Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

September 30th, 1966 ... At Comiskey Park in Chicago, Roger Maris belts a two-run pinch homer in the top of the 9th inning off Hoyt Wilhelm to give the Yankees a 5-4 lead -- but the Sox come back to tie it in the bottom half and win the game in 11, 6- 5. It was Roger's 203rd and final home run in a Yankee uniform. We've had a bunch of noteworthy rock and roll anniversaries this year: The Beatles final concert. The Monkees debut on TV. The Beach Boys release of Pet Sounds . But 1966 isn't a year Yankee fans want to remember. The dynasty was over -- the club finished last for the first time since 1912. Mantle and Maris, our "rock stars," were just shadows of their former glory; Whitey Ford won just two games. This was the year the Orioles won their first championship, while across town, the Mets didn't finish last -- while the Yanks did. It would be another 10 years before the Yankees would again be a first place team.

  Mark Teixeria had perhaps his final vintage Yankee moment on Wednesday night. Batting with the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the 9th with the Yanks down 3 - 1, he crushed a Joe Kelly pitch for a walk off grand slam. His 15th home run of the season and #409 of his career was his 12th grand slam. Teixeira announced weeks ago that he would retire a the end of the season. So unloading as he did -- especially against the arch-rival Red Sox -- had to taste especially sweet. And winning as they did also kept Boston from celebrating on their turf. Boston had clinched the AL East title minutes earlier. How rare was ending a game that way? It had been nine-and-a-half years, April 2007, when Alex Rodriguez had the Yankees previous walk off grand slam. (This image of Tex came from the Yankees-Twins game on June 25th.)

Tyler Austin hasn't drawn much attention since joining the Yankees early in August. And certainly not with the way fellow rookie Gary Sanchez has been playing. After being part of that historic back-to-back home run tandem with Aaron Judge in their first at-bats, Austin hit inconsistently and played less often. Back in the lineup Tuesday night, he'd already contributed a pair of singles when hecame to bat in the bottom of the 7th. He made it a three-for-three night with a two-run homer off David Price to give the Yanks their winning margin, 6-4. But I can't ignore Sanchez, who got the Baby Bombers off to a fast starr with a two-run 1st inning blast off Price. And it claimed another piece of history. In his 51st big league game, Sanchez matched Wally Berger in 1930 as the fastest ever to reach 20 homers.    These images of Austin and Sanchez are from the Yankees-Dodgers game on September 12th.

A day after the awful news on Jose Fernandez, the Marlins had to return to the playing field. Channeling emotions a professional athlete could only dread, Dee Gordon led off the bottom of the 1st inning wearing Jose's batting helmet and taking the pitch righthanded. What a brilliantly symbolic gesture! Gordon then returned to the batter's box, wearing his own helmet. And the speedy, skinny 2nd baseman then slammed Bartolo Colon's next pitch high into the right field stands -- his first homer of the season, hit in memory of his friend and teammate. It was Miami's night -- and the first of Gordon's four hits -- as they handled the Wild Card-contending Mets 7 - 3. A brief aside for Yankee fans, did you sense a parallel to the game played the night after Thurman Munson's funeral, the one where his close friend Bobby Murcer drove in the winning run?

One never expects to read the headline that crashed our Sunday mornings -- Miami Marlins ace Jose Fernandez killed in a boating accident. Unthinkable. Just 24, and one of baseball's brightest young stars. Already the ace of a team on the rise; the right player in the right place. A Cuban emigree who left his country at age 15, coming of age in Florida, a 1st round draft choice who made it to majors in 2013 and immediately excelled. A Rookie of the Year and National League strikeout leader who made it all the way back from Tommy John surgery during his second season. A transcendant player, comfortable with two languages and cultures, a cornerstone of a team that contended for a playoff team most of this season. And marketable! Not a lot of 24 year olds are pitching products nationally -- but Jose had already established himself as the face and voice of Five Hour Energy products. You can look up his statistics -- his excellence on the field. But this is not the time to num...

