Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

October 30th, 2019: Anthony Rendon and Howie Kendrick belt 7th inning home runs as the Nationals rally past the Astros 6-2 at Minute Mail Park and bring Washington its first World Series championship since 1924. It's the first seven game Series where each of the games are won by the visiting team. October 30th, 2015:  The Mets ride strong pitching from Noah Syndergaard and two-run homers by David Wright and Curtis Granderson to a 9-3 win over the Royals in game three of the World Series. October 30th, 2013: Shane Victorino's three-run double off Michael Wacha is the key hit as the Red Sox beat the Cardinals 6-1 to win the World Series in six games. David Ortiz walks four times, three of them intentionally, as is named Series MVP. October 30th, 2001: George W. Bush, wearing a New York Fire Department becomes the first president since Dwight Eisenhower to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at a World Series game. The Yankees go on to edge the Diamondbacks 2-1 in game three, th...

Kevin Cash's 6th inning decision in game six will be one of baseball's hot topics during the winter. How could it not be? Blake Snell was totally in control -- the Rays young ace holding the big Dodger bats to just one hit in five innings. An Austin Barnes single was all that it took for Tampa Bay's manager to pull him from the game. And as fate, or justice, would have it, L.A. quickly built a game-changing two run rally, as they took command en route to a Series clinching victory.   While what's done is done, and analytics-driven moves are the way baseball is played in 2020, wouldn't you love to hear Vin Scully or Sandy Koufax's take on Cash's decision to pull Snell from the game? Could you imagine in 1963 or '65, Walter Alston coming out to remove Sandy (or Don Drysdale) because of some "risky matchup?" Or World Series game seven 1955, Alston pulling Johnny Podres out in the 7th inning of game seven (en route to a Series-ending shutout) after...

  ...the Dodgers are World Champions. And shortstop Corey Seager is your series MVP. But let's leave the final word to the forever voice of the Dodgers:

 ...you share it with TJ Rivera , who grew up in the Bronx but played his major league ball in Queens with the Mets. A lightly regarded prospect even though he posted good minor league hitting stats, he hit .304 in 106 Mets games split between 2016 and '17. Ruben Tejada , the Mets infielder who showed some promise as a hitter early in his career, but spent most of the 2010s as a backup. Francisco Mejia , the Padres light hitting backup catcher, who began his career with the Indians. Jon Niese spent six years as a member of the Mets starting rotation -- highlighted by a June 10th, 2010 one hit shutout against the Padres at Citi Field. Pete Vuckovich , who pitched well for the late 1970s Cardinals, and even better for the Brewers, where he won the 1982 AL Cy Young Award. But he was never the same after a torn rotator cuff diagnosis the following season. Martin Prado  hit .300 or better in four of his seasons eight seasons as a major league regular. A versatile player who settle...

Saturday night served up everything you'd want in a great post-season game: this suspenseful, quirky and totally captivating four hours and ten minutes showcased the national pastime as it should be. You had a hunch things were going to be special when Justin Turner homered in the top of the first inning. In a flash, the Dodgers 3rd baseman accomplished something we'd never seen before in 117 years of World Series history: first inning home runs in the consecutive games. No one, not Rickey Henderson, Derek Jeter, Lou Brock or even Babe Ruth, had ever rocked the start of back-to-back games that way in baseball's fall classic. The night got better from there, with dramartic lead changes, clutch hitting, pinpoint pitching, all designed to keep you on the edge of your seat. And it did! In a year when nothing is normal and all sports feel a little (or a lot off stride), baseball gave us one for the ages. Kevin Kiermaier had already written his name into the story with a game-t...

October 23rd,  2015: The Royals win their second straight American League pennant with a 4-3 win over the Blue Jays to take the ALCS in six games. Lorenzo Cain scores the go-ahead run, racing home from first base on Eric Hosmer's single. October 23rd, 2010: Juan Uribe's tie-breaking RBI single in the bttom of the 8th inning pushes the Giants past the Phillies 3-2 for an NLCS-clinching game six victory, and prevents the Phils from advancing to a third straight World Series. October 23rd, 1996: Trailing 6-0 after 5 innings at Fulton County Stadium, the Yankees mount their biggest-ever post-season comeback; they tie the game on Jim Leyritz 's three-run homer in the 8th, get strong relief pitching from Mariano Rivera, Graeme Lloyd and John Wetteland before scoring the winning run on Wade Boggs' bases loaded walk with two out in the 10th inning. The Yankees 8-6 victory over the Braves squares the World Series at two wins each. October 23rd, 1993: Joe Carter's three-run 9...

