Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

...you share it with Scott Kingery.  The Phillies breakthrough prospect in 2018; signed a six-year $24 million contract before ever playing a game in the majors. Still, he seemed ready, versatile in the field and skilled at-bat -- until his offensive numbers began to drop. Tinkering didn't help with his swing; after he aimed for more power, his numbers fell off the table the last two years, accompanied by back and shoulder injuries. This year, he'll play at AAA Lehigh Valley trying to recapture his old form. Ron Washington symbolizes what a "baseball lifer" means. A shortstop with the 1980s Twins, he  managed the Texas Rangers to a pair of American League pennants.  A  well respected coach known for his expertise in preparing infielders, Washington now mans the third base box for the Braves. Jose Peraza spent four years as a Reds infielder, and was a handy fill-in last spring for the Mets after they were hit by a wave of injuries. After failing to make the Yankees ...

  17 years to the day that Alex Rodriguez pounded three home runs against the Angels at (the old) Yankee Stadium, Anthony Rizzo also declared, "Three for me!" He crushed a trio of blasts to the right field porch Tuesday night, as the Yanks outslugged the Orioles 12-8.  And speaking of deja vu in Pinstripes, Aaron Judge homered on his 30th birthday to round out the scoring.  That also earned a notch in team history: Judge became the third Yankee ever to homer on the day he turned 30, joining Lou Gehrig and Jerry Mumphrey in that very select circle.  Of course, this feat requires both talent and absolute luck. Judge's birthday is April 26th. That enabled him to accomplish something baseball icons such as Rickey Henderson, Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth and Henry Aaron could never do -- as their birthdays all fell during the heart of winter. 

I'm saddened that the Yankees retro-styled auxiliary scoreboards have been replaced this summer by electronic advertising. How about you? ( Of course, I am far more disappointed by the bad apples who tossed beer cans and other assorted garbage onto the field after the end of Saturday's comeback victory. Totally unacceptable behavior. ) On a far more positive note... Gerrit Cole finally looked his old self on Sunday, dominating the Cleveland lineup as the Yanks rolled to a 10-2 victory. After an awful previous outing, when he couldn't get out of the 2nd inning, the pricey righty struck out nine, while allowing four hits and a walk over 6-2/3. And with the Blue Jays losing on Sunday, the Yankees are tied atop the AL East. Cole isn't the only Yankee who appears eager to bounce back: DJ LeMahieu was clearly not himself in 2021. A year after winning the AL batting title, his numbers fell dramatically; late in the season we learned the problem was a sports hernia that requi...

  ...you share it with a future Hall of Fame manager.  Terry Francona  helped break the Red Sox curse, leading Boston to World Series titles in 2004 (when they became the first MLB team to rally from a 3-0 deficit in the ALCS) and 2007. From '04 through 2020, his teams posted winning records in 17 consecutive seasons. And with a Guardians club led by baseball's most overlooked superstar Jose Ramirez, he's poised to do it again this summer.  That's such stark contrast to Francona's first job, where all of his Phillies clubs between 1997 and 2000 posted losing records. Kevin Kiermaier is the Rays' defensively gifted center fielder.  The three-time Gold Glove winner (2015, '16 and '19) is off to a slow start with the bat this year. Now on the "wrong" side of 30, he might find himself being traded for younger (and cheaper) reinforcements. And coming up tomorrow, the 23rd: Andruw Jones might be the most interesting current case of whether someone ...

Tom Seaver earned his first career victory on this date in 1967. In his second big league start, the Mets rookie  pitches 7-2/3 innings, gives up eight hits and strikes out five in a 6-1 win over the Cubs at Shea Stadium.  April 20th, 1997: At Shea Stadium, the Mets hand the Cubs their NL-record 14th straight loss to open a season. Bobby Jones pitches a complete game five-hitter, while Carl Everett homers twice and drives in five runs in an 8-2 Shea  Stadium victory in the opener of a doubleheader. ( The Cubs finally snap the streak with a 4-3 win in the nightcap .) April 20th, 1912: Delayed two days by bad weather, the first game is finally played at Boston's brand-new Fenway Park. Hall of Famer Tris Speaker delivers the walk-off RBI in the last of the 11th inning as the Red Sox defeat the New York Highlanders 7-6 . ( Unfortunately, news of the Titanic's sinking pushed the game off the front pages of New England newspapers. ) April 20th, 1927: The Indians edge the White...

While the Yankees offense has been sluggish and far-too-dependent on home runs, Luis Severino has been one of the club's bright spots. After losing most of three years to injury, the righthander's first two starts are much more in line with his work in 2017-'18. The other is the ever-improving "Nasty" Nestor Cortes . Sunday, the Hialeah, Florida product stymied the Orioles hitters, striking out 12 in five-plus innings of shutout ball -- highlighted by an immaculate inning: nine pitches, no balls, three consecutive strikeouts! Cortes deserves a better fate than a pair of no decisions with no runs allowed in 9-1/3 innings -- along with 17 k's! Now one from the "splain this" file:  Andrew Heaney struggled last season, with an ERA on the wrong side of 5 with the Angels and over 7 after a deadline trade to the Yankees. That makes you wonder where he tapped the magic for his first two 2022 appearances -- 10-1/3 scoreless with 14k's... 11 of them Sunda...

