Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

Baseball history was made 70 years ago this month: On March 8th, 1946, the Giants and Indians played the first spring training game ever in Arizona. At Tucson’s Hi Corbett Field, Cleveland, with Hall of Famer Bob Lemon on the mount, beat the Giants 3-1, in the inaugural Cactus League contest. The Giants and Indians still train in Arizona -- now joined by 13 other franchises. Thanks to the New York Giants Preservation Society for the background info. I never got to Hi Corbett Field on my visits to Arizona. For the next best thing, let's get a look at Scottsdale Stadium, the Giants longtime spring training home. These are from 2010.  A friend who visited the Cactus League this year sent me the photo below... It's from a Diamondbacks/Indians game at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, the impressive new complex in Scottdale.

...you share it with White Sox ace Chris Sale, who turns 27 today. The skinny lefthander (seen here against the Yankees in 2013), threw 5-1/3 effective innings Tuesday in his final tuneup before the Sox season opener. Of course, he ought to be focused on his pitching -- in sharp contrast to his outspoken criticism of club president Kenny Williams over the Adam LaRoche "retirement." It appears that Sale and the Sox have moved past that distraction. They need to, when they have to face division rivals the Royals and Tigers 19 times this season.

After exploding for three home runs in Sunday's Cactus League game, Robinson Cano made it four in two days with a shot that cleared the batter's eye in center field during Monday's game. Could this be a hint that the Mariners 2nd baseman is ready to break out and dominate the way he once did as a Yankee? Cano's first two Seattle seasons could best be called disappointing. 2015 ended with him preparing for hernia surgery. Now 33, with eight years remaining on his 10-year, $240-million deal, 2016 could be the last chance for Cano to return to being considered among the game's elite. As a Yankee -- surrounded by other strong hitters such as Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter -- Cano excelled and had plenty of help. It hasn't been as easy in Seattle.  A less hitter-friendly ballpark, and a weaker supporting cast a mountain of doubt on the wisdom of luring Cano to Safeco Park. Now with a new manager in Scott Servais and a GM in Jerry DiPoto, the Mar...

It's the time of year when teams pare the rosters in preparation for opening day. After four seasons when he fell shy of expectations, served a PED suspension, put on excess weight and noticeably regressed, the Mariners cut Jesus Montero . Remember when he made a splashy September callup to the Bronx in 2011?  He hit over. 300, took over as the Yanks' DH and appeared ready to become the next big thing in New York. But it wasn't meant to be. That winter, he was swapped to Seattle for Michael Pineda. Let's just say things never seemed as bright again as they did on September 19th, 2011 when I snapped these images -- as well as the one below. Montero didn't make the Mariners -- and (below)  Chris Parmelee opted out of a minor league deal/camp invite with the Yankees. On that September afternoon in 2011, when Montero's star was rising, Parmelee was also a rookie. And he actually secured a place in history -- he was the final out as Mariano Rivera nailed down h...

...you share it with a player you've likely never heard of before: reliever Kirby Yates. He pitched for the Rays in parts of the last two seasons, was sold to the Indians and then moved to the Yankees for cash last winter. Not much of a resume, but he's been impressive so far in Grapefruit League play for the Yankees. He's unscored on in four appearances, including March 8th, when I saw him work against the Cardinals. Yates, whose older brother Tyler pitched for the Mets, Braves and Pirates during the 2000's, is one of just three major league players ever born on the Hawaiian island of Kauai (the others are Tyler and former Reds and Pirates hurler Steve Cooke). Want some better known members of the March 25th birthday club? There's Lee Mazzilli, who starred for the Mets during their dark years of the late '70s and early '80s and returned to Flushing as a top pinch hitter on their '86 champions; Mariners catcher Mike Zunino; and infielder Jeff Kunkel,...

Yankee fans like me got to know Joe Garagiola in 1965, when he replaced Mel Allen in the broadcast booth. Actually, we got a preview of his work the year before, when he teamed with Phil Rizzuto to call the World Series on NBC (rotating with Harry Caray and Curt Gowdy). But it was a stunner to learn that Mel was being replaced -- he was The Voice for baby boomers (and our parents) -- by the funny guy from St. Louis. Ironically, Joe arrived just months after his lifelong pal Yogi Berra was replaced as Yankee manager by Johnny Keane, who'd just led the Cardinals to the World Series championship. Superstitious folks wonder if there might be a connection between Yogi's departure and the Yankees' descent to mediocrity. (Especially since they never made it back to the World Series until 1976 when Berra returned to the Yanks as a coach.) Hey, firing Mel likely didn't unleash any good vibrations, either. Joe joined a broadcast booth where everyone would eventually be...

On a week we're thinking a lot about Cuban ballplayers, I found a couple of good images of Royals DH Kendrys Morales. (They came from a game last May against the Yankees.) 2016 will be the 10th major league season for the power-hitter, who belted 22 homers last year and led the World Champs in slugging percentage. The Royals are more a "team" than a collection of stars, so Morales doesn't carry the buzz one associates with Mike Trout, Miguel Cabrera, Chris Davis or David Ortiz. In fact, his enduring image has nothing to do with playing for Kansas City: back in 2010, he smacked a walk-off grand slam that pushed the Angels past the Mariners. Unfortunately, as he was greeting by his teammates at home plate, his leap to officially score the winning run resulted in an awkward step and stumble -- and a broken leg that sidelined Morales for a year-and-a-half!