Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

Opening day, not opening night. Actually, if you grew up anywhere outside of Cincinnati and Washington, opening day was really the second day of the season. Now, between overseas openers (Australia this year, Japan, a few years ago) and the Sunday night ESPN opener, the unique, almost holiday feeling has been watered down. I know and accept that TV, especially network TV, pays a lot of the bills. But the nostalgia for an old-time opening day tugs at many of us lifelong fans. How many opening days (or nights) have you attended? Here's how it looked (from the upper deck) at Shea Stadium when the Mets and Expos -- in their very first game -- kicked it off in April 1969. Weather was typically early April: a sunny and cool start, before a front crossed the city, whipping up winds, some light rain and a sharp drop in temperature. It was also a time before massive video screens; music was Jane Jarvis at the Thomas organ. Mister Met was on the cover of your scorecard but had yet to beco...

The talent and confidence exuded during spring training by Masahiro Tanaka was, at times, striking. He capped it Friday night with 10 strikeouts in a six-inning outing against the Marlins. To no one's surprise, yesterday, he was named the James P Dawson Award winner for 2014. Named for a fabled New York Times sportswriter, it's voted by the local media corps to the most impressive rookie in Yankees camp. Such notable Yankees as Tony Kubek, Tom Tresh, Roy White, Willie Randolph, Don Mattingly and Jorge Posada have won it since the Dawson award was established in 1956. So did a first-year major leaguer named Hideki Matsui. But so have such forgotten flashes-in-the-pan as Johnny James, Gordon Windhorn, George Zeber, Mike Humphries and Eric Duncan. And some years, February and March performance isn't a measure of future greatness. Note how such beloved Bronx names as Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Bernie Williams, Mariano Rivera, Bobby Murcer, Thurman Munson and Mel Stottlemyr...

The Tigers' Miguel Cabrera certainly belongs in the conversation over who is the best, or most feared player in baseball. Back-to-back MVP awards and three straight AL batting titles will do that. So will becoming the first player to win a Triple Crown since Carl Yastrzemski. In a game that pays its superstars well -- especially in a year it doubles its national TV revenues -- there's little surprise that salaries for for its top stars are rising. But there was a collective shock Friday when Cabrera, with two more guaranteed years left on his current contract, signed an extension that guarantees him at least $292 million for the next 10 years. Big money for your best talent? Of course. But to guarantee that kind of money when a player will be 40 just seems absurd. Pay him now, overpay him at 34? Expected. But at 38 and 40, when the aging process and normal wear-and-tear will render him far less productive? I don't see the logic for that -- no matter how good Cabrera is t...

Starling Marte is the latest of the Pirates' rising young stars to sign a lucrative long-term deal. Coming off his first full season in the majors where he batted .275 with a dozen homers and 41 stolen bases, he's part of a core that also includes Andrew McCutcheon, pitcher Charlie Morton and second baseman Neil Walker that helped the Pirates end two-decade-long absence from the playoffs. Are the Pirates doing it right, locking in their young players, even before they're eligible for arbitration, to long-term contracts? We'll see over the next few years. But with a sparkling ballpark and renewed regional interest in the team, ownership seems eager to avoid what happened in the early 1990s, when an exodus of talent turned the Pirates into one of the game's weaklings.

      If March 27th is your birthday, you're in very good company. You share the day with two of baseball's brightest young stars -- Mets ace Matt Harvey and Giants catcher Buster Posey. It took just a year-and-a-half for Harvey (left) to establish himself among the game's elite starters. Several times last season, en route to starting the All Star Game, he carried a no-hitter late into the game, as was the case on May 7th when he faced the White Sox. More than talent, fans and the media were taken by his brash attitude -- something the Mets have lacked. And while he'll miss most (probably, all) of 2014 rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, he's the biggest reason Mets fans have the sense that better days are ahead for the club. Posey (below) has already overcome a serious injury -- making it all the way back from a broken leg and torn ankle ligaments from a 2011 home plate collision with the Marlins' Scott Cousins. The next season, he led the NL in hit...

Back on March 3rd, when Joe Namath threw out the ceremonial first pitch, he also joined the pre-game meeting with the umpires and managers. There's Broadway Joe, in the number-12 he made famous as a Jet, alongside Joe Girardi (28) and across from Washington skipper Matt Williams (in the red uniform).

