Baseball's visual delights through the lens of a lifelong fan.
How Could I Have Known...
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...before a Cactus League game on March 8th that these would be the Giants players whose home runs that fall would be the winning blasts in the National League Championship Series and World Series? Premonition? Good fortune?
How ironic that for a franchise known for the home run heroics of Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Orlando Cepeda and the prolific-if-tainted blasts of Barry Bonds, the two most important home runs in San Francisco Giants history would be hit by (#5) Juan Uribe and (#16) Edgar Renteria!
13 years after delivering the game winning hit for the Marlins in game 7 of the 1997 World Series classic, Renteria's three-run blast in the 7th inning gave the Giants the runs they needed to take this series in five.
Uribe and Renteria won't be teammates as the Giants defend their championship in 2011. Word's out today that Uribe has signed a free-agent contract with the arch-rival Dodgers.
It's a return visit to the Mets' Florida home in Port St. Lucie, this time for a 2016 showdown with the Yankees. (Below), Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman chat during batting practice. Aaron Judge and Rob Refsnyder have their game faces on in the dugout... though neither would be in the starting lineup. (Above) A couple of Brooklyn natives that made their mark in New York baseball -- Lee Mazzilli and John Franco. (Below) Mets pitcher Josh Smoker makes friends by signing a few autographs. (Above) Mets reliever Jeurys Familia; (Below) 2nd baseman Neil Walker (Above) Curtis Granderson, one of the select few players to star for both the Yankees and Mets, getting ready for his third summer at Citi Field. (Below) Aaron Hicks came to the Yankees in a trade the previous November. 3rd baseman Chase Headley enjoying the Grapefruit League vibe, even against Mets ace Jacob deGrom. (Above) Mets slugger Yoenis Cespedes watches where he hit one... so does Joe Girardi from the visitor's dugou...
...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.
June 5th, 1965: Mel Stottlemyre hits a home run -- and pitches all 10 innings, as the Yankees edge the White Sox 4-3 Yankees edge the White Sox 4-3 . Mickey Mantle also homers, while Elton Howard wins it with a walk-off single, driving in Phil Linz.
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