Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

After the bullpen implosions, slugging outbursts and general unpredictibility, the World Series heads back to Los Angeles later today. Game six matches the same starting pitchers as game two: Justin Verlander and Rich Hill. The weather will be back to normal: partly sunny with a first pitch temperature (at 5pm local time) around 70. Yes, a taste of late afternoon baseball -- as this most surprising of seasons offers up its last balls, strikes and thrills.

The winning run in Sunday night's wild, wacky and way-too-late game five of the World Series was scored by one of the least-known Astros, Derek Fisher . Tied at 12 in the bottom of the 10th inning, the backup outfielder was driven in by Alex Bregman to end a 5-1/2 hour marathon that had everything but convenience for fans in the eastern half of the country. A reserve outfielder who appeared in just 53 games over the regular season (including July 26th against the Phillies, when I snapped these), Fisher could be accurately tabbed Houston's 25th man. So in an oddball way, it's only fair that he scored the 25th and final run in a game those who saw it will be talking about for years.

...you share it with R.A. Dickey . The knuckleballer reached his peak with the 2012 Mets, where he won 20 games and the NL Cy Young Award. He's since moved onto the Blue Jays and Braves. Like many others who've thrown baseball's most effective trick pitch, his career has continued well past age 40. We'll likely see him pitching somewhere in 2018, when his age matches his Mets uniform number. Dickey shares his birthday with 2017 Atlanta teammate Ender Inciarte  (to the right). The defensively gifted center fielder has hit over .300 in two of the last three seasons -- and is clearly one of the Braves building blocks as they look to return to contender status. Also in our cake and candles crew: Outfielders Will Venable and Karim Garcia. Both showed flashes of promise -- but neither ever became Major League regulars. Garcia is also notable for being in that select circle who've played for the Yankees and Mets .

Alex Bregman  isn't usually one of the Astros headliners. He's not the superb overall player as Jose Altuve is. He doesn't anchor the outfield, as George Springer does. He doesn't bring the pure power of Evan Gattis. But he's another of the young stars on this carefully built collection of mostly young stars. The 2nd overall draft pick out of LSU in 2015, he put up solid numbers this season -- 19 homers, over 70 RBI, 17 steals and an on-base perception just over .350. Friday night, in game four of the World Series, he drove in what proved to the deciding run. His 2nd inning sacrifice fly drove in Marwin Gonzalez for Houston's fourth run... in a game the Astros went on to win 5-3. The Astros went up on the Dodgers two games to one -- with the big second inning rally topped off by the man wearing number-two. ( This image of Alex Bregman is from Game Four of the 2017 ALCS in New York. )

Blockbuster news on Thursday. While an off day in the World Series is normally reserved for analysis of the Fall Classic as the action shifts cities, Joe Girardi upended the apple cart.  Releasing a personal message to the public in mid-morning that began, "With a heavy heart, I come to you because the Yankees have decided not to bring me back...”, Girardi broke the news that his 10-year tenure as manager had come to an end. Six playoff appearances over a decade -- including this year's surprising rise to the ALCS, where they lost in seven to the Astros -- were not enough to convince Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner that the ex-catcher was the right guy to lead their young and talented new core. Was it a relunctance to go all-in on analytics, a failure to turn Gary Sanchez into an adequate receiver, or strained relationships with other players? We probably won't learn those details soon, if ever. But the franchise once mocked for a revolving door of skippers had b...

What a wild, wacky, dramatic Game Two of the World Series! Five home runs in extra innings?!!? One of the post-game shows said THAT had never occured before in any game, regular or post-season. As the beloved Mel Allen would have said, "How About That!" Since his home run was the last of the night -- and the one that made the difference in the game -- Astros center fielder George Springer lands in the spotlight. The only thing really wrong with the game was the timing. It ended at 12:35 am. Colbert, Kimmel and Fallon were saying good night. The cable news networks were rerunning their prime time shows. And most folks who live and work in the eastern time zone were asleep and are learning about the score second-hand. Just imagine for a moment if this game had started four hours earlier, at 4pm ET. All it would do is build momentum, drama and audience -- people would hear about this amazing game and switch over as the innings rolled on. Yes, more viewers as the inning pro...