I saw a press release yesterday announcing that Joe Pepitone's life story will soon be made into a movie. To be honest, if you'd asked which 1960s baseball figure might make a good subject for a film, maybe you'd first think of Sandy Koufax, who dominated baseball for five years before a sore elbow forced his retirement at age 30. Perhaps the intimidating Bob Gibson, the heart and soul of three Cardinal pennant winners and two World Series champion, comes to mind. Or Tom Seaver, who changed the mindset and attitude of the Mets and in just his third season, let them to an improbable World Series title. But Pepitone, the Yankee bad boy, the party animal who never lived up to his promise? I have to admit I'm a little skeptical. Visions of a bad cross of Major League and  The Sopranos  come to mind. OK, I'm deeply skeptical. The film will be based on Pepitone's long out-of-print memoir, Joe, You Coulda Made Us Proud, first published in 1975.

I got a good up-close look at the Blue Jays 3rd baseman when they hosted the Pirates in Dunedin. The 24 year-old has shown flashes of power in his first two seasons and may be on the verge of forming a middle-of-the-batting-order slugging trio with teammates Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. Already the highest-drafted Canadian player ever, the British Columbia productive might be the best native of his country to come into the majors since longtime Expos and Rockies star Larry Walker. Entering his mid-20s, this might be the year Lawrie reaches stardom and the Jays battle their way back toward contender status. (If you notice a vague mesh pattern, that's because I took the shot through the protective fencing that tops the dugouts at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium.)

Vance Worley looked like he was on his way to stardom in 2011, when in his first full season, he went 11 - 3 for the Phillies. A 6 - 9 record the next year led to being included in the trade with the Twins that brought back speedster Ben Revere. But the downhill trend continued. After just one win in 2013, and some awful numbers this spring, Minnesota outrighted him to the minors on Friday, removing him from the 40-man roster -- a strong indication that they don't expect him to recapture his early career form.

...you share it with the gentleman to the left, Tommy Davis. A Brooklyn native who signed with the Dodgers out of high school, he teamed with Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Willie Davis, Maury Wills, Ron Fairly and John Roseboro, on L.A.'s winning teams of the early and mid-'60s. Click on this link -- and take not of Davis' amazing 1962 season, where he led the National League with a .346 average, a remarkable 230 hits and drove in 153 runs. Yet that was only good for 3rd in the voting for National League MVP -- as Wills, with his unprecedented 104 stolen bases, took the award. I snapped Tommy along with fellow Dodger alum Joe Pignatano and then-Dodger Talk host Ken Levine at the celebration of the team's 50th anniversary on the west coast in 2008.

Tony Gwynn Junior has been a pleasant surprise for the Phillies during Grapefruit League play and is now a strong contender for a bench role on the club. The son and namesake of the Padres Hall of Famer was a 2nd round draft pick by the Brewers in 2003. His first major league hit came on July 19th, 2006 -- exactly 24 years to the day after his father's first big league hit -- both were doubles. But he's never approached stardom, let alone his father's place among the all time greats, in a career that also includes time with the Padres and Dodgers. It's tough being the son of someone famous -- ask his teammate John Mayberry Junior or his general manager Ruben Amaro Junior. Thinking about it, how often is the namesake child as successful as the parent? Look at how Pete Rose Junior struggled. Or in music, Frank Sinatra Junior. Carrying a famous name only increases the challenge.

Battling back from a season lost to injury, Derek Jeter rounds 1st base after singling to left field -- his first Grapefruit League hit of 2014. It was his first of two hits against the Phillies on March 6th at Clearwater

It's been a rough spring for pitchers, with standouts such as the Braves' Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy and the Diamondbacks Patrick Corbin suffering elbow injuries. All will soon undergo Tommy John Surgery, ending their seasons before they officially begin. Add another valuable arm to that list: Jarrod Parker, who'd won a total of 25 games over the last two seasons. Word came down Tuesday that he'll so undergo the same procedure. The elbow plague isn't just confined to pitchers. Twins slugging prospect Miguel Sano, who'd impressed last summer while playing at Double-A New Britain, also recently needed the same surgery. The year-long recovery process isn't easy, but generally gets the players back to where they were before becoming hurt. But it does appear we're seeing more of these elbow ligament injuries in 2014, especially early in the year.

When I saw Zach Walters in the Nationals/Yankees exhibition game, I recognized him as one of Washington's top prospects on last summer's Syracuse Chiefs club. He enjoyed a breakthrough year with 29 home runs, his best minor league season yet. The switch-hitting infielder is blocked for now by Adam LaRoche and Ryan Zimmerman as Washington's corners. But LaRoche turning 35 this fall, coming off a down season and entering the final year of his contract, Walters could be arriving in the capital for keeps by 2015.

I love the way the light, the color and the action all come together in this image. Ryan Howard of the Phillies batting against the Blue Jays' R.A. Dickey at Clearwater back on March 4th. The palm trees beyond left field look almost unreal.

You might recognize Yankee outfielder Brett Gardner by his high socks, or high intensity swing. If you don't, just check the massive HD video board at Steinbrenner Field. It's on par with many of you'll see in major league ballparks.

