Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

It was 11 years ago tonight when Jordany Valdespin 's walk off grand slam -- the first by a Met since Kevin McReynolds in 1991 -- against Josh Wall, lifted the Amazin's to 7 - 3, 10 inning victory over the Dodgers. But things unraveled later that season for the Dominican utility player.  Immature behavior -- such as excessive home run celebrations while the club was trailing -- wore out his welcome with manager Terry Collins.  His production dropped; hitting just .188 in mid-July, he was sent down to the minors.  Three weeks later came a 50-game suspension for using performance enhancing drugs.  He never appeared with the Mets again.  After brief runs with the Marlins in 2014 and '15, Valdespin's big career was over at age 27.  

A former Met and a former Yankee returned to the majors over the weekend.  Francisco Alvarez's thumb injury -- which could sideline him until July -- led to the end of  Tomas Nido 's exile in Syracuse. Rob Refsnyder was also in AAA on April 14th, rehabbing with Worcester when I saw him play Nido and the junior Mets.  Now recovered from a fractured toe, he's gone 4 for 13 -- with three hits and a home run -- since being activated by the Red Sox. One more player worth including:  Danny Mendick , the former White Sox utilityman -- who split 2023 between the Mets and their AAA club in Syracuse -- was called back to Chicago as the weekend concluded.  The Sox were just swept in Philadelphia; their 3-18 record is the worst in the majors after the first 3-1/2 weeks of play.

  If your birthday is April 19th , you share it with Frank Viola .  A standout college pitcher for St. John's, the native New Yorker starred for the Twins for eight seasons, highlighted by being named MVP of the 1987 World Series.  Traded to the Mets three years later, he won 20 in 1990, before his numbers began to fall off.  Winding up his playing days  with the Red Sox, Rays and Reds, Voila spent several years coaching in the Mets minor league system.  My photo is from 2018, when he worked with the young pitchers at AA Binghamton. (Below:) Joe Mauer also starred for the Twins -- though his teams never reached the World Series -- and became the club's greatest home grown star, while punching his ticket to Cooperstown.  The six-time all star, three-time batting champ (and 2009 AL MVP) will be inducted this July. Saturday 's 4/20 birthday circle includes perhaps the greatest homegrown Yankee star never to make it to baseball's Fall Classic.  From 1984-'89  Don Matt

Looks like I picked the right night to see my first game this season in Binghamton.  Not only was the weather perfect (62 and sunny at gametime), but the Rumble Ponies tied a franchise record with 18 combined strikeouts, led by 10 (in five innings of middle relief) from Blade Tidwell , as they held off Reading 3-2.    Tidwell, who'll turn 23 in June, was a 2nd round pick in 2022.  Just before the season, MLB.com ranked him as the Mets 10th best prospect.  According to their TV partner, SNY, Tidwell is number-eight.  

The news spread quickly and stunningly on Monday afternoon: after 36 seasons, 5,420 regular season games -- 5060 consecutive -- and 211 more in the postseason, John Sterling was retiring as the radio voice of the Yankees.  The booming baritone, his energetic style and signature home run calls -- from "Bern, Baby, Bern" through "A Soto Photo" -- made the native New Yorker an enduring part of Yankee history.   Sterling narrated a remarkable era in Bronx baseball -- five World Championship clubs built around the Hall of Famers Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.   But there's so much more on his resume.  After first making a name as the voice of the the NBA's Baltimore Bullets, John came to New York to host an evening radio sports talk show, that soon led to doing play by play for the Islanders and Nets... Then, after several years in Atlanta, calling Braves and Hawks games on TBS, he returned home after landed the Yankees radio job in 1989.  From Alvaro (Espinosa

If your birthday is April 12th , you share it with Dennis Santana , the Dominican relief pitcher, who seems to be the latest Brian Cashman bullpen bargain.  The former Dodger, Brave and Met impressed during spring training, then took Jonathan Loaisiga's place in the Yankees 'pen when the veteran setup man went on the Injured List.  ( And for trivia mavens, Santana is the 159th player to appear in games for both the Yankees and Mets .) (Below:) Tomas Nido spent parts of seven seasons as the Mets backup catcher, including 2021, when I caught him in action against the Cardinals.  A career .213 hitter, he fell behind Omar Narvaez in the organization's depth chart and is spending his second straight season at AAA Syracuse. Saturday the 13th 's list begins with  Hunter Pence .  The hard hitting outfielder came up with the Astros, then spent just over a year with the Phillies, before being traded to the Giants, where he was one of the big bats on their 2012 and 2014 World Cha

  April 10th, 2007 : Alex Rodrigue z' two-run 1st inning homer gets the Yankees offense rolling in a 10-1 win over the Twins in Minnesota.  The blast makes him just the fourth player in 50 years (since 1957) to have an extra base hit in each of his team's first seven games.  The others are Ken Griffey Jr. (1997), Phil Nevin (2001) and Larry Walker (2001). A-Rod also becomes the first Yankee with six homers in the team's first seven games of a season.  April 10th, 1998 : Celebrating the 75th anniversary of Yankee Stadium, the Bronx Bombers live up to their name in a wild 17-13 victory over the Oakland A's -- the highest scoring game in the park's history. New York had a pair of five-run innings and another where they scored four. The A's plated five in the 2nd and eight runs in the 5th. Surprisingly, only one home run was hit in the game -- that, by Yankee 1st baseman Tino Martinez . (The previous high had been a 17-11 win over the Philadelphia A's on June 3

