Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

The greatest ballplayer born on February 29th called Cleveland home. Al Rosen was the star 3rd baseman of the great Indians teams of the '50s. The 1953 AL MVP drove in 100 or more runs five straight years, was a four-time All-Star, and won two home run and two RBI titles. Injuries cut short a career that appeared to be on a Hall of Fame track. But of the 15 major leaguers born on this rarest of dates, Rosen was the best of the bunch. Not far behind was a beloved Cardinal from its Gas House Gang era. Pepper Martin was the speedster atop the 1930s St. Louis batting order, three times scoring over a hundred runs, and a three-time NL leader in stolen bases. Much like Rosen, a very good player, and still beloved in his team's lore. Yankee and Met fans, you have a name on this list as well -- and he's the same guy. Terrence Long began his major league career with the Mets and ended it with the Yankees. Probably a little hard to remember him sporting an NY on his cap -- h...

Training camp injuries to Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge have given Clint Frazier the chance to impress. And he has the last two days: a laser double on Wednesday and a booming home run Thursday -- with both games televised back to New York -- reminded us of his potential as an offensive force. Tack on the absence of Aaron Hicks until June at the earliest, and the Georgian who hates to be called Red Thunder has his best opportunity yet to make the opening day roster. But the questions yet to be answered will still weigh heavily... Can he played even average outfield defense? And has he shown signs at age 25 of the maturity that's expected in the Yankee locker room. Frazier has bounced back and forth between the Bronx, Scranton and Trenton the past two years. He's sparkled at times, confounded fans and club officials at others. And once his three injured teammates return, will he have an NY future as anything other than as a trade chip?

From my personal collection, a look back what a quarter would buy you at Shea Stadium. How many hundreds of thousands of these were sold in that "season after?" How many made it home -- and like this one wound up in boxes or trunks, available to thumb through half a century later? What did you hold onto? Yearbooks, scorecard/programs, other souvenirs and memorabilia?

The Yankees got their worst case scenario news yesterday: Luis Severino has a partially-torn elbow ligament and will miss all of 2020. That creates a season-long hole in the rotation. Or maybe it should be viewed as an opportunity. Two years ago, Jordan Montgomery had an effective rookie season, winning nine and giving signs he'd be a reliable arm for the long haul. Of course, his 2018 went off the rails with Tommy John surgery costing him most of that and the following season. Healthy again, he hopefully slides in as the top candidate to fill Severino's slot. Over the next four weeks in Florida, Cashman, Boone and the fans will be watching Monty with fingers crossed.

A few years ago, Brian Dozier looked like a budding star. A slugging 2nd baseman with the Twins, he looked like he'd be a Minnesota mainstay. But after a 34-homer season in 2017, his numbers dropped off, and he bounced from the Twins to the Dodgers and last year was a regular with the World Champion Nationals. But they chose not to bring him back. And there wasn't much interest in him elsewhere through the winter. Now, he gets an opportunity to turn things around in San Diego. After trying and failing with another veteran 2nd baseman last year, Ian Kinsler, the Padres have a nice pool of talented kids, such as Fernando Tatis Jr., to go along with their 2019 free agent prize Manny Machado. So, a veteran looking for a bounce-back season, who will only cost $2 million if he makes the team, is a gamble worth taking -- especially for a club that wants to make a run at a Wild Card.

While it was just the second game of the pre-season, Sunday was a very significant game for Miguel Andujar . He started at 3rd base as the Yankees met the Rays, started a double play and smacked an opposite field home run. A very nice beginning to 2020 -- especially after last year was wrecked by a serious shoulder injury. He told Yankee broadcaster Suzyn Waldman that this would be his game of any kind, since last May 12th, when it was clear that he rest and rehab was not going to make his shoulder right. The Yanks know that the soon-to-be 25 year old can hit. His standout rookie season two years ago only cast doubt on what his position will be. If he can stick to the revised throwing motion Aaron Boone discussed on Sunday's radio broadcast, may it will he at "the hot corner." Or he may become the next bigtime "super utility player." Either way, the Yankees need his bat in the lineup, especially with Aaron Hicks gone until at least June and Didi Gregorius no...