Clayton Kershaw and Justin Turner were the bookends as the Dodgers grabbed Game One of the 2017 World Series. Baseball's best lefthander fired seven dominating innings of three-hit ball, while striking out 11. Think of another Dodger lefty who did that well on the game's biggest stage. His name also begins with a K -- Sandy Koufax. Then, there's the Met castoff, the co-star with Daniel Murphy in the upcoming documentary Life After Flushing (just kidding). Justin Turner smacked the tie-breaking home run to give the Dodgers a lead. A sweet night for the L.A. guys as the Dodgers returned to the World Series for the first time in 29 years. And a quick shoutout to FOX TV's Joe Buck for getting it right. Moments after mentioning that Turner's two-run homer tied him with Hall of Famer Duke Snyder for the most post-season RBIs in Dodgers history at 26, he put that stat in its proper context, by noting that Snyder, and fellow Brooklyn-era icons Roy Campanella an...

...you share it with Omar Quintanilla . A utilityman with the Rockies, Rangers, Orioles and Mets, he hit only eight home runs in over 1100 career at-bats; just two of them came during his time with the Mets. I was there for one of them against the Cardinals on June 11th, 2013. Here, he gets a high five from captain David Wright after circling the bases. Quintanilla shares his birthday with another onetime Mets infielder, Ron Gardenhire . He's starting a new chapter of his career, after just being hired as the manager of the Tigers. But he's far better known for his 13-year run as skipper of the Minnesota Twins -- where his teams won six AL Central titles. Speaking of the Twins, it's also Gene Larkin 's birthday. He earned a place in history with a 10th inning walk-off RBI single in game seven of the 1991 World Series. Want to talk World Series champs? There's Eric Hosmer of the Royals, who earned his ring in 2015. Omar Moreno 's got one, too. The speedy...

I won't go as far as saying the cat changed its stripes, but Mets GM Sandy Alderson made an unexpected choice for his club's new manager. The selection of well regarded Mickey Callaway to be Terry Collins' successor came as a surprise -- most speculation centered on someone such as Bob Geren or Kevin Long, who have previous or current ties to Alderson. Instead, it's the mentor who in the last few years turned Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Trevor Bauer into top shelf starting pitchers. That accomplishment likely played well as the Mets try to build around their talented but injury-riddled rotation. Jacob de Grom was the standout in 2017; Callaway's challenge will be to get the most out of the guys whose past season graded out as D or below: Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, Seth Lugo and Steven Matz again were unable to make it through a full season. Robert Gsellman was an enigma whose ERA leaped from the mid 2's to the wrong side of 5. My challenge was find...

Get used to this logo... the team with the H in the Star is headed to the World Series. Back on their home field, the Astros offense, led by batting champ and MVP-favorite Jose Altuve, couldn't be held down any longer by the Yankees pitching. They outscored the New Yorkers 11-1 during the final two games at Minute Maid Park, as they captured their first American League pennant. The title also earned them a baseball first: when they face the Dodgers beginning Tuesday night, they'll be the first team ever to play for both leagues in World Series. Remember, back in 2005, they represented the National League against the eventual champs, the Chicago White Sox. But this time, the A in Astros stands for American League, as we have our matchup for baseball's fall classic. These images are from an April 2016 Astros/Yankees game in New York.

Friday night was all about Justin Verlander. For the second time in this ALCS, the Astros August-deadline acquistion blanked the Yankees, though to quote TV broadcaster John Smoltz this appearance was a lot more "stressful." Matching zeroes with Luis Severino over the first four innings, Verlander managed to snuff out potential rallies after New York got two runners on in the 6th and 7th innings. The 7th inning jam co-stars George Springer, turning what could have bee a two-run double into a loud out just in front of the center field wall. But back to Verlander, whose gutsy seven innings -- on top of his game two shutout -- forced the series to a seventh and deciding game, and placed his name front and center for possible ALCS MVP honors. So my challenge was finding a good photo of Verlander to slot in. Turns out that in the eight seasons I've photographed the games on a regular basis, I'd only seen Verlander pitch once. That was back in 2014, for the photo u...

You'd be smiling too, if you had a game like  Kiké Hernandez did Thursday.  Dodger utilityman  Enrique (Kiké) Hernandez   starting in left field, belted three home runs -- including a grand slam -- to power LA's pennant-clinching 11 - 1 win over the Cubs. Wearing #14 -- once worn by the beloved Gil Hodges, who smacked four homers in a 1950 game -- the Puerto Rico native had a solo shot in the 2nd, a grand slam in the 3rd and the "cherry on top" two-run blast in the 9th. He's just the ninth player ever with three home runs in a post-season game -- and the second in 2017, joining the Astros Jose Altuve. On a team with high profile names such as Cody Bellinger, Justin Turner and Yasiel Puig, Hernandez grabbed the headlines on the night the Dodgers punched their first ticket to the World Series in 29 years. ( This image of Kiké Hernandez is from the Dodgers/Mets game on May 27th, 2016 .)

