Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

Maybe some year, the Astros and Giants will meet up in a World Series. And the biggest fight will be to see which of the teams can wear their Jack-o-Lantern uniform tops. Trick or Treat! Today's spoksmodels George Springer and Buster Posey. My images are from the Astros/Yankees ALCS game on October 17th, 2017 and the Giants/Brewers game at AT&T Park on August 29th, 2014.

...you share it with Shane Robinson . Best suited to be a late-inning defensive replacement, the journeyman outfielder, was out of his element when he became the Yankees primary replacement for Aaron Judge in August. The Tampa native, who has also played for the Cardinals, Twins and Angels, is also a rarity -- he has more career stolen bases (19) than home runs (7). Also on our cake and candles list today: Joe Panik , the Giants second baseman who looked a franchise cornerstone when he broke in during 2014. But his numbers and durability have dropped off the last three seasons. Mike Jacobs broke in with a bang -- slugging 11 home runs and hitting over .300 for the Mets during the final six weeks of the 2005 season. Traded to the Royals the following winter in the Carlos Delgado deal, he never again performed at that high a level. Marco Scutaro also broke in as a Met, but enjoyed a productive career with the A's, Red Sox and Giants -- where his bat got hot at the ...

Remember how before game one, I wrote: "One thing you should expect: the unexpected. A player will step out of anonymity and make his mark sometime over the next week or so." That man proved to be Steve Pearce . A righthanded platoon hitter, a journeyman who joined the Red Sox in a mid-season trade, Pearce has played for seven big league clubs over the past dozen seasons. He's even made history, as the only player ever to play for all five AL East franchises. Yet he stepped up, delivering, arguably, the two most important hits as the Red Sox claimed their fourth World Series title in 15 seasons. Saturday night, his 8th inning homer of Kenley Jansen tied the game (and erased the last lead the Dodgers would have in the series), which Boston went onto win 9-6. He topped that performance Sunday, sending a Clayton Kershaw pitch into the left field seats with Andrew Benintendi on 1st -- a dagger that gave the Sox a two-run lead three batters into the game. He then bookend...

Three days after turning 22, the Red Sox 3rd baseman gave Boston fans grounds to celebrate. His tie-breaking 9th inning single drove home Brock Holt and put the Sox ahead to stay in game four of the World Series. That 9-6 victory left Boston one victory shy of their fourth World Series championship in 14 years. A game that began as a pitching duel between lefties Eduardo Rodriguez and Rich Hill turned into a rollercoaster ride. First, the Dodgers took advantage of some Red Sox sloppiness to grab a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the 6th. But soon, they gave most of it back when Mitch Moreland homered in the top of the 7th. An inning later, Steve Pearce homered off Kenley Jansen, who for the second night in a row gave up a home run that cost L.A. the lead. Then came the 9th inning, Brock Holt doubled down the 3rd baseline. Devers soon brought him home. And a five-run rally was underway that put game four out of reach. Another night, another hero. And the Dodgers have their back...

Last night's game three of the World Series was one for the books: the longest, with the most players used and pitches thrown ever. 561 pitches between the teams, a shake-your-head number. 7 hours, 20 minutes. And it ended with a player as I noted on Tuesday would "step out of anonymity and make his mark." OK, after a 35 home run breakthrough season, Max Muncy would probably not qualify as anonymous, but he far from a household name, playing parts of two seasons with the A's, before this year began. Now he's in select company -- just the fourth Dodger ever with a walk-off hit of any kind in a World Series game. You know the previous one: Kirk Gibson with "that" home run in 1988. The others came from Ebbets Field: Jackie Robinson, whose 10th inning RBI single grabbed game six in 1956 (and proved to be his last hit ever) and Cookie Lavagetto, breaking up Bill Bevens no-hitter in the last of the 9th in game four of the '47 Fall Classic. Select compa...