Jerry Grote, the standout defensive catcher who worked so brilliantly with the Mets gifted pitching staff of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, died over the weekend.  He was 81.  Unlike much of what we see today, the ‘69 Mets were built on great pitching, strong defense and stressing fundamentals. Not so much small ball, but smart ball.  A club that shocked the baseball world just months after man first landed on the moon.  He’s third from the left in this photo from a 2009 Citi Field reunion honoring the iconic 1969 champs. (Left to right: cosch Yogi Berra, Nolan Ryan, Grote, Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Duffy Dyer)

Let's start on Friday with Jorge de la Rosa .  The Mexican righthander pitched in parts of 15 big league seasons -- eight of them with Rockies, where he reached double digit victories four times and built the alltime best winning percentage at Coors Field (.763) among  Colorado hurlers. Also born on April 5th: Lastings Milledge , a highly touted Mets 1st round draft pick, who never lived up to expectations.  The Mets got more value when they traded him after the 2007 season to Washington for Brian Schneider and Ryan Church. Ross Gload, the lefty bench player who wrapped his 10 MLB seasons with the 2010 and 2011 Phillies. Ron Hansen , an outstanding defensive infielder who earned his place in history pulling off an unassisted triple play while with the 1968 Washington Senators. Saturday 's list starts with  Bert Blyleven  (left) who punched his ticket to Cooperstown with  287 victories and 3701 strikeouts over 22 seasons, 11 with the Twins.  He later spent 25 seasons as the Tw

Phillies broadcaster Tom McCarthy said it best, “What a night to be Bryce Harper !” The future Hall of Famer enjoyed a multi-milestone night, leading the offense in a 9-4 win over the Reds .  Despite chilly, misty conditions at Citizens Bank Park, the Phils 1st baseman made like it was a sizzling summer afternoon, with his first three-home run game in red pinstripes: The first gave the Phillies a quick 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st inning. The second, a 4th inning bullet to the right field seats, regained the lead after Cincinnati tied it in the 3rd.  It also gave him 1000 runs scored for his career. The third was truly grand, a 7th inning slam that broke the game wide open and enabled skipper Rob Thomson to rest his main bullpen arms. Harper's six RBI were a career best.  All three of his shots came off lefthanders (the first two were against Graham Ashcraft, the third vs. Brent Suter).  And they came after Harper started the season 0-for-11 (and the Phils went 1-and-3).. I wa

The young season has started better than expected for the Yankees.  Far better: going 5-0 for the first time since 1992; and doing it on the roast against tough competition.  First by sweeping all four from their nemesis, the perennially contending Astros and then, Monday night, knocking off the defending NL Champions the D'backs. While Juan Soto has been as good as promised, it's the Young Yankees who've been equally impressive.  Shortstop Anthony Volpe (above) has sparkled in the field and at the plate.  Reworking his swing with better balance and high-contact approach has paid off  -- showcased by his first four hit game Monday night, with two doubles and two runs scored.  All this when he's still not fully recovered from an illness he picked up on the Yankees recent visit to Mexico City. Luis Gil might be the bigger surprise.  After opening eyes during a six-game audition in 2021, he missed most of the next two years due to Tommy John surgery.  But he seems to have

Sometimes, the best images I catch aren't the big plays but the human moments.  Thursday was media day at Syracuse, with the Mets working out on the field, along with interview opportunities.  While he's got to be disappointed not making the major league club, veteran 1st baseman-DH Ji Man Choi  didn't mind the chilly weather or the circumstances.  The guy just exudes joy -- the delight of playing a kid's game into adulthood.   Luisangel Acuna (below) flashed a smile Mets fans will hopefully soon see at Citi Field on a regular basis.  Mark Vientos  was in good spirits while taking ground balls at 3rd base and getting ready for this afternoon's season opener against Rochester. Pitching prospect Christian Scott  (below) isn't bother by temperatures in the 40s.  The Fort Lauderdale native says his grandparents lived in the Boston area, so he's used to the brisk feel of New England this time of year. Therefore, it must be true -- baseball makes you happy!  

Yankee fans, say hello to your likely opening day 3rd baseman.  With DJ LeMahieu recovering from a foot injury and Oswaldo Cabrera's bat scaring no one, Brian Cashman signed on to a three-team deal on Wednesday.  The roll call: infielder Jon Berti heads from Miami to New York; backup catcher Ben Rortvedt joins the Rays; while the Marlins pick up prospects John Cruz (from New York) and Shane Sasaki (from Tampa Bay).  Besides bringing in a short-term fix at 3rd base, Berti could easily become the 2024 version of Isaih Kiner-Falefa: the veteran utility player who can fill in at almost every position. Rortvedt (below) played just 32 games for the Yanks after coming east in the 2022 Josh Donaldson/Gary Sanchez deal.  Out of options, and showing less upside than Austin Wells, he finds a home with another AL East contender -- bringing back value when Cashman might have lost him for nothing had he tried to send him to the minors.      My images of Berti came from a 2019 Marlins/Mets game

After impressing all through Spring Training, Spencer Jone s has been named the winner of the James P. Dawson Award.  Given to the Yankees most impressive prospect in Grapefruit League play, the Vanderbilt product opened eyes when by hitting .444/.565/.722 (8-for-18) with two doubles, a home run, four RBIs, seven runs scored and four walks in 12 spring games.  Having played less than 20 games at Double A, the lefty swinger will open 2024 at Somerset -- but don't be surprised if he is promoted to Scranton Wilkes-Barre before the All Star Break.  Having seen him in a couple of games this past month, Jones looked to be on the verge of very big things, at least as much as I recall Aaron Judge in his days with Trenton.  In other words, he looks the part. Let's take a moment to look at the history of this honor.  Named for the longtime New York Times sportswriter, Norm Siebern was its first recipient, in 1956.  Over the years, such Yankee standouts as Tony Kubek (1957), Roy White (19