindset. It's March 2011 in Clearwater, as the standing-room only crowd focuses on Phillies ace Roy Halladay as he takes the mound against the Yankees.

One of Citi Field's best features is the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, which welcomes fans who've just passed through the main entrance. Seeing it from the side, the combination of escalators, stairs and metal trim creates an imposing look.

It's rather fitting that the birthdays of Hank Aaron (February 5th) and Babe Ruth (February 6th) are adjacent. Today's images are from Monument Park in the previous Yankee Stadium -- The House That Ruth Built. Here's a trivia quiz to cap our salute to the Bambino: name the player  with the second highest career home run total among those with this birthdate? Finally, a tip-of-the-cap to another iconic American born February 6th with a Baseball connection. Here's Ronald Reagan starring as Grover Cleveland Alexander in the 1952 movie The Winning Team as posted on DorisDay.com . While I haven't found a real-life connection between Ruth and Reagan, "Alex" faced the Babe in the 1926 World Series -- walking him with two outs in the bottom of the 9th inning, just before the Babe was thrown out while trying to steal 2nd base. Of course, during the 1930s, before his movie career, Reagan was a successful sportscaster in Des Moines, Iowa making h...

On Hank Aaron's birthday, here's a look at his display at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown. A man of deep character and abundant talent, his 755 homers will remain "the people's record" in baseball's most beloved statistic. His grace dealing with a not-totally supportive public as he approached and surpassed Babe Ruth's total is etched onto the collective memory of baseball fans. Beloved in Milwaukee as well as Atlanta, this son of the deep south stands as a hero across America. With too many players in the past four decades more into self-promotion or selfish behavior, Aaron's low-key persona and years of consistent performance speak loud and clear.

With the Ravens winning Super Bowl XLVII, it seems fair to post a view of Baltimore's still-terrific ballpark on this morning after the big game. Camden Yards from June 1995.

Happy 90th birthday wishes a day early for Baseball Hall of Famer Red Schoendienst . An icon to both St. Louis and Milwaukee fans, he played alongside Stan Musial on the Cardinals' 1946 World Series champs (after spending his rookie year in '45 as Stan's fill-in in left field) and into the mid-'50s. (Below, receiving a warm greeting as a coach during Spring Training 2005.) Sent to the Giants in one of many ill-conceived trades by GM Frank Lane, Red moved onto the Braves early in 1957, and quickly became the final piece in that club's championship puzzle. After tuberculosis cost him the 1959 season and part of 1960, he returned to St. Louis as a player-coach. Again, he was Stan's teammate -- and again he was a .300 hitter coming off the bench in 1961 and '62. But that wasn't the end of his story: Red succeeded Johnny Keane as Cardinals manager and was the skipper on the 1967 World Champs and '68 NL pennant winners. He had two brief, later stint...