75 years ago today, baseball finally and truly became America's game. Jackie Robinson made his regular season debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers, shattering the precedent that kept Black players out of the major leagues. A great day for baseball, a greater day for this country. New York's pride in that moment is reflected in the entrance to Citi Field. The Jackie Robinson Rotunda displays a series of tributes to the man, his determination and his accomplishments -- because by proving the haters to be wrong, he allowed baseball to be right by opening up its fields to all. Robinson not only joined a rising team that would go onto win six pennants over the next decade, he changed the game. He helped re-introduce the stolen base into baseball strategy. There's so much film of him dancing off a base, intimidating the other team, helping his Dodgers play better and smarter.  Today, across the major leagues, every player on every team wears the number 42 to honor the man, his lessons ...

Welcome to Mirabito Stadium in Binghamton for Tuesday night's home opener with the Mets AA farm club hosting their Orioles' counterpart, the Bowie Baysox. It was a night for familiar faces: Binghamton manager Reid Brignac, with coaches Tommy Joseph and Mariano Duncan to his right. Mets fans have a right to be excited about the fresh faces, hitting 2-3-4 in the batting order. They didn't take long to impress: Catcher Francisco Alvarez crushed a Zach Peek pitch... and banged it off the left field fence. Then, it was 3rd baseman Brett Baty's turn: He sent it to almost the identical spot... setting up runners at 2nd and 3rd and Ronny Maurico uncorked another double. That brought Alvarez and Baty home with the first two runs of the night. The Rumble Ponies were off to the races: Mauricio and Alvarez later homered... and, with starting pitcher Alec Kisena allowing just a run in five innings, Binghamton won it 9-4 . One last look at Baty and Mauricio... while Francisco Lindor...

The most famous uniform design in pro sports was introduced on April 11th, 1912 . Pinstripes first appear on New York Highlanders uniforms, paired with the interlocking NY logo. (For history buffs, the new uni's didn't help on the scoreboard. The not-yet-Yankees lost 5-0 that day to the Red Sox at Hilltop Park in Upper Manhattan.)   Casey Stengel's New York Mets played their first game ever on this night in 1962 . After being rained out the night before, the expansion team loses 11-4 to the Cardinals in St. Louis. That's something the Mets would do with amazing regularity this season -- 120 losses, including the first nine in a row. Richie Ashburn was the leadoff batter,; Roger Craig was the starting pitcher. On a positive note, Charlie Neal singled in Ashburn in the 3rd inning for the club's first run; Gil Hodges hits the Mets first homer, leading off the top of the 4th against St. Louis starter Larry Jackson..

. ..you share it with Jeff McNeil . The Mets 2nd baseman -- who started in left field in last night's season opener -- looks to bounce back in '22 after failing to hit .300 for the first time in his four-year career. Zach Eflin  came to the Phillies in the 2014 deal that sent franchise icon Jimmy Rollins to the Dodgers. He turned in three good seasons as a starting pitcher (2018-'20) before his 2021 was sidetracked by a knee problem. Jo Adell   is one of the Angels outfield prospects the club expects to take over for the just-released Justin Upton. He showed promise in 2021, with seven home runs in 130 at-bats.  Yonder Alonso starred at the University of Miami before spending parts of 10 seasons in the majors, where he belted exactly 100 home runs. The brother-in-law of Padres star Manny Machado has launched a second career as a studio analyst with MLB Network. ... And we remember a pair of Hall of Famers who died far too young: Gary Carter earned his place in Coopersto...

My World Series pick plays here : This is shaping up as the Toronto Blue Jays' year. To mark the 30th anniversary of Canada's first World Series champs, team president Mark Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins have assembled the best collection of young stars in the game, bolstered it with the savvy trade for 3rd baseman Matt Chapman and a pitching staff strong enough to hold off the White Sox, Astros, Yankees and Rays. Vladmir Guerrero Junior came into his own last season. Still just 23, the reigning home run and OPS champ is the heart of fearsome lineup co-starring Bo Bichette, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Teoscar Hernandez and George Springer -- who looked like his old self in Florida after injuries held him to under 80 games a year ago. Tack on speed from recent trade steal Raimel Tapia and another potential power bat in catcher Alejandro Kirk and Toronto could easily lead the American League in scoring. Hyun-jin Ryu, Jose Berios and free agent signing Kevin Gausman are three quality startin...

  The lockout that delayed spring training had one other unique effect: this year's minor league season opens a few days before MLB. I was on hand at NBT Bank Stadium in Syracuse for that "mini" Subway Series rivalry as the Mets AAA club hosted their Yankees counterpart, the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Railriders. And the weather couldn't have been better! After a sunny day with temps in the 60s, it was still warm and bright as the 6:35 pitch pitch approached. Longtime Mets player and coach Mookie Wilson threw a ceremonial opening pitch.  Teams lined up on the baselines, the color guard from nearby Fort Drum at the mound... Moments later, it's the first pitch of the International League season! Yes, MLB (having now obtained the trademarks) restored the traditional names of most minor leagues this year. The rest of the night belonged to the not-yet-Yankees: Oswald Peraza, the most "ready" of the Yankees crop of middle infield prospects crushed a Thomas Szapucki...