The Cubs kept their season alive Wednesday night with the long ball. Catcher Willson Contreras ' blast almost deserves a better adjective -- perhaps, "missile?" His 491-foot home run off Alex Wood opened the scoring, and according to Statcast is the longest post-season homer measured by that system. Javier Baez (below) had the Cubs other two shots, less historic but equally important, as they staved off elimination and held back the Dodgers 3 - 2. L.A. tried to keep pace with long balls of their own -- Cody Bellinger and Justin Turner also cleared the Wrigley fences to make this a one run game. Closer Wade Davis gave up Turner's blast, then recorded the final six outs to preverse Chicago's first win of the series and force a game five of the NLCS tonight, Today's photos underscore why I enjoy shooting from next to the visitors dugout at Citi Field. It's the opportunity to capture a different sense of the players, in contrast to just the action on...

Game four of the American League Championship Series went through several phases. It began as a pitching duel late on Tuesday afternoon between Sonny Gray of the Yankees and the Astros' Lance McCullers, Junior. They were equally effective -- to the point where fans could envision this coming down to a 1-run game. Perhaps an error or a solo home run would becone the difference. One play, one run, one win. Gray and McCullers were that good. But the game took a turn in the top of the 6th inning. The zeroes came to an end. And like so many rallies, it began with a walk. Houston's lead off man George Springer, walked on four pitchers. Josh Riddick then reached base on catcher's interference... And all of a sudden, this battle of zeroes was changing course. With two on and none out, Gray fell behind on a ball to Jose Altuve, and Joe Girardi decided it was time for a change. In comes David Robertson, who finishes the walk to the AL batting champ. He then strikes out Carl...

It would way too easy to call Monday Aaron Judge's night. The Yankees rookie standout had plenty of them in 2017. But that wouldn't be fair to the other standouts in that 8-1 victory in game three of the ALCS. I won't overlook Judge's three-run homer off Will Harris, or his two trendous catches -- the first where he crashed into the wall to stop the Astros' Yuli Guriel, and the other, sliding headfirst to rob Cameron Maybin -- but he's got to share center stage this time around. Todd Frazier opened the scoring and unleashed that big Bronx crowd with a three-run second inning blast. The Jersey Shore native gave the Yankees a big early lead, one onto which they'd build the rest of the night. And the beneficiary of Frazier's and Judge's productivity? CC Sabathia. At 37, he's too old, too fragile, too this and too that. Monday night, he was simply too much for the Astros. Dominating at times, crafty at others, he had to escape a couple ...

Justin Turner 's walk-off homer made the difference in the Dodgers 4-1 Sunday night win over the Cubs. And it reinforced the idea that the onetime Mets utilityman, whom Sandy Alderson simply cut a few years ago because he was arbirtration eligible and about to get more expensive, now ranks among the best at his position. Could he be the Dodgers counterpart to David Ortiz? Let's not go that far -- but he has certain exceeded expectations on the team's won the NL West every year since he took over as its regular 3rd baseman. And from the Fascinating Coincidence Department: Turner's blast occurred on the 29th anniversary of Kirk Gibson's walk off homer in the 1988 World Series. ( This image is from the Dodgers/Yankees game in New York on Sept. 12th, 2016 )

In a time of eight-man bullpens and analytics-driven "situational" matchups, you just don't see performances like the one Justin Verlander gave on Saturday. Channeling the spirit of decades-ago legends like Bob Gibson, Jack Morris and Whitey Ford, the Astros' recent acquisition worked all nine innings -- yes, a complete game -- and struck out 13, as Houston held off the Yankees 2 - 1 in ALCS game two. The longtime Tiger (seen here in 2014) threw 124 pitches, and, said in post-game interviews he was absolutely determined to finish what he began. No bringing in a closer -- this was his day to put the team on his back and carry it to the win column. Especially on a day when runs were hard to come by. Skeptics will wonder if the now-34 year old will be ready for another start later in the series. On the other hand, Verlander brought his club within two wins of a pennant, and prevented the Yankees -- with the best home record in baseball -- from closing out the ALCS i...