The Yankees won their first World Series title in 18 years. John Wetteland, who got the last out in all four New York victories -- and would be named MVP of the Fall Classic -- retires Mark Lemke on a foul pop to 3rd baseman Charlie Hayes, for the final out in a 3-2 win . That began the Joe Torre-era dynasty, with four titles in five years. The last of those was completed on this date in 2000 at Shea Stadium, when Luis Sojo hit a tie-breaking single off Al Leiter in the top of the 9th to push the Yankees past the Mets in game five of the first modern-era Subway Series. Also on our October 26th baseball calendar: 1998: Mike Piazza decides he likes life in Flushing and signs a seven-year $91-million deal to remain with the Mets. 1985: Don Denkinger's blown call at 1st base keeps the Royals alive in game six of the World Series. KC would go onto win 2-1 and then capture the Series over their cross-state rivals the next night. 1982: Steve Carlton, off a 23-win, 28...

The Red Sox DH and top winter '18 acquisition delivered Wednesday night's tie-breaking hit. Facing reliever Ryan Madson with two outs and the bases loaded in the 5th, his single to right field drove in Betts and Benintendi to give Boston the lead for keeps. The Sox sweep the first two games at home; now the Dodgers head home with a stiff hill to climb. Although as Yankee fans remember, that was the scenario L.A. faced in 1981 -- just before they won the final four games. ( My image of Martinez is from the July 1st Red Sox/Yankees game in the Bronx .)

Not quite Kirk Gibson 2.0, but Eduardo Nunez delivered a game-breaking pinch hit three-run homer as the Red Sox pulled away from the Dodgers in World Series game one. The veteran utilityman, hitting for Rafael Devers, crushed an Alex Wood pitch to turn 5-4 Boston lead into 8-4. And that's how the night -- which began with four-plus innings of so-so work from aces Kershaw and Sale -- ended. Game one to the Sox. Considered a possible heir apparent to Derek Jeter when first arrived with the Yankees, Nunez developed into an effective hitter as he moved onto the Twins, Giants and, currently the Red Sox. But his defense -- especially at shortstop -- pushed his career onto a different orbit. He's found a comfortable home at Fenway, moving between 2nd, 3rd and DH. On a team with stars such as Martinez, Betts and Benintendi, the player nicknamed "Nunie" by Joe Girardi captured the first headline of the Fall Classic. ( My image of Nunez is from the May 9th game at Yankee...

The outside facade of Fenway Park clearly has room for another championship banner. Do you think one's about go be raised honoring 2018? The Dodgers stand in the way of a fourth Boston title this century. Both teams are brimming with stars -- gifted hitters who come through in clutch such as Mookie Betts, Manny Machado, JD Martinez and Justin Turner. They'll support pitching standouts Chris Sale, Clayton Kershaw, Craig Kimbrel and Kenley Jansen. Loyal fanbases, but drastically different ballparks. Cozy, quirky Fenway Park is baseball's oldest, while Dodger Stadium, now in its 57th season, is the epitome of 1960s symmetry and streamlining. Don't ask me to pick a winner: back before the season, I predicted the Yankees and Nationals would be taking the field for baseball's Fall Classic. One thing you should expect: the unexpected. A player will step out of anonymity and make his mark sometime over the next week or so. And you and I will be watching. ( My Fe...

From this past June 10th: a phlag-waving Phantic gets the crowd excited as the club celebrates the 25th anniversary of its 1993 National League championship. (Unfortunately, the weather was less than perfect on this day. Look carefully and you'll see why our phavorite mascot was sheltered by the overhang.) In that decisive game six , Tommy Greene, David West and Mitch Williams kept the Atlanta bats in check, while Mickey Morandini, Dave Hollins and Darren Daulton each drove in a pair of runs. The Phils advanced to their fifth World Series, where some guy named Carter spoiled the phun.

