Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

The lobby at Ed Smith Stadium offers a visually impressive tribute to Orioles history. Banners commemorating division and pennant winners as well as Baltimore's World Series championships hang from a circular crown of bats.

From March 11th, 2018: the Orioles host the Phillies in a rare night game at Sarasota. Ironically, this was the night I first saw Mike Yastrzemski play. Later in the game, I walked around Ed Smith Stadium, and, while shooting from just beyond the outfield fence, I heard that famous last name introduced by the PA announcer. Starting his sixth minor league season, with no idea he'd blossom a year later into one of the National League's more impressive rookies, I thought more in terms of the pressure he felt growing up with a famous name and a legendary grandfather -- and trying make a name for himself in the game where Carl achieved its ultimate honor.

This Baltimore bird celebrated its 40th anniversary as the Orioles' mascot this past season.

Off-season, schmoff-season, every day on the calendar has a baseball connection. Want proof? Check out this date in  1972 : The Yankees (still owned by CBS) send outfielders Charlie Spikes and Rusty Torres and infielder Jerry Kenny to the Indians for backup catcher Jerry Moses and 3rd baseman Graig Nettles  (far right) -- whose often-stellar glovework and lefty power prove essential to four Yankee pennant winners and a pair of World Championships over the next decade. And... there's more: 1974 : Yankee owner George Steinbrenner gets a two-year suspension from commissioner Bowie Kuhn for making illegal campaign contributions to Richard Nixon and others. 1967 : Six weeks after the Mets announced they'd hired Gil Hodges away from the Senators to be their new manager, pitcher Bill Denehy  is sent to Washington as compensation.  1956 : A week after winning the National League MVP award, Brooklyn Dodgers ace Don Newcombe receives the first ever Cy Young Award. The 1949

...you share it with a ballplayer whose last name should have belonged to a fireballer. Josh Smoker was a lefty reliever with the 2016 and '17 Mets. But, to be kind he was no Aroldis Chapman (nor the anatomically surnamed Rollie Fingers or Bill Hands). He moved onto the Pirates in 2018 and made one appearance for the '19 Tigers before finishing the year with York (PA) of the independent Atlantic League. With the steady demand for bullpen lefties, don't be surprised if the Georgia native pops up with a franchise near you somewhere down the road. Also on our November 26th cake and card list: Matt Tracy , a lefthander with the shortest possible big league career. In the midst of an eight-year minor league career, he worked two innings in relief for the Yankees in their April 11th, 2015 game against the Red Sox -- the one and only time he ever pitched in the majors. Sam Militello also had a brief run in the big leagues. The Yankees had high hopes for the Florida-born

This winter's free agent big free agent names -- Stephen Strasburg, Garrett Cole, Madison Bumganrner and Anthony Rendon -- aren't expected to sign anytime soon. We've gotten used to that snail's pace in recent winters. The Braves, whose roster status and financial structure likely leave them away from the top tier players, have emerged as the early buys in this off-season. Sunday's deal with catcher Travis d'Arnaud was the third free agent signing with Atlanta after relievers Will Smith and Chris Martin. Now 30, the onetime Phillies 1st round draft pick who was considered the key piece to the deal that netted the Mets Noah Syndergaard, never rose beyond ordinary status in Flushing. After missing most of 2018 after needing Tommy John surgery on his throwing arm, the Mets replaced him with Wilson Ramos and wound up sending him to the Dodgers, for whom he played just one game. Picked up from the scrap pile by the Rays, he turned in his best big league season,

From section 429, high atop Yankee Stadium on June 20th.

It wasn't a huge move, but might be a savvy one. The Mets signed onetime Yankee reliever Chasen Shreve to a free agent contract. After enjoying success in the Bronx, he struggled after being sent to the Cardinals in the 2018 Luke Voit deal. Last year, he made just three appearances in the majors, while working in 51 games for the Cards' Memphis farm club. A low risk move, especially for a club that needs to beef up its bullpen. Still, you have to wonder how the Shreve will be deployed. Many of his Yankee appearances were in one- or- two-batter situations, which will disappear under the revised rules requiring most relievers to face three men. So this lefty specialist will have to earn his keep by proving he can get out hitters on either side of the plate. The signing also adds Shreve to the list of those who've played for both New York clubs. The question is whether his time in Queens will be more like those of David Cone and Doc Gooden and not Ralph Terry or Bill Sh