Friday, for the second time in three post-seasons, Dallas Keuchel kept the Yankees as off-balance as he appears above. While he didn't dominate as he did in the 2015 Wild Card Game (seen here), Houston's ace held back the Yankees from scoring, plain and simple. The bearded lefty doesn't overpower as others do, his strength is outwitting batters. And again, he did it on the big stage: a playoff game in prime time. Astros take game 1 of the ALCS, 2-1, with the only New York score, Greg Bird's home run coming off closer Ken Giles.

  If baseball wanted post-season drama, its collective wish has certainly come true. For the second straight night, a winner-take-all game five proved to be a cliffhanger. Addison Russell earned my spotlight with a pair of doubles that produced for Cubs runs as they held off the Nationals 9-8. Could you have asked for a more thrilling final at-bat with Chicago closer Wade Davis striking out the Nats superstar Bryce Harper to end the game? Now it's on to L.A. for Joe Maddon's crew, with game one set for Saturday night. The Cubbies can catch their breath watching the Yankees and Astros open the ALCS tonight in Houston. Baseball's final four! ( This image of Russell comes from the Cubs/Mets game on July 1st, 2016 )

Didi Gregorius and Brett Gardner don't get the most attention among The Baby Bombers. Sluggers Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez command the spotlight. And fans are reading about more young stars on the way, such as Gleyber Torres and Clint Frazier. Yet Wednesday night, the two key offensive forces in the Yankees ALDS clinching 5-2 win at Cleveland were their shortstop and left fielder -- not quite bookends in the traditional sense, but the guys who drove home the runs, early and late. Gregorius , the exurberant, erudite, Dutch-born shortstop fired the first big shots: a solo homer in the 1st inning that dented Indians ace Corey Kluber, then a two-run rocket in the 3rd that stretched the lead and silenced the crowd at Progressive Field. The Indians rebounded for a pair of runs against CC Sabathia in the 5th -- before the night settled into a battle of bullpens. One run separating the teams until the top of the 9th and Gardy's moment. The poster child for "grinder," t...

Could this be the first time a mascot appeared on the cover of a team's post-season program? 1978 was the year the fuzzy green phan phavorite was phirtst seen at the Vet. Players, uniform styles and ballparks change, but the Phanatic is the constant; the phace of the phranchise. I held onto my copy from the series where the Dodgers tripped up the Phils for the second straight year.

Luis Severino again proved his "ace-ness" with Monday night's dominating performance over the Indians. The Yankees young ace rebounded from his brief and painful start in the American League's Wild Card playoff game six nights earlier. Effective from the start, Severino hardly gave the Indians a chance to gain any traction. Instead, his Yankees teammates hit the accelerator pedal early, building a 4-0 lead in the 2nd inning -- and reducing whatever pressure Severino felt. While the Indians dinged him for home runs from Carlos Santana and Roberto Perez, Severino basically owned the night and forced the ALDS to Wednesday's fifth and decided game. Sevy also credited veteran Masahiro Tanaka, who stopped the Indians the night before, with helping him prepare mentally. Severino never looked scared or worried -- he was the same confident pitcher who became an All Star and will certainly garner some second or third-place Cy Young Award votes. And a shout out th...

Alex Rodriguez hit the target on FOX's post-game show: Greg Bird's home run Sunday night in game three of the Yankees/Indians ALDS series was his first signature moment as a Yankee. He sent an Andrew Miller pitch soaring toward the middle level of the right field seats for the only run of the night in a 1 - 0 victory that keeps the Yankee hopes alive. It was just the second time this year a lefty hitter homered off Miller -- the other was by the Dodgers prize rookie Cody Bellinger. The hard-hitting 1st baseman with a swing tailor-made for Yankee Stadium is finally healthy and looking the cornerstone player the front office hoped he'd become. Yep, just what the other 29 clubs didn't need to hear -- the Yankees have a third young slugger to go along with their already-fearsome duo of Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez. The beneficiary of Bird's blast was Masahiro Tanaka, who followed up his 15 strikeout regular season finale with seven innings of three-hit shutout ba...

Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmeman powered Saturday 's most noteworthy inning. With the Nats trailing the Cubs 3 - 1 in the bottom of the 8th, Harper crushed a two-run homer off Carl Edwards Junior to tie the game -- and most crucially, put life back in his team. Up till then, they seemed flat and were five outs from falling behind their NL Divison Series two games to none while playing at home. But the NL East champs weren't done. The Cubs bullpen couldn't hold the line. Two more men reached -- bringing up Washington's veteran slugger Ryan Zimmerman. He connected off Mike Montgomery and put the Nats up 6 - 3... three outs from a season-saving victory. Of this year's four Division Series, Chicago/Washington is the only one tied 1-1. These images of Harper and Zimmerman are from the Nats/Mets game on September 4th, 2016.