 Here's some late summer, late afternoon sunshine from Fenway Park. It's September 2nd, 2015, about an hour before the Red Sox hosting the Yankees in a 4pm start. Look at that deep blue sky... Yankee blue, perhaps?  They brought their batting shoes this day, exploding off the last place Sox for eight 2nd inning runs, en route to a 13-8 victory . Starting at 4 means the late afternoon shadows arrive early (thanks, Yogi!). Notice how far they extend over the field in just the 2nd inning.

Troy Tulowitzki swung Friday night's big bat for the Blue Jays. How big? His pair of two-RBI singles -- beginning with one in the bottom of the 1st inning giving his team a fast start -- powered Toronto to a 9-0 win over the again-reeling Yankees.  I don't think I've featured Tulo in this space since he was traded by to the Jays during the 2015 season. That 4-RBI performance gave me all the reasons I needed. These images of Tulowitzki are from the Blue Jays' September 7th game at Yankee Stadium. But Tulo needs to share this post with Coco Crisp , who also delivered a two-hit, four-RBI effort. His came in the Indians 10-4 win over the White Sox: the first hit gave Cleveland the lead, while the second closed out the scoring. After struggling since being traded from the A's, this was Crisp's biggest night in his second go-round with the Tribe. (He played his first major league seasons in Cleveland, before being traded to the Red Sox.) Tulo and Coco -- fo...

...from the jaws of defeat. What other way to describe last night's Mets - Phillies marathon? Like an old-fashioned heavyweight boxing match, it went back and forth, one contender dropped to the canvas, only to rise again, sustain more punches -- and deliver more punches. Let the newspapers or websites serve up the juicy details, I was fortunate enough to capture it on my Canons. Trailing 8-6 in the bottom of the 11th, Mets shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera crushes a Edubray Ramos pitch and plants it in the right field seats. In a flash, a team in danger of spiralling out of the Wild Card picture -- down by two, and having been swept the previous three nights by the Braves -- gets off the canvas, and stands once again. One of the team's emotional leaders, who besides his solid play at shortstop, is known for tossing away teammates' helmets when they reach the dugout after home runs, Cabrera is celebrated by the rest of the Mets as he reaches home plate.  In a season -- ...

Gary Sanchez continued to impress Wednesday night. Forget "impress," how about mesmerize? The Yankees rookie catcher homered for the fourth straight game, clearing the Tropicana Field fences twice  -- giving him 19 in 45 games -- as the Yankees hammered the Rays 11-5 to keep their Wild Card hopes alive. And Sanchez continues to be the story, as he stirs up comparisons with Willie McCovey 's 1959 debut, when in barely over 1/3 of a season, he slugged his way to National League Rookie of the Year honors. Could history be repeating itself 57 years later?

It's September 21st, 2008, as the Yankees rang down the curtain on the original Yankee Stadium with a 7 - 3 victory over the Orioles. My good friend Bryan Nazario was on hand for the final game and captured three impressive images of the House That Ruth Built that begin this page. That's Andy Pettitte on the mound facing Baltimore with Alex Rodriguez playing 3rd base. Below, the entire Yankee team joined together after the game for a closing ceremony featuring comments by the Captain, Derek Jeter. Thanks, Bryan... I'll finish up with some Yankees with notable contributions on that historic night. ( The remaining images were all taken at the current Stadium .) Brett Gardner scored the final run, while Mariano Rivera threw the final pitch to end 84 years of baseball on the southwest corner of River Avenue and 161st Street in the Bronx. A couple more famous "lasts": Andy Pettitte was winning pitcher. And fittingly, Derek Jeter was the fin...

A couple of glimpses of Julio Urias. The 20 year old Dodgers rookie does a good job working over that Dubble Bubble during the September 13th game at Yankee Stadium.