...we're going to have a Dodgers/Red Sox World Series. 1916, the fifth year of Fenway Park. And that's where baseball's Fall Classic will begin Tuesday night. Cody Bellinger's two-run homer in the top of the 2nd inning -- which followed that stunning two-out bunt single by Manny Machado -- erased an early Brewer lead, put the Dodgers ahead to stay and hushed the Miller Park crowd. L.A. won it 5-1, with Yasiel Puig's three-run dinger in the 6th sealing the deal. Walker Buehler steadied after giving up Christian Yelich's 1st inning home run -- a parade of Dodger relievers, capped by Clayton Kershaw, followed to keep Milwaukee off the board. And for the first time in 40 years, the Dodgers had won back-to-back National League pennants. It's the franchise's 20th trip to the World Series -- which ties their forever rivals, the Giants, for the most in NL history. Take a moment, think back to 1916 -- Babe Ruth is Boston's young ace; in game two, he thr...

...even a pitcher with an awful post-season history will succeed. Last night, David Price , brought an ugly 0-9 career playoff record into ALCS game five. Winless in 12 post-season starts between Tampa Bay and Boston, he was the right man in the right moment to pitch the Red Sox to their American League pennant in 15 years. Six innings of shutout ball kept the defending champion Astros in check, while home runs from J.D. Martinez and Rafael Devers gave the Sox all the offense they needed in a 4-1 victory . Boston continues to claim the title of Road Warriors, sweeping both ALDS games at Yankee Stadium and all three at Minute Maid Park. They now await the survivor of the Dodgers and Brewers. ( My image of David Price is from a Red Sox/Yankees game in June 2017. )

We live in a world of brands that are initials: WFAN, CBS, HSBC, USA. And in baseball, the game-changing player in the last two games of the ALCS has been Red Sox center fielder Jackie Bradley, Junior . Call him JBJ. Now, tack on HR, as in the decisive home runs he knocked out of Minute Maid Park the last two games: Tuesday night's grand slam and last night, the two run 6th inning shot that gave Boston the lead for keeps and a win that moves the Sox within one win of reaching the World Series. ( My image of JBJ is from the June 8th, 2017 Red Sox/Yankees game in the Bronx .)

Nate Eovaldi showed flashes of brilliance during his two seasons with the Yankees -- as he did occasionally earlier in his career with the Marlins. But after his second Tommy John surgery in 2016, the Yanks decided it wasn't worth the money to renew his contract. He wound up with the Rays, who paid him to rehab in 2017 and were confident they could flip him once healthy this season. The plan worked out well -- for two clubs. Tampa Bay sent him to Boston in late July for promising lefty reliever Jalen Beeks. And the "other" famous Alvin, Texas native has morphed from a reliable member of the rotation to something more. He shut down the Yankees in ALDS game three -- as he had in one of his first Red Sox starts in early August. And he did it again Tuesday in the League Championship Series against the defending champion Astros. His six innings of two run ball kept his team in the game until they broke it open in the 8th. And guess who's a free agent this winter -- ...

Aaron Boone wrote his name into Yankees lore. His 11th inning homer off Tim Wakefield won the seventh and deciding game of the ALCS wrote the Bronx Bombers' ticket to their 39th World Series. He was far from alone in his heroics: Trailing the Red Sox 5-2, the Yanks scored three in the eighth off Pedro Martinez to tie the game. Mike Mussina, making the relief appearance of his career, bailed out an ineffective Roger Clemens and keeps the Sox off the Board. Series MVP Mariano Rivera's three shutout innings of relief kept the game tie until Boone's laser to left field produced one of the last classic moments at the original Yankee Stadium. Boone became the fifth player to end a postseason series with a homer joining Bill Mazeroski (1960 World Series), Chris Chambliss (1976 ALCS), Joe Carter (1993 World Series) and Todd Pratt (1999 NLDS).  Also timestamped October 16th: 2000 : Mike Hampton throws a three-hit shuout as the Mets close out the Carinals in the NLCS and ...

