Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

Paul Goldschmidt 's second game with the Cardinals was a night for the history books. St. Louis' major off-season acquisition grabbed the headlines by homering his first three times up against the Brewers; Milwaukee manager Craig Counsel apparently had a white flag moment by walking "Goldy" in his final at-bat. In the 150 years of MLB history, this was the first time ever a player hit three home runs within his first two games for a team. Talk about charting new territory -- Babe Ruth didn't do that when he arrived with the Yankees, nor did Frank Robinson after being sent to Baltimore. While one or two games are hardly the measure of long-term value, you won't hear too many gripes this morning about Goldschmidt's recently signed five-year $130 million extension. Come to think of it, Goldy was in a home-run trot when I captured the above image of him in the March 22nd Grapefruit League game against the Mets. And below, a good look at the Goldschmidt sw

Robinson Cano made his first Mets at-bat one worth remembering, turning a Max Scherzer pitch into the first home run of 2019. He added an 8th inning RBI single in the Mets 2-0 win over Washington. It's no secret the standout 2nd baseman never really wanted to leave New York for Seattle five years ago; it's clear he's delighted to again wear (the other) N-Y on his cap. Not much was new for Jacob deGrom -- and that was fine for the Flushing faithful. Six shutout innings and 10 strikeouts as he extended his record streak to 30 consecutive starts allowing three runs or less.

Gary Sanchez and Miguel Andujar will be fitted for rings before this year is out. Two of the young Yankees core players who can look forward to another season-long battle with Boston for the AL East, and probably another playoff showdown as well. But this year should turn out differently. Sanchez and Andujar will prove GM Brian Cashman's wisdomin not swappin them out for, say, JT Realmuto and Manny Machado. Add former Mariner James Paxton to the rotation, resurgent Troy Tulowitzki temporarily at shortstop and Zack Britton and Adam Ottavino to the bullpen and you have the recipe for over 100 wins and a two or three game advantage over the World Champion Red Sox. One more incentive for the Boys from the Bronx to bring home a pennant: as the final season of the 2010s begins, the Yankees want to continue their unprecedented record of having appeared in a World Series at least once in nine consecutive decades. A trip to this year's fall classic will make a "perfect" 1

One more favorite image from Spring Training: the Astros hosting the Yankees on March 20th at Fitteam Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. OK, it's a little overcast, but hazy enough to cause a minor sunburn. Houston's Yuli Guriel is at the plate in the bottom of the 6th, facing Yankee minor leaguer Joe Harvey. The green grass, palm trees and warm temperatures are so inviting -- especially with the Yankees and several other northeastern teams opening the regular season with, at best, temperatures in the mid 50s. And I can't wait!

As we say goodbye to Grapefruit League ball for another year, here's another look at Florida's brand new CoolToday Park. Blooper the Mascot joins the Home Depot characters at the end of the Milwaukee-and-Washington style between-innings race. Below, he joins fans just along the 1st base line. And a cheerful wave from the greatest Brave of them all: number-44, Hank Aaron!

The 2019 Spring Training trip wrapped up with something special: the first game ever played at the Braves new spring training home, CoolToday Park. This double-decked venue does an outstanding job celebrating Braves history. Murals with Braves legends are displayed atop several outer walls. And large 3-D numbers are on the plaza outside the park. Even more history awaits at the top of the staircases once you enter CoolToday (the naming rights holder is a local airconditioning and heating contactor). Let's get to the field, where a pavilion seating area, reminiscent of Dodger Stadium is located just past the right center field fence.  There's a berm for fans who prefer a different kind of seating area.  It wouldn't be Florida without your quota of palm trees, Time for the pre-game ceremony as both teams line up on the base lines. 1990s Braves favorite Terry Pendleton throws the ceremonial first pitch to longtime teammate Eddie Perez.  Hall of Fame man