Saturday night, Curtis Granderson was not only the Mets offensive star in a crucual victory over the Twins -- but also achieved a "famous first" in franchise history. He became the first Met ever to hit extra inning home runs that, first, tied the game; and then won it. With the club down 2-1 in the bottom of the 11th, he connected off Minnesota's Brandon Kintzler. An inning later, with the score still tied, he homered again off Ryan O'Rourke for a 3-2 victory -- the Mets 10th win in their last 13 games, as they firm their grip on a Wild Card spot. Granderson has struggled much of this season. His batting average still hovers around .220; it appears he never drives unless he homers. But recently, his bat has warmed up and on Saturday, his timing couldn't hve been better. Curtis' 2016 struggles -- and late season success -- seem to parallel those in 1983 of Hall of Famer Joe Morgan  (who, in a cool coincidence has a birthday today). That year, he caught fi...

 You don't really mind the tall patron sitting in front of you?

Bartolo Colon continues to have head-scratching success for the Mets. The 43 year old with Ralph Kramden's body threw seven shutout innings Friday night, striking out six and holding the Twins to just three hits and two walks as the Mets blanked Minnesota 3-0 Yes, he's really nicknamed "Big Sexy" -- and despite being the oldest player in the majors, he's still amazingly effective. He's 14-7 on the season as the Mets continue to hold onto one of the NL wild card spots. Matt Harvey is on the shelf for the year, while Steven Matz and Jacob De Grom remain question marks with tender arms. And Colon, like the Energizer Bunny, just keeps going and going and going...

Congratulations to the Chicago Cubs, who became the first club to clinch a division title in 2016. Led by slugging stars Anthony Rizzo (above) and Kris Bryant (below), the guys from Wrigley got off to a blazing start -- winning 8 of their first 9 games, and 27 of their first 36 -- and have led the NL Central wire-to-wire. Of course, they were also picked by many to return to the playoffs. So it's no shock -- except perhaps the way they ran and hid from division rivals Pittsburgh and St. Louis. The bigger challenge is yet to come for manager Joe Maddon and his crew -- to get back to the World Series for the first time in 71 years and end the 108-year drought without a championship. Expect to see a lot of these faces as well as historic Wrigley Field over the next six weeks.

Al Lang Stadium, St. Petersburg in March 1985: the Cardinals and Mets were still sharing the ballpark. While the Mets worked out at nearby Huggins-Stengel Field, the Cards ran their drills at the Stadium itself. A much more low keyed atmosphere, when (credentialed) radio reporters could get close to the action. Below, that's Cardinals Hall of Famer Red Schoendienst eyeing the players during batting practice.

I got a good look at Clayton Kershaw Monday night in the Dodgers dugout. These are lighthearted moments, snapped on an off-day between starts. This afternnon, he'll be all business when he takes the mound against the Yankees in the rubber game of their interleague series. It's been a frustrating year for one of baseball's two or three best pitchers. Superb as always -- he carries an 11-3 record with an under-2 ERA into the game -- he's missed considerable time with a herniated disc in his back and was sidelined from late June until recently. He returned to action last Friday but only worked three innings. Now, with just 2-1/2 weeks left in the season, the NL West-leading Dodgers need their ace if they hope to get past the Cubs, Nationals and maybe the Giants and Mets and reach the World Series for the first time in 28 years.

After 10-1/2 years in a Phillies uniform, it's still looks awkward to see Carlos Ruiz in Dodger blue. He's appeared in just five games since being traded to L.A. on August 25th. Having been swapped for fellow veteran A.J. Ellis, Ruiz is likely to find himself back in the post-season next month for the first time in five years. If you click this link , you can't help but notice how well Chooch played in both the 2008 and 2009 NLCS and World Series. Clutch performances that likely caught Andrew Friedman's eye as he was fine tuning the Dodger roster for the stretch run.

There's been a change at the souvenier kiosks outside Yankee Stadium. Notice whose jersey is now featured in the top position... it's rookie phenom Gary Sanchez. And (as of last Wednesday) outfielder Aaron Judge is also prominently featured. Sanchez's replica jersey (I know, real Yankee shorts don't have player names on the back) is also getting prominent placement.

Taken October 10th, 2012 at Yankee Stadium