Brian Cashman's season-ending media session on Friday included one bombshell revelation: shortstop Didi Gregorius needed Tommy John surgery on his throwing arm. Ever since they traded for him from Arizona, the Yankees were aware of an issue with a ligament in his right arm. But it never posed a serious problem and didn't stand in the way of his becoming one of the American League's elite shortstops. Hitting for average, hitting for power, steadily improving his on-base percentage, and a dynamic, athletic presence in the field made the likeable Curacao product a fan favorite. Has a team ever transitioned more smoothly from the departure of a superstar? Didi quickly evolved from being the shortstop filling Derek Jeter's shoes into one of the Yankees' on and off-field leaders. Now, the Yanks head toward 2019 with one of their most indispensible players on the shelf. And GM Brian Cashman faces a range of options between promoting from within and scouring the tr...

Building on to his reputation as one of baseball's best clutch hitters, Justin Turner's two-run homer in the 8th lifted the Dodgers to a 4-3 win over the Brewers to tie the NLCS at one win a side. With L.A. down a run, Turner came up after Chris Taylor reached on an infield single; he planted a Jeremy Jeffress pitch in the second deck of the left field seats. Kenley Jansen made the lead hold up -- and the Dodgers head home with the series tied. Below: Carlos Correia snapped a 2-2 tie with an RBI single in the 6th -- giving the Astros a lead for keeps. Four Houston runs in the 9th were insurance. But Correia, after a frustrating, injury shortened season, delivered in the clutch to give the Astros game one at Fenway. ( My images: Justin Turner is from the Mets/Dodgers game on August 5th, 2017 at Citi Field; Correia was taken during the Yankees/Astros NLCS game on October 17th, 2017 )

On this date in 1960, Bill Mazeroski claimed his place in baseball history. Facing Ralph Terry of the Yankees in the bottom of the 9th home run of the seventh and deciding game of the World Series, he gave baseball a moment for the ages. A leadoff home run, a walk off 10-9 victory -- and Pittsburgh's first World Series Championship since 1925. No surprise you'll find a statue of him capturing the sheer joy of his achivement outside the Buccos current home, PNC Park. A few feet away, a plaque sets the scene. It also stands with the most unique games ever played. The lead had already changed three times when Maz stepped to the plate in the 9th. Despite a total of 19 runs and 24 hits, it was played in just 2 hours and 36 minutes. It remains the only World Series game without a single strikeout. And in the most lopsided series ever, where the Yankees won by blowouts of 16-3, 10-0 and 12-0, the Pirates had won the close ones -- including a one-run decision on a warm sunny Pi...

Coming off a 94-win season, but a third-place finish behind Lou Boudreau's Indians, the Yankees made suprising choice to replace manager Bucky Harris. Casey Stengel , the witty ex-player who'd managed weak Dodgers and Braves teams during the '30s and early '40s, was handed the keys to a club led by future Hall of Famers Joe Di Maggio, Phil Rizzuto and Yogi Berra.  Some fans were startled; some players snickered. Jerry Coleman, who'd break in with the Yankees in 1949, once told me his teammates were shocked -- Stengel was widely considered "a clown," and few knew of this baseball lifer's deep wisdom. But they'd soon see it played out on the field -- his strategic innovations (especially platooning) and savvy touch with the press were just what GM George Weiss needed. Casey went onto win 10 pennants in his 12 seasons -- including five straight World Series championships to begin his tenure. Joe D, the Scooter and Yogi were soon joined by more ...

Yankee fans expected a longer and more successful post-season run than the one that ended Tuesday night. Losing in the Divison Series marks 2018 as less successful than '17 -- where the club finished one win shy of the World Series. And being eliminated by the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium makes it doubly or triply painful. How could it go so wrong for a team that set a new single season record for home runs? Why, after 100 victories in 162 games, did these Yanks win only two of the next five? How, with the roster as healthy as anytime this season, did they play three mostly listless games against their forever rivals? Winning is more than just collecting talent. There's strategy and in baseball, always that dash of good luck. For a variety of reasons, the Yankees are heading home, while the Red Sox are on their way to Houston. Brimming with home run power, the Yanks began to have trouble building rallies. Too often, they seemed to be waiting for someone to clear the fences...

