Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

Winding it back a decade, here's a gallery from Wrigley Field.  It's May 14th, 2015 , the Cubs hosting the Mets on a cloudy, chilly afternoon. (Below:) Manager Terry Collins behind the cage as his Mets take batting practice. A casual pre-game moment... I recognize Daniel Murphy, but not the player in front of him.  Do you? (Below:) Reliever Jeurys Familia chats with a fan in the front row.   Legendary broadcaster Harry Caray's image is mounted above the Cubs TV booth, Wrigley is the midst of an extensive modernization -- but one that keeps with the classic ballpark's character.  Bleachers are being rebuilt; the video board posts the lineups with an old fashioned look. Jon Niese is on the mound for New York. (Below:) Curtis Granderson takes his lead, with Cubs 1st baseman Anthony Rizzo keeping him honest. Top of the 9th, the Mets last chance: down by a run... a runner on 1st and Dilson Herrera at bat. (Below:) After Herrera strikes out, it's time for the Cubs victory...

...you share it with Oscar Gonzalez .  The Dominican outfielder showed good power with 11 homers for the 2022 Guardians, before his production dropped off the following year.  After being waived, he tried to make the '24 Yankees in spring training -- I caught him in a March game against the Phillies -- and then during the summer with AAA Scranton Wilkes-Barre. which visited Syracuse on July 9th. Next month he'll head to Arizona to try and catch on with the Padres. The biggest bat with a January 10th birthday belonged to  Willie McCovey .  The Giants legend wrote his ticket to Cooperstown with 521 homers over 22 seasons, while teaming with fellow Hall of Famer Willie Mays in one of baseball's most dynamic power duos. His prowess in pulling the ball led to the Giants dubbing the part of China Basin just beyond the right field wall and concourse as McCovey Cove.  More than 160 "splash hits" have landed there since the ballpark opened, while boaters trying to r...

Dialing up April 1993 and my one and only visit to the Kingdome .  One of the more maligned examples of early domed design, the Mariners' former home was, in a word, dark...  A grim concrete exterior matched with a poorly lit playing field and seating bowl. The multi-purpose stadium opened for the NFL's Seahawks in 1976 and welcomed the Mariners a year later.  Big baseball crowds weren't the rule -- unless the Yankees were in town.  Over 52,000 fans were on hand Saturday night April 22nd, 1993  when the Yankees won 1-0 in 11 innings (on a Kevin Maas sacrifice fly). To give you a different sense of the space, I snapped this before the game from the upper deck above deep right field. While a flawed venue for baseball, the Mariners began to pack the place with their "refuse to lose" 1995 run to the AL West title, followed by a division series win over the Yankees -- which was credited with saving baseball in Seattle and convincing the public to approve the funding ...

...you share it with AJ Burnett .  The well traveled righthander, who after seven years with the Marlins. spent time with the Yankees, Pirates, Blue Jays and Phillies, won 164 big league games and struck out more than 2500, but inconsistent control kept him from becoming an ace: he twice led the American League in wild pitches and once in hit batters. The Arkansas native earned a pair of World Series rings -- with the 2003 Marlins (while recovering from Tommy John surgery) and 2009 Yankees (where he set a record for hitting five batters in a post-season series).   Also in the January 3rd birthday circle: longtime big league reliever Gary Lavelle , the late Phllies catcher Darren Daulton  and utilityman Luis Sojo , who between his time with the Mariners and Yankees, made the post-season six times in 13 seasons.  But among the 68 players born on this date who've played in MLB, Burnett was -- if you go by WAR -- the most productive of them.

As the old year draws to a close, it's time to revisit a few of my more interesting baseball destinations of 2024.  That's got to begin with West Ham Stadium in London, where I was on hand for the Phillies/Mets series. On the field... the big bats of the Phillies Kyle Schwarber and the Mets breakout star Mark Vientos. From Nationals Park on May 22nd: a dynamic outdoor display of the home team's starting lineup... and the members of the venue's signature Mascot Race.   Made my first visit to Bowie, Maryland on August 1st as the Orioles AA team, the Baysox, hosted their Yankee rivals from Somerset, NJ And my first look at one of Baltimore's top prospects, catcher Samuel Basallo , who could make his major league debut in 2025. Below: my final baseball photo of the year... driving back from a visit to our daughter in Raleigh, NC last Friday, we passed Richmond, Virginia's minor league ballpark.  Once known as The Diamond , I snuck in for a 2019 visit .  it's set...

...you share it with Cole Hamels .  One of the greatest lefthanded starters in Phillies history, he was the 2008 World Series MVP as the club won its second and most recent World Championship -- the back of his card also includes three all star teams and finishing in the Top 10 four times for the NL Cy Young Award.  Another unforgettable moment came on July 29th, 2015 -- his final game as a Phillie -- when he threw a no-hitter against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.  Hamels was traded to the Rangers two days later. A 163-122 record (with 114 of those wins for Philadelphia) probably falls short of the Hall of Fame, but will likely land Cole Hamels a place on the club's Wall of Fame.