From April 2010, as we were saying our final goodbyes to the original Yankee Stadium, which gradually disappeared during the second season of the House that (Jeter/ Steinbrenner/ Rivera) built. Once in a lifetime images, with the grand old park disassembled more than demolished, in order to protect the new Stadium as well as the adjacent apartment buildings and number-four elevated subway.

Another day, another injury concern for the Yankees:  Luis Severino has stopped throwing because of forearm discomfort -- a problem that's been intermittent since last year's playoffs. Not the kind of news the Yankees young ace wanted to deliver on his 26th birthday. Especially after rotator cuff problems cost Sevvy almost all of 2019.

This sweatshirt -- bought at a Dodger game a year later -- gave me more than 25 years of comfortable weekend service. For once, I actually make a decent spokesmodel:

As the baseball legend and sage philosopher Yogi Berra often said, "It's deja vu all over again." Yankees fans got some unexpected and disappointing news from Tampa on Tuesday: Aaron Judge is hurting again. The "Face of the Franchise," who has missed 110 combined games the past two years, started 2020 off on a sour note when he couldn't throw and had to skip batting practice due to shoulder soreness. Already? Five days before the first Grapefruit League game, the talented but brittle outfielder is already missing time. And it wasn't just Tuesday. Newspaper reports say Judge stopped hitting a week ago. One thing more, this is the right shoulder, not the one Judge was operated on after crashing into walls during 2017. The optics aren't good on this one. The personable 2017 Rookie of the Year might just be injury prone: a fractured wrist two years ago, then a lingering oblique strain last year. Popular as he is, Judge is no longer maki...

Yesterday, the first day all players were in Mets camp Yoenis Cespedes told the media he would not speak with them at all this season. A rather curious decision for a player who seemingly has plenty of explaining to do. The mysterious and bizarre injury that supposedly occurred while hunting or chasing wild board on his Florida ranch -- while rehabbing from heel surgery -- left too many people scratching their heads. The way to regain credibility with the media and trust with the fans isn't by hiding.

...you share it with Stephen Tarpley . The lefty reliever saw his stock rapidly rise and fall with the Yankees. After impressive minor league work in 2018, he joined the big club late that season. His run of luck continued through last spring training, when he was named the James Dawson Award winner as the club's best rookie prospect. But it all fell apart during the season, as he allowed just about two baserunners per inning and more alarmingly, four home runs in just 24 innings. After being dropped from the club's 40-man roster, he was traded to the Marlins this winter. Other notable names on today's cake and candles list: Roger Craig , one of the last surviving Brooklyn Dodger players, but best remembered for losing more than 20 games in each of his two seasons (1962 and '63) with the expansion Mets. Over his 12 major league seasons, he appeared in three World Series -- three with the '50s Dodgers and in 1964 with the Cardinals. Danny Farquar 's place...

The Yankees spent 31 years calling Fort Lauderdale their Florida home (1962-'92). The Orioles took over the facility in 1996; these photos are from 2009, their final spring in Broward county. The Orioles are hosting the Mets before a smallish crowd on a less than perfect day. While the Yankee signage was long gone, you can almost hear the ghosts of Mantle, Maris and Howard. And now the Stadium itself is gone -- to be replaced by a new venue for the Inter Miami CF soccer team.

