Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

...you share it with Trea Turner .  One of baseball's best all-around shortstops, he signed a massive 11 year contract with the Phillies last winter, where he rejoined his former Nationals teammate Bryce Harper.  After a slow start, his bat has come alive this month, as the Phils battle for another Wild Card and trip to the post-season. Below:  Cody Ashe  had a pair of productive seasons as the Phillies 3rd baseman (2014-'15) until the club decided that Maikel Franco was a better long-term option.  The suburban St. Louis native finished his big league career with the White Sox then spent several years in the minors before going into coaching.  Today's parade of birthdays also "pheatures" another Phillie.  Though to be honest, Chan Ho Park is far better known for his nine years with the Dodgers.  The first Korean pitcher to enjoy success in the US, he spent 2009 with the Phils, near the end of a career where he posted a 124-98 record over 17 seaso...

At Shea Stadium, in the nightcap of a day night doubleheader: Alfonso Soriano took the game's first pitch for a ball, then sent Tom Glavine's next delivery caroming off the right field wall just below the food court -- a direct hit on the painted image of the Mets' 1988 Eastern Division Champions banner.  It was Soriano's seventh leadoff homer this year and 15th of his career.  Moments later, Derek Jeter followed by golfing a low 2-and-1 pitch into the Mets' bullpen. The Soriano-Jeter combo marked only the fourth time in club history that the Yankees had opened a game with back-to-back homers.  The game turned into a slugfest, with Jason Giambi, Roger Cedeno and Ty Wigginton also homering as the Yanks hung on for a 10-9 victory .   

While Freddie Freeman got his 2000th hit over the weekend in a Dodger uniform, odds are when he enters the Hall of Fame next decade, it'll be wearing a Braves cap. (This image is from a May 1st, 2018 game against the Mets in New York.) Below :  Mickey Moniak was part of the Angels historic outburst Saturday, when they destroyed the Rockies 25-1.  The 2016 1st overall draft pick capped LA's 13-run 3rd inning with a two-run homer.   Moniak went 5-for-5 and finished with four extra-base hits as the Angels set a franchise record for most runs scored in a game.   After struggling in his years with the Phillies -- with whose Reading farm club I first saw him in 2019 -- the Southern California native has impressed since being recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake City. Since most of the games I attend these days are from the minors, I pay special attention to the players fast tracking it to the majors.  Just before an April '22 game, Binghamton Rumble Ponies br...

...you share it with  Jorge Mateo , the onetime Yankee prospect who has emerged as a star with the division rival Orioles. A sharp fielder and stolen base threat, the shortstop was one of the package of young players sent to the A's in the failed deal for Sonny Gray and bounced to the Padres before finding a home in Baltimore. He shares his day with another of the AL's best shortstops, Tim Anderson .  The White Sox 1st round draft pick in 2013, he arrived in Chicago three years later and has made the All Star team the last two seasons. Also in our June 23rd birthday parade: Marty Barrett , the 2nd baseman who spent nine of his 10 big league seasons with the Red Sox. Juan Castillo , a Venezuelan pitcher whose big league career consisted of a pair of games with the 1994 Mets. Hensley Meulens , the first native of Curacao to play in the majors, broke in with the Yankees before spending three productive years in Japan.  "Bam Bam" finished his playing career with the Expo...

A nifty 50 years ago today at San Diego Stadium: playing in just his third big league game, Padres rookie Dave Winfield belts the first of his 465 career home runs.  The solo blast -- in the bottom of the 5th off Houston's Ken Forsch -- is the  lone San Diego highlight in a 12-1 loss to the Astros .  My photo came from a 2011 celebrity card and collectibles show in New Jersey, where Winfield appeared -- as did fellow Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven .  And here they are together! In a very nice coincidence, on the same day that Winfield crushed his first homer, Blyleven tossed one of his league-leading nine shutouts that season.   At Metropolitan Stadium, the 22 year old righty kept the Angels off the board -- as did California's Clyde Wright -- until Joe Lis singled in Bobby Darwin for the only run of the night, and a 1-0 Minnesota victory.  1973 became Blyleven's greatest season, where he won 20 games, struck out 258 and was named to the AL All Star Team...

Catcher Bo Naylor looked like a future major leaguer when I saw him playing for AA Akron a year ago.  The younger brother of Cleveland outfielder and 1st baseman Josh Naylor flashed power and contact while facing Binghamton.  With the release last week of the underachieving Mike Zunino, the Ontario, Canada native will get his chance to do it on the big stage -- and for a contending ballclub. Below : It's back to the minors for Mets power hitting prospect Mark Vientos .  Recalled from AAA Syracuse when the offense began to sputter, he played just occasionally -- even after Pete Alonso landed on the Injured List.  The Connecticut-born, South Florida product then had the bad luck of Mark Canha and Tommy Pham's bats coming alive.  Hopefully, he'll regain his stroke as he again becomes a regular for the Mets top farm club. While we're talking minor leaguers with big league promise, here's my first posting of  Marcelo Mayer .  The Red Sox 1st round pick in...

A big part of baseball's charm is its tradition.  On this day we celebrate the bond of fathers and children, here's a unique example of one generation sharing the game with another.   Earlier this week, I could not resist the combination of Binghamton (AA) manager Reid Brignac and his namesake son, in the Rumble Ponies dugout.  This wasn't staged for the media or fans, it just occurred naturally -- a picture that represents the intersection of this day and this terrific game.