Two of baseball's best all-around hitters made loud statements in leading their teams to victories as the World Series began. Mookie Betts (seen in 2016 with the Red Sox), became the first player to walk and steal two bases in an inning of a World Series game since Babe Ruth -- with the 1921 Yankees -- and added a home run as LA took Tuesday's opener. (You have to love the coincidence that both Betts and the Bambino were traded to their respective teams by the Red Sox.) Wednesday, it was Brandon Lowe 's turn. After hitting just .107 through the first three rounds, the Newport News, Virginia product reminded us why his last name rhymes with "wow" smaching a pair of homers to help Tampa Bay even the series. Hopefully, this means a competitive series. Each side fired their first flurry of punches. The bell has rung, both teams are back in their respective corners. And game three, with the Rays as the "home team," awaits on Friday night.  

..you share it with the late Whitey Ford , who passed away earlier this month. Read about this always genial man and lifetime Yankee here .   Jose Lobaton  caught for nine years in the majors, all but one as a backup. He understudied Wilson Ramos in both Washington, and, in 2018, with the Mets. Lobaton is among the select circle of players who have been married on a ballfield -- he and his wife Nina took their vows standing at home plate of Tropicana Field in 2012. Khalil Greene spent five years as the Padres shortstop, and still holds the San Diego record for most home runs at the position (27, in 2007) -- though you can expect Fernando Tatis Jr to claim that mark sometime soon. John Flaherty lived his boyhood dream: growing up in suburban Rockland County, he capped his 14 year major league career as the Yankees backup catcher in 2003, '04 and '05. He moved smoothly into the broadcast booth and is now an analyst on YES Network telecasts. George Bell was one of the bes...

After this oddest of all seasons -- short, socially quarantined and peppered with experimental rules from 7-inning games in doubleheaders, to starting extra innings with a runner on 2nd base -- we've finally arrived at the World Series. Of course, this one won't be traditional, either. For the first time ever, it will be played at a neutral site -- Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas will host the Rays and the Dodgers. At least it will offer the teams with the best records in each league. Although they present a study in contrast. The young and cost-conscious Rays -- who'll start Tyler Glasnow in game one -- as opposed to the big budget Dodgers, led by Mookie Betts, who was as good as advertised after coming over in last winter's most-talked-about trade, and signed a massive 12-year $365 million extension to stay out of free agency. Skipper Dave Roberts  gets his third try at bringing the Dodgers their first championship since 1988. He'll hand the ball tonight to ...

Sunday night's Dodgers-Braves game was nearly everything a seventh and deciding game of a post-season series should be: maximum drama, big moments, and clutch performances. Well, not quite everything... since the game wasn't at Dodger Stadium or Truist Park, but on neutral ground at Globe Life Field in Arlington. But that's a product of it being 2020. Maybe a little natural sunshine would have sweetened the atmosphere, but we can blame TV and the commissioner's office for that. Did you get a sense that momentum shifted with Mookie Betts' leaping 5th inning catch that robbed Freddie Freeman of a home run that would have extended the Braves' lead? Just connect the dots as the evening continued. Trailing 3-2 in the 6th inning, Enrique ("Kike") Hernandez was the first to step up... his pinch hit, solo home to left center off Atlanta's A.J. Minter tied the score and put the spark back in the L.A. dugout. Then it was Julio Urias ' turn to sparkle.  ...

October 16th, 2014: Travis Ishikawa does his version of Aaron Boone with a walk-off three-run homer that ends the NLCS, giving his Giants a 6-3 pennant-clinching victory over Cardinals in Game 5. San Francisco will face the Royals as they head to their third World Series in five seasons. October 16th, 2005: The White Sox beat the Angels 6-3 to win the ALCS, ending a 46-year drought from the World Series. Joe Crede singles in Aaron Rowand in the top of the 8th for the go-ahead run.  October 16th, 2003: Aaron Boone writes his name into Yankees lore. His 11th inning walk-off homer facing Tim Wakefield captures the seventh and deciding game of the ALCS and writes the Bronx Bombers' ticket to their 39th World Series with a 6-5 victory. October 16th, 2000: Mike Hampton pitches a three-hit shutout, as the Mets close out the Cardinals 7-0 at Shea Stadium and take the NLCS four games to one. Hampton who held St. Louis scoreless for 16 innings over his two starts in the series, is named MVP...