...Santanas! The Indians added free agent Domingo Santana on Thursday. Still just 27, the strike-out prone power hitter smacked 21 homers last year for the Mariners -- and reached 30 two years earlier with the Brewers. But his less than stellar glovework led to being non-tendered last fall -- a decision that might look shortsighted after word that the M's best outfielder Mitch Haniger will miss a big chunk of 2020 after hernia and back surgeries in the last month. While no longer the top prospect he was as the centerpiece of the 2011 trade that sent Hunter Pence from the Astros to the Phillies, he brings more punch to an always budget- conscious Cleveland club. And he'll beef up a lineup that already packs power with Francisco Lindor, Franmil Reyes, Jose Ramirez and the veteran Carlos Santana.

Mets hosting the Cubs on April 20th, 2010... The pitching matchup for this early season night game at Citi Field: Mike Pelfrey for the Mets and Carlos Zambrano for the Cubs. 2010 would be Pelfrey's pinnacle, as he won a career-high 15 games with a career-low 3.66 ERA. It would be downhill from there -- lowlighted by 2012 Tommy John surgery. It would also be a productive season for Zambrano, who posted double digit victories for the seventh and final time. On this night. things went New York's way: the Mets won the game 4-0 .

Juan Lagares is the latest free agent to find a new home. The defensive standout, who long profiled as a fourth outfielder, never hit enough with the Mets-- except in short bursts -- to secure a regular lineup spot. 2019 was another disappointment, as Lagares' fielding metrics dropped, and he struggled to hit .213. Now, a fresh start. With the Padres having traded away their incumbent light-hitting centerfielder Manuel Margot , Lagares has an opportunity -- but will still have to prove he's anything more than a good glove.

On this date in 2001, Pittsburgh said a final goodbye to Three Rivers Stadium. This multi purpose facility was home to the city's sports renaissance, with the Pirates being consistent winners during the '70s and '90s and the Steelers ranking among the NFL elite. But between the artificial turf, the symmetrical playing field and a poorly designed lower seating bowl, the fan experience was far from perfect. The slope, or rise, of seats was lower than in similar parks in Philadelphia, Cincinnati and St. Louis. Frankly, for the first time since I was a nine-year old in the Polo Grounds, people sitting in front us serious obscured my view. Of course, there was the Pirate Parrot to excite the crowd. The mascot moved onto PNC Park, but that was about the only holdover. Instead of a hulking concrete circle, the Parrot now frolics in a open, sun-splashed playground with fans sitting close the field, and the rows rising nicely so more of the crowd feels like they're on top ...

It's not a reboot of Chubby Checker's classic '60s dance record. It's the status of Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson . The six year veteran supplies lefthanded power, but is certainly not the all around talent you see in Mookie Betts. Coming off a career best 36 homers (and career worst 111 strikeouts), it was no shock to see him being sent out of L.A. as part of the multi team deals that made Betts a 2020 Dodger. Word broke over the weekend that the Betts trade had been reworked -- still sending Mookie to the Dodgers and Alex Verdugo to the Red Sox, while changing other names. Surprisingly, the deal to send Pederson and his $7.75 million salary to the Angels fell through. So where does Joc stand? Probably waiting to see where else the Dodgers will move him. His spot in the outfield and payroll (in today's luxury tax reality) has now been taken up by L.A.'s prized acquisition. Position players are set to report later this week. And Pederson is as certain of...

From 10 years ago. the Giants host the Dodgers at Scottsdale Stadium... the start of the Giants run of three World Series Champs in five seasons. That's Manny Ramirez taking a lead off 1st base with James Loney hitting. While the weather was a little less than perfect, there's no complaining about the ballpark. Everyone sits on top of the action. Do any hardcore Giants fans recognize #32 or #35? From my research, no one played for the 2010 Giants wearing either of those numbers. How about that mountain a beyond the left field stands. You won't see that in San Francisco or many big league places.

While Yankee Stadium sparkled in sunlight, it's a glow in blue tones after dark. This image is from the Yanks/Angels game in the Bronx last September 17th.