Gleyber Torres provided the only highlight in the Yankees final Steinbrenner Field game of 2019.  Batting in the second inning with two men on, he crushed a Trent Thornton pitch and cleared the left field fence by a bunch.  The second year infielder, who finished third in the AL Rookie of the Year voting, looks primed for a big year. It's worth noting that manager Aaron Boone has been hitting Torres mostly in the middle of the order in Grapefruit League play. Otherwise, the sellout crowd at "The Boss" saw mostly cameos from the Yankees starters -- even Masahiro Tanaka, who'll pitch Thursday's season opener, worked just a couple of innings. Tanaka was effective -- but I'll admit being surprised when, after going for a hot dog and a beer after the inning ended, finding Aroldis Chapman on the mound when we got back. Back at home plate, time for some fist bumps with Miguel Andujar, as Giancarlo Stanton, whom he also drove home, looks on.

Sometimes it goes foul! One of my goals in spring training was to take advantage of being close to the action and capturing the moment of contact between bat and ball. This is Jeff McNeil of the Mets, not quite achieving the results he wanted, but nicely fitting my needs.

Here's a look at the first of Brandon Nimmo's pair of Thursday home runs. Bottom of 2nd inning at First Data Field; two men on as he faces the Marlins veteran lefty Wei-Yin Chen. He swings...  ...and watches "that baby fly" -- high and deep to right field. Onto the berm far beyond the reach of Marlins right field Peter O'Briend. Waiting back at home plate, high fives from the guys he just drove in, Jeff McNeil and Amed Rosario. #6 Jeff McNeil would bat next for New York. Nimmo wasn't done -- he'd home again in the 7th inning of a 6 - 0 Mets victory .

Delayed a day by rain, my first game of 2019 was at Fitteam Ballpark in West Palm Beach, with the Astros hosting the Yankees. Now in its third season, this state of the art spring facility sits in the middle of a campus full of practice fields for the Astros and their co-tenants, the Nationals. Of course, bringing in the Yankees on their annual trip to Florida's east coast is an EVENT that produced the biggest attendance since the park opened. The Yanks did a good job, bringing along plenty of their A-listers: Miguel Andujar, Gary Sanchez, Gleyber Torres, Luke Voit and Greg Bird were all in the starting lineup. Below, my favorite photo of the day -- after reaching second base in the top of the 1st, I captured two great Venezuelan infielders: Gleyber Torres, after a lead off double, chats with Houston's future Hall of Famer, Jose Altuve.

That's an old baseball addage. You hear it every time -- even one with an impressive bullpen -- adds another reliever. But there's logic to accumulating talent. The Yankees might be the best example. In a spring training that a former boss of mine might call "mixed emotions," the Yankees hitters from Aaron Judge to Luke Voit and Gleyber Torres have looked ready for opening day since the get-go. But then, there's that mounting wave of injuries: Aaron Hicks, Luis Severino and now setup reliever Dellin Betances will start the season on the Injured List. After several Grapefruit League appearances with clearly reduced speed on his fastball, the Yanks shut down the 6'8 Brooklyn native with "shoulder inflammation." Could there be more to this problem that difficulty rounding into shape after a winter of rest? OK, he arrived late in camp after his wife gave birth to the couple's first child. But that should put his timetable behind, but not p

It's been five years since I snapped this image... with ample proof of how change is inevitable and constant. As the Phillies host the Blue Jays at Bright House Field in Clearwater, R.A. Dickey is pitching to Ryan Howard. Both are now retired -- and Howard just launched his second career as a broadcaster by signing with ESPN. Dickey, the knuckleballer and 2012 Cy Young Winner, is also now in the ex-player category. Even the ballpark has changed: it's now Spectrum Field, after the cable company that held the naming rights was acquired by a rival. But the palm trees are still waving, the grass is green and hopefully, after some predicted rain today, it'll be vacation weather. I'll keep you posted. Look for my posts from Florida starting tomorrow.

