Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

  ...you share it with Carlos Beltran , who'll enter Cooperstown this summer with 435 homers, 312 stolen bases. and three Gold Gloves.  One of the best all around center fielders ever, the 1999 AL Rookie of the Year made nine All Star teams in 20 years while posting eight seasons of 100 runs batted in and seven with 100 runs scored.  He starred for the Royals, Astros, Mets and Yankees -- where I caught him in action against the Red Sox in 2015. Fellow Hall of Famer  Chipper Jones , who ranks with Eddie Mathews as the Braves greatest ever 3rd baseman.   He is the only switch hitter to combine a .300 career batting average, .400 on-base percentage, and .500 slugging percentage -- and befitting a Braves legend, Jones had both the last official hit at Fulton County Stadium before its closure and the first at Turner Field. And a pair of current players:  Willi Castro , the utilityman now with the Rockies.  I snapped him in a Twins uniform in 2023 in a...

In the midst of a lost weekend -- being swept at home by the division-leading Braves -- the Phillies saw one ray of hope.  Promoted Saturday after a big spring training and fast start (6 homers and 8 doubles) with AAA Lehigh Valley, Felix Reyes homered in his first major league at bat.  The Dominican outfielder became just the sixth Phillies player ever to accomplish that (and the first since Weston Wilson in 2023). With Otto Kemp farmed out and newcomer Adolis Garcia struggling, Reyes has a chance to pick up more playing time as the Phils try to pull out of their tailspin. I first saw Reyes last year, when he broke through at Double-A Reading with 15 homers in 96 games.  This big swing came against the Rumble Ponies in Binghamton.  

...you share it with switch-hitting  Jed Lowrie .  The versatile infielder, best known for his years with the Red Sox and A's, developed into a power hitter in the middle of his career, reaching his peak with a 23 homer, 99 RBI season for Oakland in 2018.  Lowrie's pre-season grand slam on April 4th, 2009, was the first major league home run at Citi Field.  Ironically, he played briefly for the Mets a decade later, a stint that was sidetracked by a 2019 knee injury. ( These images are from a 2021 A's/Yankees game in the Bronx .) Below: Infielder Ronny Simon played briefly for the 2025 Pirates, but failed to make the club in spring training.  I snapped this in 2024 when the Dominican native was with the Rays top farm team, the Durham Bulls. Finally, let's remember Solly Hemus , who spent the 1950s as an infielder with the Cardinals and Phillies, before returning to St. Louis to manage the Cardinals for 2-1/2 years (1959-'61).  While team showed improve...

With the infielders alongside Ben Rice struggling in the early going, Yankee fans have to be excited by the early results George Lombard Junior has posted in AA ball.  Through the first week and a half at Somerset, the 2023 first round pick has crushed opposing pitchers -- not only hitting .464, but more than half hits hits going for extra bases (five doubles and two homers).  Watching him last Thursday against Binghamton (when he went 3-for-6), he was clearly the best player on the field, fielding crisply and showing good baserunning skills. The Miami native, who won't turn 21 until June, will need to finish out his matriculation -- likely moving up to the Yanks top farm club in Scranton Wilkes-Barre sometime this spring where he'll face tougher pitching, including many with major league experience. My pictures show a confident and talented kid, who seems on target to reach the Bronx sooner than later.  And the timing is right: 2nd baseman Jazz Chisholm is in his walk y...

...you share it with Andrew Painter .  The Phillies top pitching prospect looked to be on the fast track to the majors before Tommy John surgery cost him the '23 and '24 seasons.  After rehabbing a year ago with Triple-A Lehigh Valley, he made his MLB debut on March 31st, winning his first start against the Nationals, but had a tougher time facing the Giants this past Monday.  Considered the best pitcher they've developed since Cole Hamels, the Phils expect big things from the South Florida native now  and into the next decade. ( These images are from a AAA game at Syracuse last July . Painter now wears 24 for the Phils .) And we remember Chuck Connors .  Yes, the star of TV's classic western The Rifleman really did play major league ball.  The Brooklyn native was both a baseball and basketball standout at nearby Seton Hall U, before signing with the Dodgers but made just one appearance for the team he grew up rooting for -- grounding out into a double pla...

April 7th, 1984 was a noteworthy day for pitching.  After being their big story during spring training 19 year old Mets rookie Dwight Gooden  was a winner in his regular season debut, striking out five and holding the Astros to a run and three hits over five innings in a 3-2 Mets victory .  It was his first of his 16 wins that season en route to National League Rookie of the Year honors (and 157 career wins as a Met). Very impressive, especially for a teenager, yet not the day's top baseball headline. That belonged to Tigers ace Jack Morris.   Making his second start of the young season, he no-hit the Chicago White Sox, striking out eight, walking six, but otherwise firing blanks in Detroit's 4-0 victory at old Comiskey Park -- their fourth straight win to start the year.  , a streak that would soon reach nine in a row and 35 wins in their first 40 games, the best start to a season ever! (Morris ended the year 19-11, finishing seventh for the Cy Young Award.) Sp...