The Pirates broke a long playoff drought in 2013, returning to the post-season for the first time since their early '90s teams led Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla. Now the black-and-gold has its swagger back. Let's be honest, their uniforms make them look intimidating. Above, backup outfielder Travis Snider; below, backup catcher (and former Boston College standout) Tony Sanchez. Sanchez made his big-league debut in 2013. He'd first caught my eye a few years ago while playing for AA Altoona. Below, something you see often early in spring training: members of the visiting team leaving for an early bus back to camp. Without the underground passageways you have in major league parks, they just walk out alongside the stands.

Scott Hairston, seen here against the Yankees in Tampa, will carry the banner for baseball's most prolific family in 2014. The grandson of Sam Hairston, a Negro league catcher who, in 1951, became the first African American to play for the White Sox, his father Jerry enjoyed a long major league career and his uncle John, a brief one. He and his brother Jerry Junior not only made the Hairstons one of three three-generation major league families. But with five members having played in the majors, the largest ("only" four Bells and Boones have made it to MLB). And there could well be a fourth generation of Hairstons in the pipeline. I interviewed Jerry Senior at the 2013 BAT Dinner, who proudly told me of his five grandsons, several of whom show real promise as players. So baseball's biggest family might be growing even bigger!

From Clearwater: Phillies prospect Maikel Franco smacks one down the left field line. But can he will it into landing in fair territory? (The answer proved to be no.)

Now a follower of the Brian Wilson/Mike Napoli school of facial hair, I caught this image of the Blue Jays shortstop last Tuesday night against the Phillies.

Just like in the Bronx, the Yankee grounds crew does the YMCA dance when they drag the infield in the middle of the game. Are you surprised that 35 years after the song's heyday the tradition continues? Below, with 2014 being Derek Jeter's final season, here's one of many ways he's being saluted. Finally, a Steinbrenner Field concession stand using the frieze (the famous Yankee Stadium awning) to create a sense of being back home.

Following a near-monsoon that lasted until noon in the Tampa Bay area, the weather cleared and the Phillies hosted the Yankees yesterday. Of course, the Phanatic was prepared for the occasion. The center of attention was Masahiro Tanaka. The pricey import flashed his impressive splitter but, after getting behind to the Phils' Freddie Galvis, surrendered a booming home run. Overall, three innings, just that one run, another hit and a strikeout against mostly Phillies regulars. Thursday was an important date for two of the Yankees battling back from injury: Derek Jeter (above) got his first two hits of the spring -- including a booming double that split the left- and center-fielders. And (below) Mark Teixeira, cautious about that still-healing wrist, played a solid game in the field, while going 0 for 3 in his Grapefruit League debut.

Say hello to the Toronto Blue Jays mascot. Ace came out to entertain our section behind the 3rd base dugout during yesterday's Blue Jays/Pirates exhibition game in Dunedin. This was my favorite shot -- a display of "attitude," the kind of toughness Toronto hopes to see in its ballclub. But no sign of the dancing and comedic miming that make the Phillie Phanatic so great. Florida Auto Exchange Stadium is a throwback, a smaller, no-frills facility similar in size and design to the typical 1970s or '80s Florida ballpark. Its design is from the same school as (the now unused) Fort Lauderdale Stadium. Fans are close to the field -- so close that screening has been erected on top of the dugouts to shield fans from foul balls and thrown bats (sorry I didn't capture the Louisville Slugger that flew towards us, but was deflected away). You'll notice the netting more clearly in the photo below. In a time when many Spring Training parks feature tiki bars,...

From Bright House Field in Clearwater: (above) Something you only see during the pre-season, as manager Ryne Sandberg and his lieutenants watch their Phillies play the Blue Jays while seated just outside the dugout. (below) The Phanatic needed to get away from the cold northeast weather as well. He's an even larger-than-life character in a smaller Florida ballpark.

What a cool surprise to find Joe Namath throwing out the first pitch to Derek Jeter before yesterday's Yankees-Nationals game at Steinbrenner Field. Afteward, a handshake and a friendly walk off the field.

...it must be Spring Training in Florida. From March 2007, it's the Orioles hosting the Red Sox in Fort Lauderdale. Of course, from the early '60s through the early '90s, it was the pre-season home of the Yankees. So if that grandstand or scoreboard look a bit familiar, that's why.

Just outside Steinbrenner Field in Tampa is a outdoor counterpart to Yankee Stadium's famous Monument Park. The Florida version serves as a plaza greeting fans as they arrive at the park's main entrance. Yankee retired numbers are displayed along with replicas of their plaques from the Bronx. Let's zoom in on Joe DiMaggio, whose spot comes with a second sign, bearing the legendary center fielder's famed motto, "I want to thank the Good Lord for making me a Yankee."