10 summers ago as the Rays visited the Yankees, Carlos Pena was on his way to 28 home runs and 84 RBIs. These days, Carlos Pena is one of the lead analysts for MLB Network. I'd forgotten how good a career the Dominican native and Boston-area product had -- maybe you did, too -- mashing 286 homers, mainly with Tampa Bay and Detroit.   

...you share it with Joe Girardi . The 17th former Yankee to manage the team succeeded Joe Torre and spent a decade on the job -- highlighted by winning the 2009 World Series. Over a 10 season tenure, his Yankees compiled a 910 - 710 record, the sixth most wins in franchise history. He left after his youthful 2017 club lost the ALCS to the Astros. Following two years with MLB Network, he took over the Phillies in 2010, but bullpen issues kept them out of the playoffs. Merrill Kelly won 13 as a 30-year old rookie pitcher on the 2019 Diamondbacks. He was off to a 3 - 2 star this summer when a shoulder injury ended his season. Kole Calhoun is representative of a lot of modern day players. He hits a lot of home runs -- 33 with the 2019 Angels -- but strikes out in one out of every four at bats, and hasn't hit above .250 since 2016. Pat Kelly appeared to be a longterm answer at 2nd base for the Yankees up until the 1994 player strike. Once the action resumed the following season, he...

Austin Riley  can easily get lost on a Braves club featuring superstar Ronald Acuna Junior and the ultra productive Freddie Freeman, Ozzie Albies, Marcell Ozuna and late bloomer Travis d'Arnaud.  But Monday night, he delivered the game-changing blow. Leading off the top of the 9th in a tie game, his homer off the Dodgers' Blake Treinen put Atlanta ahead to stay. And while Albies' RBI single and Ozuna's two-run homer gave the Braves more than enough insurance, Riley's blast broke the ice, and helped give Atlanta a game one win in the NLCS. Reaching baseball's equivalent of the Final Four for the first time since 2001, the Braves are looking to make it back to the World Series for the first time since 1999 -- as they chase their first Championship in 25 years.

A grim six weeks that began with the August 31st death of Tom Seaver, followed by those of fellow Hall of Famers Lou Brock and Bob Gibson has seen the death of two more Hall of Famers in the last few days. Whitey Ford , the greatest starting pitcher in Yankee history, passed away Thursday night while watching his team win their playoff game with the Rays. While it's sad when anyone, let alone an iconic member of the most successful sports franchise of all time, leaves this earth, there's a gentle sentimentality in the moment. After all, his 10 victories in World Series play remains a baseball record. Remember, when Whitey played -- and excelled -- that was the only "post-season" in baseball. Ford's teams made the World Series in 11 of his 16 seasons. He played his career out on the biggest stage in more two-thirds of his career. Good as his numbers were, they could have been even bigger, but for the two years Ford served his country during the Korean War (1951-...

...a shoutout to Gleyber Torres . After a injury-marred season and the worst production of his still-young career, the Yankees short stop has kicked up a couple of gears in the playoffs and turned back in the 2019 version of himself. Thursday night, his two-run homer in the 6th gave the Yankee bullpen some insurance; the in the 8th, his one-out single and gutsy stole base set up Kyle Higashioka's RBI single for New York's final run. Plus, after regular season struggles, he's playing well at shortstop. On a club with a lot of all or nothing hitters, Torres and DJ LeMahieu bring a more diversified game, that's  more dangerous against stronger opponents. Now... onto our History: October 9th, 1996: "The Jeffrey Maier" game... as the 12-year old leans over the right field fence to catch Derek Jeter's 8th inning fly ball that probably would have fallen to Orioles right fielder Tony Tarasco. Turning a likely out in a game-changing home run, as the Yankees rally f...

Let's see if the memory of past Yankee post-season heroics brings some good luck tonight. Years before Giancarlo Stanton claimed number-27, those digits were worn by Raul Ibanez . On October 10th, 2012 , with the Yankees trailing the Orioles two game to one, he hammered a pair if game-changing home runs — one to tie the game in the bottom of the 9th — and another to win it in the 12th (this image captures the follow through on the winning blast). I was at the Stadium that night, snapping away from the upper deck on a rare night that the "new place" got as loud as "the old place." Soak in the moment, the absolute joy as Ibanez is surrounded by teammates moments after that walk-off homer and disappears into the middle of that celebratory scrum! With Jordan Montgomery starting a do-or-die game four tonight, does Stanton -- now with home runs in five consecutive post-season games -- step up big? Who else might fuel the Yankees attack? We'll find out what's l...