Scratch Wilmer Flores from the roster of unsigned free agents. While we've not seen an official press release, numerous reports say he's signed a two year ($6 million) deal with the Giants. The popular former Met spent 2019 with the Diamondbacks where he was productive -- batting .317 with an OPS of .848 -- but missed considerable time to a foot injury. He remains lethal hitting off lefties, and did a good job versus righthanded pitching. Since his weak glove reduced him to mainly being a 1st baseman, I'm still surprised he's still in the National League -- his value should be far higher on a club where he could spend most of the time as a DH. Fans at Oracle (AT&T/PacBell) can look forward to regular airings of the Friends  theme as Flores' walk up music.

It's February 6th, the birthdate of the man, without whom, we would not love and celebrate baseball. George Herman Ruth, sounds like a lawyer's name, maybe that of a captain of industry. Thankfully, he didn't spend his professional life in a court house or executive suite. His home was on the diamond, wearing a uniform, with one glove, one bat and the youthful enthusiasm befitting his nickname. He came along at the right moment, emerging as baseball's greatest star just as the game rebounded from the ugliness of the Black Sox scandal. Ruth's talent and personality turned a struggling New York team that had never won a pennant into the game's dominant franchise. If you're into numerical coincidences: the Babe was born 2/6 -- in "old math," two into six is three -- the number 3 he wore from 1929 on as a Yankee. As the author Jane Leavy says so well in her book  The Big Fella , he was the first true sports celebrity. And he's still one:...

A winter of speculation ended with a huge trade Tuesday night, as the Red Sox shipped Mookie Betts to the Dodgers in a multi-player deal designed to get them under the luxury tax. The four time All Star and 2018 MVP -- set to earn $27 million this season -- becomes a free agent next winter. And Boston -- yes, "New England's team," with huge TV revenue and an always sold-out for top-dollar Fenway Park -- felt his price tag had risen too high to risk getting only a draft pick should he walk. There was more to the trade -- the Dodgers also agreed to take David Price and (most of) his over $30 million salary off the Sox hands, so they could slip under the luxury tax threshold. The lesson here is not so much watching a home grown star become pricey, if not unaffordable, under his years of team control. It points to the mistakes former team president Dave Dombrowski made in signing Price to a contract that paid maximum money as his productivity and durability declined...

It's a week before pitchers and catchers begin to report. Honestly, did you expect Yasiel Puig to still be unsigned at this point? OK, he marches to his own drummer and his emotional take on life doesn't suit every clubhouse. Still, there ought to be plenty of clubs who could use a 29-year old who averages 25 homers, 78 RBI and an on-base percentage a nick under .350.

Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs, who were led to their first title in 50 years by the son of a former major league ballplayer.  Now, as of this morning, we're pivoting from Patrick Mahomes' sport back to his dad's. We're eight or nine days away from when pitchers and catchers report to training camps in Florida and Arizona. Some players can't wait for that date --  Luke Voit told the New York Post he was driving from his Missouri home to the Yankees' Tampa headquarters on Saturday. Coming off a 2019 that was derailed by a sports hernia in late June, he's one of those who'll have questions to answer over the next sevene weeks: was his late 2018/early 2019 production a fluke or the sign of a late bloomer? Can he hold off Miguel Andujar and Mike Ford to remain the Yanks regular 1st baseman? Will his defense improve enough that he's not just relegated to sharing the DH position with Giancarlo Stanton? Is he trade bait for a badly needed le...

It's March 2007, as the Orioles take batting practice before a Grapefruit League game against the Mets in Port St. Lucie. Waiting his turn in the cage, number 9 for Baltimore, Paul Bako . But I don't recognize any other players -- do you? Originally Thomas J. White Stadium -- honoring the builder who convinced the Mets to move their camp from St. Petersburg to Florida's east coast -- the ballpark has sported a variety of names in its 33 year life: Tradition Field (after another homebuilder), Digital Domain Park and now First Data Field, after one of the Mets current corporate partners. Having recently extended their deal for the campus, the Mets will continue to call Port St. Lucie their winter home through the middle of the century.