Rick Porcello was the difference maker as the Red Sox eliminated the Yankees in Tuesday night's game four of the ALDS. The New Jersey-born righthander kept forcing ground balls and weak outfield flies over his five innings -- while his guys built an early 4-0 lead. Boston skipper Alex Cora went to his bullpen in the 6th, and all went well until the 9th inning when closer Craig Kimbrel had trouble throwing strikes, when the Yankees scored a pair -- and came awfully close to tieing the game. The Red Sox held on for the 4-3 victory, with the game's standout player being the pitcher who grew up less than an hour from Yankee Stadium. ( My image of Rick Porcello is from a Tigers/Phillies spring training game in March 2011 .)

But this time, the Yankees were the victims, not the beneficiaries. Brock Holt -- seen here facing Luis Severino and the Yankees on July 1st -- became the first player ever to hit for the cycle in a post-season game. His night started innocently enough against Severino, with a ground out in the 2nd inning. The fireworks began in the 4th, when he singled as part of Boston's 7-run rally that put the game away. Later on, came a triple, double and a 9th inning home run off Yankee backup catcher (and emergency reliever) Austin Romine. Take a step back and think of the gifted hitters who've played October baseball and chased titles: Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Rickey Henderson all come to mind. None of them ever singled-doubled-tripled-and-homered in a post season game. Brock Holt, the Red Sox versatile utilityman owns baseball's first post-season cycle. He finished the night 4-for-6 with 5 RBIs as the Red Sox handed their forever rivals their most one-sided pla...

Craig Counsell 's Milwaukee Brewers are the first club to claim a place in the League Championship series. Sunday's 6-0 shutout win at Coors Field capped a three-game sweep of the Rockies in which the Brew Crew totally dominated. What else would you call a series where the Brewers never trailed? Colorado scored just two runs -- a top-of-the-9th rally that tied game one, and forced a 10th inning, which Milwaukee won on Mike Moustakas' RBI single. The next two games were all Brewers -- who are now one series away from their first NL pennant and first trip back to the World Series since 1982. ( My image is from the July 9th, 2017 Brewers/Yankees game in New York .)

...you share it with Red Sox leadoff man and MVP candidate Mookie Betts . The American League's 2018 batting champ added 32 homers, 80 RBI and 30 stolen bases for the team with the best regular season record in the majors. Joining him at our baseball birthday party: Mike Foltynewicz , who won 13 this season for the NL East champion Atlanta Braves. Alex Cobb , the veteran righthander who left the Rays for the Orioles as a free agent and went to go 5-15 for the worst team in the majors. Evan Longoria , Cobb's longtime teammate and Tampa Bay "face of the franchise." He also donned a new uniform in 2018, but hit a career-worst .244 with 16 home runs after being traded to the Giants. Bud Daley is a name Yankee fans of the Mantle-Maris era might remember. A "crafty lefty" whose best seasons came with the Kansas City A's, he came to the Bronx in 1961 for Art Ditmar and Deron Johnson. That was a rare deal where the A's got more value than the Ya...

He made a big statement in the opener of the ALDS, dominating the Yankees for the first five innings... striking out eight before running out of gas in the 6th. The Red Sox ultra-cautious strategy of resting him and limiting his work after the All Star break paid off. Of course, he didn't do it alone -- JD Martinez got the Sox off to a blazing start with a three-run homer against JA Happ in the bottom of the 1st; at the other end, Craig Kimbrel worked a four-out save, despite being dinged by Aaron Judge for a 9th inning homer. Round One of the ALDS goes to to Boston, 5-4. ( My image of Chris Sale is from the August 13th, 2017 Red Sox/Yankees game in New York .)