Being based on the east coast, whose teams train in Florida, I sometimes overlook the teams from other parts of the country who get ready in Arizona. The San Diego Padres are a fine example. General manager AJ Preller has concentrated on developing talent in his farm system. Buy his splashy move, signing free agent Manny Machado, signaled that the club may be close to contending. Why no one should consider Grapefruit or Cactus League games a guarantee of future performance, the Padres are offering some good signs -- starting with best record of any team training in Arizona. While Machado has started slowly, another new acquisition, Ian Kinsler, has look revitalized. Top prospect Fernando Tatis, Junior is hitting over. 300. And a young Padre veteran, the center fielder Manuel Margot , has also been grounds for optimism. The NL West has two "haves" in the Dodgers and Rockies, and a pair of "have nots" in the Giants and D'backs. Preller's moves will be

  Continuing the trend of baseball's weirdest free agent season since the collusion winter of Andre Dawson, Carlos Gonzalez finally landed a job -- sort of. After 10 productive seasons with the Rockies, the sweet-swinging outfielder took the Indians offer of a minor league contract with a big league camp invitation on Saturday. That's the best the 33-year old could do -- and with 12 days before opening day, he's got his work cut out to impress the Indians, even though Cleveland has been desperate for outfield help. It continues the salary plunge for the three-time all star and .287 lifetime hitter. From $20 million in 2017, to $5 million in '18 and $2 million plus incentives should he make the Indians roster. While "Cargo" is longer one of the elite outfielders in the game, this is a proven pro who has to be wondering if he got the right advice and guidance from his agent Scott Boras in recent years.

The Yankees have done a great job of developing talent in the last four years. Luis Severino, Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge and Miguel Andujar have revitalized the Bronx bombers. And despite trading some prospects and graduating a few others, there's still a pool of impressive youngsters. Topping that list is Estevan Florial . Just 21, the lefty hitting outfielder has opened even more eyes with his Grapefruit League play. A laser of a home run, and a batting average over .340 reinforce the sense the Dominican native is someone special. Tack on strong defensive skills and you have the kind of prospect who could easily have factored -- along with the presence of Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Hicks -- into the Yanks not pursuing Bryce Harper. Now the warning: Florial has yet to play above A ball.  After missing half of 2018 with injuries, he's ticketed for Trenton, two levels from the majors. I'm planning to get a first-hand look at him sooner than later; hopefull

Two weeks from starting his 19th major league season, Albert Pujols has already passed 600 home runs and 3000 hits. And barring a serious injury, he'll pass another milestone this year: he's just 18 RBI short of 2000. You might be surprised to realize how few players have driven in 2000 runs. Let's start with some iconic names who never got to Y2Krbi: Willie Mays, Ted Williams and Stan Musial. Lou Gehrig missed by just 5. Only four players in MLB's 150 year history, have joined the 2000 club: Hank Aaron, your all-time leader with 2297, Babe Ruth with 2214, Alex Rodriguez at 2086 and 19th century legend Cap Anson with 2075. That's it. No Willie (Mickey or the Duke). You need talent, luck and two decades worth of sustained health. And, to be candid, some other good teammates. All Hank's 755 home runs guaranteed him were 755 RBI. The other 1500 came from having Eddie Matthews, Red Schoendienst, Felipe Alou and countless others get on base before his time up

Do the math, this is from more than a third of a century ago: Darryl Strawberry awaits his turn in the cage during batting practice before a Mets/Phillies game at long-gone Jack Russell Stadium in Clearwater.