Wednesday proved to be a newsworthy day in this Yankee off-season. Faced with a deadline to firm their 40-man roster, the club cut ties with two well-known players. Health, or the lack of it, was the key in both decisions: Jacoby Ellsbury was designated for assignment, with one year (and $26 million) remaining on a free-agent contract that was long considered a colossal failure. His Yankee career, beginning at age 30, consisted of four years of declining production followed by two injury-ravaged seasons where he never played even one regular season game. Unfulfilled potential will be  Greg Bird 's Bronx epitaph. After showing tremendous promise the final two months of 2015, he just couldn't stay healthy. From his shoulder to his foot, and seemingly everywhere in between, one physical problem after another kept him off the field. Despite natural skills and a swing tailor-made for Yankee Stadium, the organization ran out of patience -- especially with capable replacements

With a lull this week in real baseball news, let's wind it back a decade, March 2009, with the Astros (still a National League club) hosting the Yankees at their former Spring Training home, Osceola County Stadium. This cozy 5400-seat ballpark was very much old school -- in contrast to those built around Florida and Arizona this century. The Astros spent 32 seasons in Kissimmee (1985 - 2016), and minor league ball continued there through 2018 with the Florida State League's Fire Frogs. That, too, has ended, as the county spent the past year redeveloping the stadium for soccer. Above: that's Johnny Damon at bat for the Yanks. Below: near the end of the game, the sky is a bit less blue. Also catching my eye, the lack of screening. Box seat fans needed to keep an eye on the game -- not their phones.

It's the 40th birthday of Ryan Howard , the star-crossed first baseman who, after four great seasons and two more very good ones, appeared to be on a path leading to Cooperstown. Then came game five of the 2011 NLDS, an ugly swing, a crushing fall and the achilles injury that changed the course of his career and the phranchise's destiny for the rest of the decade. The St. Louis native played another five years but was never the same player, while the Phils never again saw the post-season. He finished his career with 382 home runs, which, leave him second on the Phils' alltime list behind.... The greatest Phillies player ever. Mike Schmidt owns a piece of November 19th as well. On this date in 1986, he earned his third National League MVP award, joining fellow Hall of Famers Stan Musial and Roy Campanella as the only three-time NL winners up to that point. Ironically, the honor came on Campy's birthday. And while he made his mark in Brooklyn, the beloved catcher was

We learned over the weekend that a pair of 1950s Yankees had passed away on Friday. Both played for Casey Stengel, and alongside the singularly named legends Yogi, Mickey and Whitey. Jim Coates (above) broke in briefly on the 1956 champions. A few years later, he found his niche as a versatile swing-man, starting and relieving from 1959 through '61. The Virginia native's numbers dropped off the next season and in 1963, he was swapped for Senators reliever Steve Hamilton, a trade that worked out well for the Yanks. I met Jim in the winter of 2011 at a New Jersey card and collectibles show, and he was a fine gentleman who fondly looked back on this time in the Bronx. Jim Coates, whose 2012 memoir was titled Always a Yankee,  was 87. I never met Irv Noren , and was a little too young to remember him as player. But for several seasons, he was a useful fourth outfielder -- especially in 1954, when he reached career highs in homers and batting average. One of many Yanks who w

A pet expression of the late, beloved Phillies broadcaster Richie Ashburn was "he looks runnerish." Having been a Hall of Fame ballplayer who stole 234 bases during his career, Ashburn knew the mindset of someone about to take that 90 foot scamper. Remembering his words, and his knack of spotting a runner about to scamper, I wonder what he'd have said about the Reds' Nick Senzel from a game in Philadelphia last June. Leading, looking, waiting, perhaps for the right split second to make his break. In this case, Senzel didn't take off for second, he advanced on a single and later came around to score on a hit by Eugenio Suarez.

Both 2019 MVPs have Southern California zip codes: Mike Trout and Cody Bellinger . But their paths to the honor differed greatly. No one questions Trout's talent, he could well be the best player in all of baseball. But he's not getting a Player of the Year trophy -- or as the CFL so nicely names it, the Most Outstanding Player. And value is not necessarily measured by statistics. 45 home runs, 104 RBIs and league-leading on-base and slugging percentages speak loudly. They scream "best." Now, the problem: Trout played on a Angels club that never spent a day in 1st place during 2019. Despite Trout's excellence, the boys from Anaheim did not contend: three games back on May 2nd, they were slipped farther and farther back as the season rolled on. Sorry to say, the one thing Trout didn't do was something he could not control -- he didn't play a meaningful game in the last five months of the season. So, it's hard to measure "value" when

Familiar names claim this year's Cy Young Awards. Jacob deGrom  and Justin Verlander each won it for the second time. Mets ace deGrom made it back-to-back Cy's, while Verlander continued his late career renaissance with the Astros, when, just like 2011, he posted a 20-win season (and tossed a no-hitter) en route to the honor. With 225 regular season wins and more than 3000 strikeouts, Verlander has already punched his ticket to Cooperstown at age 36. As long as he stays healthy, deGrom, at 31, still has time to author a no-no to add to his amazing ERA. In six seasons, only once has it exceeded 3.04 -- and that year, 2017, he posted his career-best 15 victories. Two remarkable pitchers with multiple Cy Young Awards. It was a pleasure to watch them work during 2019.