... you share it with Wally Joyner . A sweet-swinging 1st baseman whose 16-year career began with the Angels, where he was runner up for the 1986 AL Rookie for the Year.  The suburban Atlanta native and BYU product later coached for the Padres, Phillies and Tigers. Kerry Wood struck out 20 batters as a 20-year old rookie with the '98 Cubs.  And while he pitched for 14 seasons in the majors, injuries kept him from living up to his early promise. Ian Hamilton was doing the best work of his major league career out of the Yankees bullpen when a groin injury landed him on the I-L back in May. Ron LeFlore 's journey from inmate to major league star was chronicled in the movie One in a Million , in which he was played  by LeVar Burton.  Over his nine year career, he batted .288 with 455 stole bases. And we remember : Pancho Herrera was a highly touted Phillies prospect who finished second for the NL 1960 Rookie of the Year.  But he struck out too much (136 led the ...

June 14th, 1969 :   Reggie Jackson drives in 10 runs on a pair of homers, a double and two singles, as the A's put up a football score on the Red Sox, winning 21-7 at Fenway Park. June 14th, 1963 :   Duke Snider's 400th career homer, off the Reds' Bob Purkey, helps the Mets to a 10-3 win at Crosley Field in Cincinnati.  The beloved ex-Brooklyn Dodger became the ninth player to reach that milestone. (From a 1963 special series in the New York World Telegram and Sun .)  

This weekend's milestone belongs to Andrew McCutchen .  The much respected longtime Pirate, now back with his original club, reached 2000 career hits in Sunday's victory over the Mets.  (This image is from 2013, the season he was named National League MVP.) I've never read that Joni Mitchell is a baseball fan.  But one of her most famous lyrics rang true this past week for both New York teams: "You don't know what you've got till it's gone" seems spot on both the Yankees and Mets, whose offenses have flatlined since their slugging stars, Aaron Judge and Pete Alonso went down with recent injuries.  After Sunday night's loss to the Red Sox, the Yankee stand 3-4 without #99; the Mets are 1-4 since their home-grown standout was plunked on the wrist.  The loss of power and leadership have both teams spiraling the wrong way with their first Subway Series of 2023 coming up this week. The Phillies starting rotation could soon be in for a boost -- Cristo...

  ...you share it with Yuli Gurriel .  The 2021 American League batting champ played on pair of Astros World Series winners before joining the Miami Marlins this season.  The Cuban expat and his younger brother Lourdes share a unique baseball first: on September 21st, 2018 they became the first siblings in MLB history with multi-homer performances on the same day.  Also on today's birthday list : Tony Wolters , who caught for parts of seven big league seasons, primarily with the Rockies.  His standout moment was driving in Colorado's winning run in the 2018 Wild Card game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Dave Parker joined the Pirates the season after Roberto Clemente's death and manned right field at Three Rivers Stadium for the rest of the '70s.  The 1978 NL MVP and three-time Gold Glove winner, he made seven all star teams during his 19 year career, which later brought him to Oakland where "The Cobra" won his only ring as the DH on the A's 1989 c...

Joe Torre achieves a baseball first: the only person with 2000 wins as a manager and 2000 wins as a player , as his Yankees defeat the White Sox 10-3 .  (He's also the 10th skipper to reach 2000 victories.) That season, his 12th and final as Yankee manager, the club would win 94 games, before losing to Cleveland in the midge-tained ALDS.  Even with that disappointing finish, there were six pennants and four World Series championships on the back of Torre's Bronx baseball card -- a big reason why he'd be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014.  

If it's June, it must be time for ( Kyle )  Schwarb ombs !  The Phillies left fielder and reigning NL home run champ has a history of going into high gear during June, and he did it again Sunday afternoon with a pair of homers and six RBI as the Phillies crushed the Nationals in DC.    Below : While we're talking Sunday home runs, a shout out for Eddie Rosario of the Braves.  The 2021 post-season hero turned around yesterday's game against the Diamondbacks with a top of the 9th grand slam that put Atlanta ahead to stay. We learned over the weekend of yet another setback for Stephen Strasburg.   The Nationals' onetime co-ace and 2019 World Series MVP is now dealing with "severe nerve damage" and has been shut down again.  He has appeared in just eight games (winning only one) since landing a seven-year contract extension the following winter.  Ironically, I snapped this photo at 2013 Citi Field game where he was matched up against Matt Harvey, the...

...you share it with  Raul Ibanez . The lefty-hitting outfielder spent 19 seasons in the majors, hitting 305 regular season homers and another six in the playoffs -- most famously, this walk-off blast in 2012 to beat the Orioles in the 12th inning of an ALDS game that he'd tied in the 9th with a pinch hit homer.  Ibanez now works for the Commissioner's office, focusing on rules, equipment and on-field technology, as well as MLB initiatives in scouting and amateur baseball.   Mike Stanton pitched in the Bronx for seven of his 20 big league seasons -- earning rings in 1998, '99 and 2000.  Now an Astros broadcaster, the Houston native has one more link to New York -- he's  one of the 155 players to have appeared for both the Yankees and Mets, We also remember a pair of long-time Yankees : Gene Michael , who deserves a plaque in Monument Park. Hockey uses the term "builder" to describe outstanding front office talent, and in Yankee history, that's the best wa...