With a Yankee late inning comeback -- after an earlier laser home run by Aaron Judge -- dominating news from Yankee camp, another items deserves more attention... and concern. Center fielder Aaron Hicks , who's missed more than a week with back tightness, had a cortisone shot on Tuesday. That's a strong indication that his issue not only isn't improving, but his status for opening day could be in jeopardy. While possessing those highly sought "five tools," Hicks never put it all together over a full season until 2018. That production convinced the club that he was worth extending -- leading to the seven year, $70 million extension announced a few weeks ago. But this is also a brittle player who has never played 140 games in a season, and is on the shelf 15 days from the season opener. Could Brian Cashman be suffering from buyer's remorse? On the other hand, the Yanks have an easy schedule to begin 2019, including nine games with the weakling Tigers a

...13 seasons on the back of his card, 266 career homers, a lifetime .278 batter and a strong clubhouse reputation. Yet Adam Jones went until the second week of March before landing a new deal. Analytics have shown his defense to be in decline, and the reality is that the San Diego native turns 34 on the 1st of August. He'll join the D'backs, who needed to fill some big lineup holes after A.J. Pollock left as a free agent and Paul Goldschmidt was traded to the Cardinals. What sign does this give to Arizona baseball fans? A bargain basement replacement for two longtime D'backs stars? Or a savvy choice to stabilize a franchise that still hopes to compete with the Dodgers, Rockies and the clearly improved Padres?

Pete Alonso put up breakout numbers during 2018 and opened a lot of eyes in the Mets organization. 15 home runs at Double A Binghamton (I saw him in a May game whey visted Hartford), 21 more after being promoted to Las Vegas and six more in the Arizona Fall League. Best of all, the executive who seemed least impressed by the Tampa native, Sandy Alderson, has left the club. Battling Dominic Smith for the regular 1st base job, he's continued to rake over the first 2-and-a-half weeks of Grapefruit League play, hitting .423 with three home runs. These might be the kind of numbers to make Citi Field his fulltime address.

You share it with Aaron Boone : third generation member of a dynastic baseball family, author of an iconic Yankee post-season home run and current Yankee manager. Our March 9th birthday party co-stars: Benito Santiago , the outstanding catcher for the Padres and Giants. Bert Campaneris , the A's shortstop -- and six-time AL stolen base champ -- on their great teams of the early and mid-'70s. Terry Mulholland , the "craft lefty" who appeared in the post-season with four different teams: the Phillies, Cubs, Braves and Twins. And we remember: Jim Landis , a gifted defensive center fielder during the '60s. Jackie Jensen , who joined the Yankees in 1950, but is best known for playing alongside Ted Williams for most of that decade. His intense fear of flying led to him sitting out the 1960 season and retiring for keeps after '61. Two Hall of Famers were both on March 9th: Billy Southworth , who managed the great Cardinals teams of the 1940s; and

Tom Seaver , seen here at the 2012 BAT Dinner, made an incredibly sad announcement on Thursday. His family released a statement through the Baseball Hall of Fame that he was suffering from dementia and would retire from public life. I shared these thoughts when Seaver turned 70 back in 2014; they're just as meaningful today. This wasn't just one of the greatest pitchers of the 1960s and '70s, Seaver was a transformative player -- the symbol of the Mets leaving their "lovable loser" era and progressing through respectability to champions in just a span of three years. Who else had such a dramatic effect on a franchise? Jackie Robinson, sure. Babe Ruth, absolutely. Walter Johnson, perhaps. But who else arrived and instantly drew a line in the sand that redefined their team's image and identity? The Giants were great before Willie Mays arrived at the Polo Grounds, There were Cardinal titles and heroes before Stan became The Man. And Spahn and Sain had writt

The Dodgers media guide the last time they were reigning World Series Champions. The Gibson-Hershiser-Hatcher crew that stunned the Mets in the NLCS and did the same to a 104-victory Oakland club. The franchise's second title of the '80s and sixth since 1955. And none since. With all the attention being paid to Harper, Machado, the Mets and Phillies makeovers, pace of play and labor unrest, the Dodgers whose biggest acquisition was A.J. Pollock, flew under the radar. Was Andrew Friedman's strategy the smart way to go? No San Diego-like splash; no San Francisco-esque sentimental ride; nor Colorado doubling down on their big bats. We'll start seeing the results when the regular season opens three weeks from today.

