Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

...you share with Juan Soto , who after just seven years in the majors is already the alltime leader in WAR for everyday players born on this date. Has anyone ever enjoyed a better walk year?  Traded to the Yankees last winter, well aware that he'd enter free agency, the ex-Nat and Padre took full advantage of hitting ahead of Aaron Judge, crushing 41 homers, driving in 109 and walking 129 times (10 more than he struck out!).  He then capped his heroics last Saturday night by launching a tie-breaking three-run rocket in the 10th inning to lift the Yanks to their first pennant in 15 years. As Mel Brooks said, "It's good to be king.”  

Giancarlo Stanton been "old reliable" for Yankees not just in these playoffs, but in almost every post-season series in which he's appeared since 2018.  16 home runs in 36 games -- a faster pace than such Bronx icons as the Babe, Reggie or the Mick -- including the game tying-bomb Saturday night when the Yanks closed out those gritty and talented Guardians.  While fans often find fault with his injuries and slumps during the regular season, Stanton has the knack of finding that extra gear once the calendar flips to October. (Below;) How about some applause for Luis Gil , who remains the Yankees Overachiever of the Year.  Coming off two lost seasons after Tommy John surgery, he stepped into the rotation at the beginning of the year after Gerrit Cole's injury and went on to win 15 games.   After not starting for three weeks, he was fresh and ready, working the first four innings of Friday night's pivotal game four, controlling Cleveland's bats at the start of a...

...you share it with Yoenis Cespedes . The Cuban-born power hitter first made headlines with the A's, winning the Home Run Derby in 2013 and '14 and helping Oakland win the 2013 AL West.  After moving on to the Red Sox at the 2014 deadline and the Tigers the following winter, he became a Met and energized the offense (17 homers and  a .287 average) the final third of 2015 as they claimed their first pennant in 15 years.  "La Potencia" remained a dynamic player after twice re-upping with New York, before injuries wrecked his 2018 and '19 seasons.  Attempting a comeback in the 2020 COVID-shortened season, he got off to a slow start before opting out of the rest of the year.   He never returned to the majors after that.

I drove through Cleveland last week -- while the home team was visiting Detroit.  The Guardians outlasted the Tigers in their ALDS and will host the Yankees for games three and four of the League Championship this Thursday and Friday. It's the seventh time these two franchises have met in post-season play -- but only once (1998) was in the LCS. The series begins tonight at the Big Ballpark in the Bronx... Dialing up 2014 in the Time Machine: 10 years ago, Derek Jeter played his final game for the Yankees... this sightseeing bus was one of the more distinctive tributes I captured.  This week, you'll see him with A-Rod and David Ortiz on FOX's pre- and post-game shows as they cover the NLCS.  (Kinda silly that three stars who played their entire careers in the American League will focus on the NL the next week and a half.)

  ...you share it with Orlando Hernandez , the Cuban expat righthander who was a key rotation piece on three consecutive Yankee World Series champs, as well as the near-miss 2001 squad.  El Duque, with his distinctive pitching motion and big game reputation made his USA debut at age 32 and went onto win 90 games in a career that later brought him to the White Sox and Mets -- where I caught him in action against the Nationals in 2007 at RFK Stadium.

Perfectly fitting for a city whose greatest sports hero is the fictional boxer Rocky Balboa, the Phillies and Mets traded punches back and forth to produce an incredible game two of the NLDS.  To illustrate, I drew from some of my 2024 Grapefruit League photos -- Nick Castellanos , who followed Bryce Harper 's 6th inning blast with a game-tying homer... and later produced a dramatic catch... and topped it off with the walk-off single scoring Trea Turner with the winning run to tie the series. His co-star was Harper, who woke up a slumbering and suffering home crowd with a rocket to the ivy beyond center field.  Does this guy have a sense for the dramatic?  Down 3-0 and four innings from falling behind two games to none, the Phils franchise player again put the team on his back and wrote another storybook chapter in his South Philadelphia career.  And, like Castellanos, Harper had more to offer.  Bottom of the 9th, the game tied again,  Turner on 1st base, ...

Normally on Fridays, I spotlight ballplayers whose birthdays fall on that date.  But with October 4th not populated by any superstars -- and its only Hall of Famer being manager Tony LaRussa -- I'd rather respond to last night's season-saving headline-making hero, Pete Alonso .  Facing Brewers all star closer Devin Williams, with the Mets down 2-0, two men on and two outs away from elimination in this winner-take all Wild Card game, the Mets "Polar Bear" crushed a changeup over the fence in right center to put his team on top. For doing something THAT big -- sending the Mets on the NLDS against division champion Philadelphia -- Pete deserves an extra photo or two... Was it the BIGGEST home run in Mets history?  This we do know:  it was the first time in MLB history that a team has hit a go-ahead, ninth inning homer with a team trailing in a winner-take-all playoff game. 

In a regular season full of big moments, Francisco Lindor authored his biggest in game 161.  The Mets shortstop's two-run top of the 9th homer brought his club from behind in a wild-card clinching 8-7 victory over the Braves in the opener of Monday's makeup doubleheader.   Three hours later, the Braves claimed the final spot in the NL playoffs.  Former Yankee Gio Urshela , one of the wave of Atlanta fill-ins making big contributions after Ronald Acuna Junior, Austin Riley and Michael Harris suffered season-ending injuries, put the Braves on the board with a 2nd inning RBI single.  Atlanta never looked back -- rolling to a 3-0 win.  The Braves get the Padres, while the Mets visit the Brewers in this week's Wild Card Series. After five losing seasons in six years under Farhan Zaidi, the Giants have a new President of Baseball Operations.   Buster Posey , the star catcher on San Francisco's three Championship teams of the 2010s, will now oversee the...