  ...you share it with Mookie Betts , the best outfielder developed by the Red Sox since Jim Rice, who was deemed too expensive and, after a trade and pricey contract extension, now stars for the Dodgers. After a stellar first season in L.A., he hit .429 in the Wild Card series, and last night, broke up San Diego's no-hitter with a 6th inning double that ignited a game-changing rally. Bud Daley pitched well for some lousy Kansas City A's teams in the '50s, but battled injuries after being traded to the Yankees. He did have one shining moment -- working the last 6-2/3 innings, earning the win in the fifth and final game of the 1961 World Series. Jose Cardenal spent 18 years in the majors, most notably for the 1970s Cubs. The Cuban expat (and cousin of A's star Bert Campaneris), also coached for Joe Torre with the Cardinals and Yankees -- where he earned rings as 1st base coach for the 1996, '98 and '99 champs. Evan Longoria , the Rays' longtime "Face o...

When Giancarlo Stanton came to bat in the top of the 9th in the opener of the ALDS, the Yankees led the Rays just 5-3. The game was far from settled. Facing reliever John Curtiss with one out, the goal was to increase the lead, tack on another run to make life easier for Aroldis Chapman in the bottom of the inning. With one mighty swing, Stanton gave Chapman the night off and the Yankees an insurmountable lead. A grand slam over Petco Park's center field fence that put his team up 9-3. And maybe erased some doubts Yankee fans over the pricey but brittle former Marlin. There were plenty of Yankee standouts Monday night: DJ LeMahieu with two hits and two runs scored; Kyle Higashioka who hit a game-tying homer, while guiding Gerrit Cole through six rocky innings before turning a lead over to the bullpen; Gio Urshela, who continues to dazzle at 3rd base; Aaron Judge and Clint Frazier with home runs of their own.  But no one needed a big moment as much as Stanton. After missing 181 out...

Derek Jeter isn't the only former Yankee enjoying the post-season. Say hello to 1st baseman  Garrett Cooper . Who's that? You don't recognize the name. That's understandable, since his Yankee career lasted all of 13 games in 2017. But he's certainly made his mark for Miami. Friday, facing Yu Darvish in the top of the 7th, he homered to snap a scoreless tie, putting the Marlins ahead 1-0... Magneuris Sierra tacked on an insurance run minutes later, as Miami blanked the Cubs 2-0 to cap a two-game sweep and advance in the NL playoffs. This time there was no weird "Bartman" play. Just solid baseball, for the only franchise in baseball that has won every post-season series they've played in. Small sample? That's your call. But the fact is, they won the Division, League Championship and World Series in both 1997 and 2003. Add on this year's Wild Card round, and Miami is now 7-for-7 as they get set to face the Braves in a best of five Division Series ...

Bob Gibson , who died of cancer Friday at 84, was as determined and fierce a competitor as ever worked from a mound. #45 in white and red, the greatest pitcher in Cardinals history, totaled 251 wins, 255 complete games and 3117 strikeouts in 17 St. Louis seasons.  He reached his peak in 1968. Sure, they called it the Year of the Pitcher. But they could have simply called it the Year of Bob Gibson. That season, alongside 22 wins, he posted a near-invisible ERA of 1.12 -- en route to both the Cy Young Award and being named National League MVP. He then struck out a record 17 in the opening game of the World Series. But, impressive as they are, those are just numbers. The heart and soul of the '64-67-68 pennant winners, the Omaha native ruled the mound like a lion perched on a soaring rock. Cold blooded, totally focused, a man who delighted in staring down opposing batters. Gibson had that rare ability to turn it up a notch in the highest pressure situations. Want proof? He lost the fi...

We got a head start Thursday night, when Fernando Tatis Junior and Wil Myers of the Padres matched a feat only previously authored by the most famous 1-2 punch in baseball history.  Tatis and Myers each homered twice in San Diego's wild 11-9 Wild Card round win over the Cardinals --  joining Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig as the only teammates in postseason history to hit multiple homers in the same game.  Amazingly, they did it on October 1st -- the same date as the Yankee legends' double two-home run performance against the Cubs in the 1932 World Series. Now, time to hit that rewind button: October 2nd, 2012: R.A. Dickey wraps up his Cy Young Award season, striking out eight Marlins over six innings -- finishing the year with 230 and a no-decision as the Mets lose 4-3. It's also his final appearance for New York, who trades him to Toronto over the winter. October 2nd, 2004: The Expos conclude a 36-season run representing Montreal with a 6-3 victory over the Mets at Shea Stadi...