Gio Gonzalez remains one of baseball's most accomplished free agents. Sunday, I spotlighted Keuchel, Kimbrel and the longtime Nationals lefthander. But Gonzalez's market position likely changed on Tuesday, with word that Luis Severino is being shut down for at least two weeks with rotator cuff inflamation. The best case scenario still has the Yankees ace returning in mid-April -- but that's a big if. What if there's another setback? Or worse? Even without the gloom and doom, the Yankees could probably use another veteran pitcher short-term. CC Sabathia has a cranky knee and has already signed with ESPN as he heads toward his next career. JA Happ is 35. Masahiro Tanaka has a fragile elbow. James Paxton has never worked more than 160 innings in a season. And Jordan Montgomery's timetable for returning from Tommy John surgery is full of potential setbacks. And Gonzalez, an 11 year veteran with plenty of experience working in pennant races, just waits for a call.

When you think of the 5th of March, visions of players rounding into shape with palm trees and cactus in the background come to mind. Maybe a home run or a few stunningly good innings from a previously unheralded prospect. But the March 5th, 1966 was a date that changed baseball forever. On that date, the Major League Baseball Players Association named former Steelworkers Union attorney Marvin Miller as its executive director. A fan of the game but with no prior connection to baseball, Miller was recruited for the job by veteran players Jim Bunning, Bob Friend, Harvey Kuenn and Robin Roberts. In a time of rapidly rising TV revenues, the average player's salary was $19,000. Something was out of balance. The players were the product; bound to teams by the reserve clause, they were not receiving anywhere near a fair share. In a 2010 interview with Deadspin , Miller recalled, "I was doing my level best to try and understand what their problems were... what they hoped the

...you share it with one of baseball's under-the-radar stars, Nicholas Castellanos . The Tigers 3rd baseman-turned-outfielder provides power and speed -- take note of his leading the American League in triples two years ago. Entering his walk year at age 27, it'll be interesting to see if Detroit, under GM Al Avila, tries to extend him as the core of their next winning team, or cashes him in on the mid-season trade market before his chance next winter to leave as a free agent. Only three players born on this date played more than 1000 major league games. Infielder Cass Michaels played for several American League teams in the decade after World War Two. Outfielder Red Murray attended Notre Dame and played for several National League teams, including the pennant winning 1911, '12 and '13 New York Giants. Clyde McCullough caught for the Cubs and Pirates, but likely left his greatest mark as a member of the Mets organization. A coach for Casey Stengel on the 1

With Harper and Machado finally off the board -- and a week into the exhibition season -- there are still some impressive free agents without contracts.  Dallas Keuchel  (above) might have the most to offer on a short term basis. While he's never been the same since his 2015 Cy Young Award season, he's still an above-average starter. And at 31, could easily have a couple or three quality years remaining in his left arm. I don't believe he's worth five guaranteed seasons. But two or three -- especially for a club that needs a veteran presence to fill out a rotation that doesn't flash a lot of aces -- could be a sensible choice. With the Phillies still capable of writing one more big check, Gabe Kapler might feel a lot more secure writing his name on the lineup card every fifth day than such question marks as Eflin, Velazquez or the youngster Ranger Suarez. Gio Gonzalez has a lot of miles (and over 1800 innings) on his left arm. But he's been a good #3

If there's one indispensable member of the Kansas City Royals, it's Salvador Perez . The six-time All Star plays the most physically demanding position among "the starting eight." Not to mention, he's the team leader, one of the last links to their 2015 champions. So to learn on Friday that Perez needs Tommy John Surgery on his throwing arm borders on unfair. A young team, with a thin base of talent and no room for error -- and they lose their leader for the entire season. At time of the year hope should spring eternal for baseball fans any and everywhere, the Royals' 2019 has already gone off the rails. ( My image of Perez is from July 26th, 2018 at Yankee Stadium as he threw out Neil Walker on a typically accurate throw .)