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made a surprising choice to open the NLDS against the Dodgers. Bypassing ace Clayton Kershaw, he went instead with Hyun-Jin Ryu . Just 7-3 during a 15-appearance regular season shorted by a torn groin muscle, the Korean lefty was dominant when healthy -- his ERA was under 2. That number went down Thursday night, when the 31 year old threw seven shutout innings -- as the Dodgers cruised to a 6-0 victory. Ryu held the Braves to four hits while walking none and striking out eight. That performance was even more impressive when noting that he's among the few pitchers who've regained full effectiveness after surgert for a torn labrum, a producer with a far lower success rate than Tommy John surgery. The LA Times pointed out that Dodgers head physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who operated on Ryu, was on hand to watch the game. I hope his patient sent him a game ball after the final out. (My image of Ryu is from the April 25th, 2013 Dodgers/Mets game at...

Aaron Judge once again showed why in just two years he's become the Yankees' franchise player. Wednesday night, he followed Andrew McCutchen's leadoff walk in the bottom of the 1st with a booming home run for an instant 2-0 lead in the AL Wild Card game. A lead they never relinquished. Judge wasn't done. Leading off the 6th, with the game still 2-0, he bounced a double down the right field line to set up a four-run inning. Aaron Hicks doubled Judge home and before long, Luke Voit tripled in two more runs and Didi Gregorius added a sacrifice fly. The Yankees were up by six and, even with Khris Davis homering in the 8th, the boys from the Bronx were never really challenged. Victories often have multiple heroes: along with Judge and Voit, Luis Severino put his 2017 Wild Card washout in his rear view mirror. Instead, he looked a lot more like the ace he was during the first half of the season, contributing four no-hit innings before tiring in the 5th. And Giancarlo S...

Say hello to the little known Colorado Rockie who delivered the game-winning hit in Tuesday night's Wild Card playoff win over the Cubs. Backup catcher Tony Wolters doesn't put up the numbers that make you recognize his teammates such as Nolan Arenado, Charlie Blackmon and Trevor Story. Yet in baseball, the last guy off the bench will get a chance to make a difference -- and that's exactly what happened last night at Wrigley Field. Wolters' two-out single in the top of the 13th drove in Story to push the Rockies past the Cubs 2-1. That ends quite a 72 hours for Colorado's club -- who wrapped a three-day trek with three games in three different time zones, with a victory that sends them to another destination on Thursday: Milwaukee, where they'll visit the Brewers as the NL Division Series gets underway. ( My image of Wolters -- in the dugout, of course -- is from the Rockies/Mets game at Citi Field on July 16th, 2017 )

Monday's pair of tiebreaker games -- you can't really call them "play ins" because even the losers were assured spots in the post-season -- went to the Brewers and Dodgers.  Christian Yelich (above) won the NL batting title with three hits and more importantly, drove in the first run as the Brewers held off the Cubs at Wrigley Field to finish first in the NL Central. Let's be honest -- when the Marlins traded away their entire 2017 starting outfield last winter, did you really expect Yelich, not Marcel Ozuna (now a Cardinal) nor Giancarlo Stanton (a Yankee) would have the superior season? Cody Bellinger (below) smacked a two-run homer to give the Dodgers a lead they never relinquished as they claimed the West title. After a stunning 2017 rookie season, Bellinger's numbers fell considerably this year. But in the biggest game of the year, he delivered arguably the most important hit. So the Brewers and Dodgers get a day off, while the Rockies head to Chica...

While Sunday's Yankees/Red Sox game was little more than a glorified exhibition, two Yankees wrote their names into the record books. And they did it in the same inning! Miguel Andujar (left) doubled in the 4th inning, his 47th of the season to set a new American League rookie record. Luke Voit (right) followed him in the lineup and drove Andujar home with a home run -- the Yankees' 267th of the year, establishing another new major league record. Yankees + stats = history; seems to happen a lot, doesn't it? Andujar and Voit, two of the young Yankees that helped them earn home field advantage for Wednesday's Wild Card playoff game. They can enjoy a couple of days off before they host the A's. The realities of marketing mean the Yankees will always be attracted to big stars and famous names. But isn't it refreshing to also see unheralded or less familiar players having a real impact? ( My images are from the September 1st Yankees/Tigers game. )