Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

One of my goals every year is to visit a ballpark that's "new to me."  Last week, I sorta added Asheville, North Carolina's HomeTrust Park to my list.  Sorta, because the High-A season ended on Sunday September 6th and I didn't arrive until the following day.  And while there were no remaining games -- and no permission to get past the gates -- that didn't stop me or my camera from capturing as much as I could. Previously known as McCormick Field, minor league ball has been played on this site -- a hillside not far from downtown Asheville -- for 102 years.  The current version of the South Atlantic League's Asheville Tourists has been here since 2021.  Riffing on the club's name, here's a look inside the team store, a/k/a "The Tourist Trap." I'm not sure every ballpark should have a brick facade, but this one looks perfect. Six future Hall of Famers played for Asheville on their way to the majors: Sparky Anderson, Craig Biggio, Todd H...

...you share it with Jacoby Ellsbury .  The speedy Oregonian spent seven often dynamic years  with the Red Sox  -- including two World Championships --  before jumping the Yankees, where his speed, production and health  declined over the next four seasons (2014-'17). Mike Moustakas mashed 215 homers over 13 seasons, the first eight with the Royals - where he was a fixture on their 2014 pennant winners and 2015 World Series champs. Weston Wilson waited six-and-a-half years in the minors before finally reaching MLB.  And what a debut it was -- on August 9th, 2023 -- homering for the Phillies in his first at bat!  He has since moved on to the Mariners and Orioles.  

The Nationals have done a great job this year of promoting players through their minor league system.  Dylan Crews, Andres Chaparro, Yohandy ("Yoyo") Morales and Abimelec Ortiz were in the Rochester lineup when I saw them hosting Buffalo back in April -- all have since played major league games for Washington.  But a former Nats 3rd round draft pick hasn't yet been promoted. Despite slugging 31 homers -- the most for any player that's spent the entire season in AAA -- and batting over .290, Trey Lipscomb has remained with Rochester.  I saw him again last week facing Syracuse where he showcased this impressive swing. A Frederick, Maryland native who played college ball at Tennessee, Lipscomb has struggled his first three minor league seasons and in a pair of short stints in DC (2024 and '25). But his production this year (albeit with 128 strikeouts) should have had him in line for a September call up.  Now 26, one wonders if the organization no longer considers hi...

...you share it with Mike Piazza , the greatest hitting catcher in baseball history.  427 career homers and .308 lifetime average -- topping those of Bench, Berra and Campanella -- punched his ticket to Cooperstown. Drafted by the Dodgers in the 62nd round of baseball's amateur draft as a favor by Tommy Lasorda to Mike's dad, a longtime family friend, the Phoenixville, PA native became the 1993 NL Rookie of the Year, but wasn't able to hammer out a long-term contract to stay in LA.  Instead, he was flipped in 1998 to the Marlins and then the Mets -- leading them to the 2000 pennant and a place alongside the Yankees in the most recent all-New York World Series.  The emotional peak of his career came the following year with a dramatic walk-off homer for the Mets in their first game after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  Mike finished his career with the Padres -- whom he led to a 2005 NL West title and A's before being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016, the same year ...

Congratulations to Max Scherzer , who moved into 9th place on the alltime strikeout list when he whiffed Cal Raleigh in Sunday's seventh inning at Rogers Centre.  #3535 not only passed Gaylord Perry -- but gave him his 10th K of the game -- and 115th double-digit strikeout game of his Hall of Fame-bound career. It was a throwback moment for Max: now 42 and working his 19th (and possibly final) big league season, and having missed considerable time with injuries, Scherzer flashed seven innings of one-hit ball, and walked only one in Toronto's 7-0 victory. (My image of Scherzer is from a 2017 game at Nationals Park in Washington.)  

...you share it with two players at the core of the Yankees renaissance of the middle and late 1970s.  Ron Guidry ranks alongside Andy Pettitte and just behind Whitey Ford among the club's greatest lefthanded pitchers.  Louisiana Lightning didn't become a member of the Yanks rotation until 1977, when he broke through with a 16-7 record.  The next season was one for the ages: a 25-3 mark, highlighted by an 18- strikeout effort against the Angels en route to the Cy Young Award and runner-up for the MVP, as the Yankees won their second consecutive World Series.  All told, over 12 full seasons, he won 170 games and, through the lens of today's game, deserved a longer look from Hall of Fame voters. Lou Piniella was a dependable righthanded bat who hit .295 across 11 Yankee seasons. After his playing days, the '86–88 Yankees were the first of five teams he managed . The Reds were his most famous assignment, winning the 1990 World Series in a huge upset of the A's. ...