Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

July 30th , 2017: Adrian Beltre becomes the first Dominican-born player with 3000 career hits. It's a 4th inning double in the Rangers' 10-6 loss to the Orioles at Globe Life Park. July 30th, 2000: For the second consecutive game, a newly acquired player hits a home run in his first at bat as a Met. After Mike Bordick did it the day before, Bubba Trammell smacks a three-run homer in the bottom of the 2nd, as the Mets go on to beat the Cardinals 4-2 at Citi Field . July 30th, 1980: After complaining of a "dead arm." Astros pitcher J.R. Richard suffers a stroke during workouts at the Astrodome. Emergency surgery is performed to remove a blood clot behind his right collarbone, but Richard is never able to resume his career. July 30th, 1973: Jim Bibby no-hits the defending World Champion Athletics, as Texas beats Oakland 6-0. Bibby is the 14th rookie ever to throw a no-no. July 30th, 1968: The Senators' Ron Hansen becomes the eighth major leaguer, and the first since...

He is the poster child for modern day baseball and its "three true outcomes" a walk, strikeout or a home run. Yankees are on the verge of obtaining slugger Joey Gallo from the Rangers for a package of at least four prospects. Will he be "the answer?" The missing piece that will close the gap with division leaders Boston and Tampa Bay?  It's easy to say he's an upgrade over disappointing Clint Frazier, injury-prone (and defensively suspect) Miguel Andujar and career minor leaguer Ryan LaMarre. Being lefthanded helps balance a lineup that relies on righthanded power bats Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez and Giancarlo Stanton? But does Gallo's "all or nothing" approach produce more runs against the better pitching the Yanks will face should they make it to October? Or does Brian Cashman have one more rabbit to pull from his cap with the interlocking NY?  

Ryan LaMarre, seen here in June with the Yankees Scranton farm club, delivered the key home run in last night's 4-3 win over the Rays. Though he caught Brian Cashman's attention hitting over .300 with the RailRiders, he hit only three home runs in AAA. So far, he's punched out a pair in five games as a Yankee. I made my first visit to the Trop when the Yanks played the Rays in mid-May. While most of the decor ranges from bland to shopping-mall-generic, this 3D image above a food stand on the main level jumps out as a clever touch.   No surprise that this mascot's name is Raymond. Matt Moore, seen here pitching for the Phillies in Dunedin  on May 15th, projects intensity on the mound. But his season has been more down than up. Last night, he had a rough time facing the Nationals. Starting because a trade for the Pirates' Tyler Anderson fell through at the last minute, the veteran lefty was tagged for three-run homers by Josh Bell and Juan Soto, in a 6-4 loss that dro...

Andrew McCutchen came through in the clutch for the Phillies to turn a Monday night loss into a stirring victory. Facing Brad Hand with two on, one out and his team down by two in the bottom of the 9th, the veteran outfielder crushed the first pitch for a three-run walk-off homer, his first as a Phillie (and eighth of his long and productive career).  Despite season-long bullpen issues, the Phils are now just 3-1/2 games back of the division-leading Mets. But is that close enough for ownership and the front office to bring in a pricey veteran before Friday's trade deadline?

For seven innings on Sunday, Domingo Germán was the story in baseball. No hits, just two baserunners (a walk and a runner reaching on a passed ball) and a domination performance over the first place Red Sox. Six outs away from a win that would earn the Yankees a weekend split with their fiercest rival. Two innings away from proclaiming that the pitcher won 18 games before a domestic violence incident ended his 2019 season was "back." It's Tony Orlando time again: cue his '60s classic " Halfway to Paradise ."  As the lyrics cry out so poignantly: "so near and so far away." Alex Verdugo led off the Boston half of the 8th with a double to the right field wall, ending Germán's day and ushering in Jonathan Loaisiga who was touched up for four consecutive hits. None of them crushed, but the building blocks for the Red Sox winning rally. With the tying run coming home on an infield grounder and the go-ahead run plated on Xander Bogaerts' sacrifice...

July 23rd , 2009: Mark Teixeria is the batting star, as he Yankees come from behind with four in the 4th and two more in the 5th to beat the A's 6-3 . Teixeira's two run homer keys the 4th inning rally; he adds an RBI double an inning later. CC Sabathia works the first seven innings for his 10th win of the season. July 23rd, 2006: Adrian Beltre hits the first inside-the-park home run in the eight-year history of Safeco Field. The 8th-inning blast to center field comes off the Red Sox Mike Timlin in the Mariners' 9-8 victory. July 23rd, 1978: Steve Carlton earns his 200th career victory, in the Phillies 13-2 win over the Astros at Veterans Stadium. July 23rd, 1969: Willie McCovey smacks a pair of home runs as the National League wins the All Star Game at RFK Stadium in Washington. It's the last time the game is played during the afternoon; it becomes a prime TV event the following summer. July 23rd, 1964: Rookie Bert Campaneris homers twice in his first major league gam...

  ...you share it with  Jake Barrett , a righthanded relief pitcher who appeared in parts of three seasons (2016-'18) with the Diamondbacks, and a pair of 2019 games with the Yankees. Fortunately, I was on hand to see him work against the Twins on May 4th. As an aside, on a team that's retired over 20 numbers, no one has laid claim to 36 for very long. Of the more than 50 Yankees donning the "triple dozen," it was most recently worn by now-traded Mike Ford, and might be most closely associated with pitcher David Cone and Hall of Famer Johnny Mize, who spent only part of their careers in pinstripes. Barrett shares his birthday with a far more famous Yankee reliever.  Sparky Lyle : the lefty who won the 1977 Cy Young Award and was famous for riding in from the bullpen in a Datsun subcompact -- whose ad slogan "Datsun Saves" was redubbed in his honor as "Sparky Saves." After coming to the Yankees in a lopsided trade for Danny Cater, Lyle twice led the...