On a team where standouts such as Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, Carlos Santana and Jay Bruce draw so much attention, it's easy to overlook Yan Gomes . He doesn't put up the big numbers, or have that dynamic personality that keeps the media hooked. But who contributed more to the Indians Friday night in ALDS game two? In the 11th inning, his bullet throw snuffed out a potential Yankee rally when he caught Ronald Torreyes too far off second base. Then, in the bottom of the 13th with Austin Jackson on 2nd, he pool cued a shot down the 3rd base line to drive in the winning run in Cleveland's 9-8 victory. It was the Indians' biggest post-season comeback ever: Lindor's grand slam off Chad Green and Bruce's solo shot off David Robertson erasing an early 8-3 deficit. With all the big bats on both sides, the differencemaker turned out to be the Indians lesser-known catcher, who stepped in the field and at bat to move Cleveland within a game of its second American Lea...

...Jose Altuve is the best player in baseball. The Astros 5'6 second baseman started off the Division Series with a bang -- a 1st inning home run off Chris Sale that gave Houston an early lead over the Red Sox. In the 5th, his sound blast of the game pushed the Astros up 5-2. And then for the cherry on top, he homered again in the 7th. Three home runs -- that's Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson, territory, right? Albert Pujols, too. Big guys with big history. Watch him play and it might remind you of an iconic second baseman who began his career in Houston -- Joe Morgan. Same size, similar all around tools. Same spark that seems to rub off on his teammates. The Venezuela native is much more than a slugger; he just won his third American League batting title. And just reached 200 hits for the fourth consecutive season. On an Astros club full of impressive under-30 talent, Altuve stands tallest. ( This image of Altuve is from the July 26th Phillies/Astros game .)

Paul Goldschmidt got the Diamondbacks off to a fast start in Wednesday night's NL Wild Card game. He tagged Jon Gray's eighth pitch of the night for a three-run homer. Even though it turned into a wild game, with neither pitching staff able to hold the line for long, Arizona led all the way en route to an 11 - 8 victory. Now, it's on to L.A. and a Division Series reunion with the NL West-rival Dodgers. Playing in Phoenix, Goldschmidt doesn't get the attention comparable stars receive who call home in higher profile markets such as New York, Chicago and Washington. But the Houston-area product is as steady as they come -- you can pencil him in for a .300 average, 30 home runs and 100 ribbies when drawing up your pre-season previews. Seen here against the Mets this August, "Goldy" coming up clutch on his first postseason at bat of 2017 only underscores his reputation.

Tuesday night's American League Wild Card game hardly went as expected. Who could have guessed that the starting pitchers would combine for 2-1/3 innings and 7 runs allowed. There were five home runs on the night -- three in the 1st inning alone! After a stunningly ineffective Luis Severino was tagged for a pair of homers in the top of the 1st, he was pulled by Joe Girardi -- after recording just one out. That left the other 26 to the Yankees bullpen: Chad Green restored order during his two innings of work. David Robertson really drew a line in the sand, snuffing out the talented Twins batters while notching 10 crucial outs without allowing a run. He was followed by Tommy Kahnle and then Aroldis Chapman for the 9th inning. All told, the New York bullpen worked 8-2/3 innings and allowed one run and five hits and struck out 13! Robertson, who made the longest appearance of his career, carved out the middle of the game and was credited with the victory. They don't award an M...

Where did you first hear that expression? Probably a junior high American History class touching on the 19th century border dispute between the U.S. and Britain over Oregon. Tuesday night, those numbers come into play -- and perhaps history is again at stake. The Twins -- with number 54 Ervin Santana on the mound -- visit the Yankees and their young ace #40 Luis Severino in the American League Wild Card game. A savvy veteran against a rising star who emerged during the season as the Yankees number-one starter. Two natives of the Dominican at opposite ends of their respective careers -- Santana posted the best of his 13 big league seasons with 16 wins, including three shutouts. Severino in his first as a fulltime starting pitcher won 14 and finished fourth in the AL with 230 strikeouts. Aces matched up. Experience versus youth. Winner take all. A virtual game seven for the opening night of the post-season.