I got my first in-person look last night at Greg Allen. Even though hit seventh for the Yankees, he did what good lead off batters are supposed to -- get on base and provide speed to ignite the attack. Above, the swing that produced his 3rd inning triple, which after Estevan Florial's infield grounder, produced the club's first run of the night. Pure, simple, fundamentally sound baseball. Through this so-far disappointing Yankee season, the club's lack of speed, lack of batting order diversity and over-emphasis on the home run has made too many of their games boring. Sure, when it works, when Judge or Sanchez or Stanton crush an opposing pitch it's entertaining -- but haven't you sensed something was missing?  A spark, an energy, the "threat" that Mickey Rivers, Chuck Knoblauch or Rickey Henderson once provided? Last night, Allen contributed a hit, a walk and two runs scored at the Yankees pushed past the Phillies 6-4. Let's not get ahead of ourselves....

Noting the anniversary of Henry Aaron's 755th and final home run (off Dick Drago) during the Brewers/Angels game at County Stadium on this date in 1976,  Christian Yelich and Luis Urias of the Brewers model the club's memorial patch for the people's home run champ. Aaron began his legendary career with the Milwaukee Braves in 1954. Three years later, he brought the city a World Series championship, and was part of another pennant winner a year later. He moved with the franchise to Atlanta in 1966. But car dealer -- and later Brewers owner -- Bud Selig never lost the dream of bringing Milwaukee's brightest baseball star home. And he did -- in the season after he passed Babe Ruth's career record with #715.  As a Brave and a Brewer, Henry Aaron will always be linked to Milwaukee as much as Atlanta. Both franchises remember him during this 2021 season.

Among the Yankees nagging issues since the 2020 season began was the offensive decline of Gleyber Torres. Let's be blunt; he cratered. How does someone -- considered a can't miss prospect - go from two seasons of averaging .275, 31 homers and 84 RBIs to the 2020-'21 numbers of .242, 8 and 48?? It's as if the baseball gods substituted the 1950s  Joe Morgan for the one enshrined in Cooperstown . Shifting from 2nd base to shortstop has been cited as a factor. But before being sent to the Yankees (in the 2016 Aroldis Chapman trade), Torres was a minor league shortstop. And he didn't struggle with the bat. This weekend, we finally saw some positive signs from the still just 24 year old. Important home runs in Saturday's and Sunday's wins over the Red Sox. OK, that's just two games -- but two crucial ones that kept the Yankees season from totally flatlining.  The Yankees are in one of their most challenging sections of the schedule; next up are a pair at home...

July 16th , 2013: The Mets host the All Star Game for the first time in 49 years, with their rising star Matt Harvey pitching the first two scoreless innings. But it's crosstown rival Mariano Rivera of the Yankees -- set to retire at season's end -- named game MVP when he works a 1-2-3 8th inning, in the AL's 3-0 victory. July 16th, 2010: Benji Molina of the Rangers becomes the first catcher ever to hit for the cycle -- with the home run being a grand slam! Texas defeated the Red Sox at Fenway Park 8-4. July 16th, 2006: Mariano Rivera gets the last six outs of the game to nail down his 400th career save. The Yankees defeat the White Sox 6-4 in the Bronx. July 16th, 2006: The Mets have their highest scoring inning in team history -- 11 runs in the top of the 6th inning, including grand slams by Cliff Floyd and Carlos Beltran and and two-run shot by David Wright -- as the put up a football score: Mets 13 - Cubs 7.  July 16th, 2005: Al Leiter's career comes full circle, as...

...you share it with Peter O'Brien . Seen above in July 2014 with the Yankees' Trenton farm club, he whacked 125 home runs in six minor league seasons. Just days after I took this photo, he was swapped to the Diamondbacks for Martin Prado. Over parts of four seasons, big league pitching proved too much of a challenge up for the Miami-area native. Ramon Laureano is another of the toolsy, inexpensive and productive players the A's specialize in. Oakland's center fielder made history August 3rd, 2018 when he made his major league debut: he's the first Athletics player (in any of the franchise's three home cities) with a walk-off RBI hit as their first major league hit. Among the other players born July 15th, we see some familiar names, such as Cardinal player-turned-broadcaster Mike Shannon , -- who played in three World Series during the 1960s and homered in each of them -- and longtime backup catcher Kirt Manwaring , but no Hall of Famers.  In fact, of the 53 ma...

Vladimir Guerrero Junior splashed his prolific talent at the All Star Game, where he was named MVP. The Blue Jays star's booming 2nd inning home not only helped build the AL's lead, but was the 200th home run in the history of baseball's Midsummer Classic (Babe Ruth hit the first, in the inaugural game back in 1933. It also made him part of a father - son combo where each each hit All Star Game homers -- joining the Bonds and Griffey families. Jameson Taillon hasn't had the impact his former Pirates teammate Taijuan Walker has enjoyed with New York's other team. But he's held opponents to two runs or less in four of his last five starts. Here's a moment Mets manager Luis Rojas had to hold his breath: Jacob deGrom, trying to bunt last week against the Brewers, exposes his priceless right hand when trying to lay one down -- and then quickly pulls back. There are probably still a few folks in the Mets organization that recall another lefty hitting righthander,...