Rocco Baldelli -- who helped write one of baseball's biggest turnarounds after taking over the Minnesota Twins, and Mike Shildt -- whose first full season as Cardinals skipper saw dramatic improvements in defense and starting pitching -- are your 2019 Managers of the Year. After a promising playing career was shortened by injuries and illness, Baldelli went into scouting and coaching before being named Twins skipper last winter. Shildt's path to the dugout was far more unique. His playing career topped out at UNC Asheville, where he accepted that he just couldn't hit a curveball, so he turned to coaching. Working first at the high school, then college level, Mike joined the Cardinals organization as a scout, later moving into minor league coaching and managing, before replacing Mike Matheny midway through 2018. His first full season brought the 'birds back to the playoffs for the first time since 2015 -- and was capped by an NLDS win over the Braves. Just the eigh

In the Year of the Slugger, power hitters ran away with the National and American League Rookie of the Year awards. Pete Alonso of the Mets clubbed a rookie record 53 homers, while  Yordan Alvarez of the Astros crushed 27 in 89 games. Quickly becoming "must see" players, they look like franchise fixtures for years to come. But they'll both have to prove it again, starting the last weekend of March.

Later today, baseball's awards season kicks into high gear when the 2019 Rookies of the Year are announced. Now named in honor of the ultimate game-changing rookie, Jackie Robinson, the award salutes the high achieving first-year player in each league from the just-concluded season. While that mission is pretty clear, what the ROY hasn't always been able to do is project the future. Robinson, Willie Mays, Luis Aparcio, Willie McCovey, Rod Carew, Tom Seaver, Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk and Cal Ripken are among those made it to Cooperstown. Derek Jeter (seen above at his Day in Yankee Stadium in 2014) will soon join them. But the crystal ball aspect of the award is no sure thing: how else do you explain the baseball fate of Bob Hamelin, Butch Metzger and Don Schwall? Fame can be fleeting; excellence sometime evaporates. The promise of youth, the mystery of the future, wrapped up in honor that can ask as many questions as it answers.

From last March 23rd: there's a different mood 15 minutes after the last out of the Yankees final home exhibition game of the spring. The seats have emptied out, the scoreboard says goodbye and there's a moment of quiet. That perfect Florida blue sky, just says, "Savor this scene." The Yankees have packed up, the minor leaguers will soon move in, and the regular season is just days away. The beauty, the stillness, the optimism... all wrapped up in this image.

Yogi Berra is announced as the American League MVP. It's the first of three times the Yankees catcher would win the award -- he would do it again in 1954 and '55. A few random thoughts : Yogi would go onto become the Yankees second three-time MVP winner. Joe DiMaggio (1939, 1941, 1947) was the first and Mickey Mantle (1956, 1957, 1962) would be the other. ( Alex Rodriguez won the first of his three MVP awards as a Texas Ranger ). Two of the three times Yogi won the AL MVP, the National League winner played right across town. Roy Campanella of the Dodgers won in 1951 and '55 (as well as '53) and the guys capped their seasons by meeting in the World Series. Bracket the seven peak years of Yogi's career (1950-'56) and he finished in the Top 3 of MVP voting every year. Besides the three awards, he finished second in 1953 and '56 and third in 1950. That's a dominant player!

Baseball gave out its Defensive Player of the Year Awards on Wednesday. And Aaron Judge was the pick among right fielders. According to mlb.com, "Judge is more impressive in right field than you might realize. His 19 Defensive Runs Saved were tied for the most of any right fielder this season, and that earned the Yankees star his first Defensive Player of the Year Award."

...you share it with Adam LaRoche . The son of former big league pitcher Dave LaRoche spent a dozen seasons in the majors, smacking home runs and playing first base for the Braves, Pirates, Diamondbacks, Nationals and White Sox. His 1605 games played are the most for anyone born on this date. The only Hall of Famer born November 6th re-emerged in the public eye during the recent World Series. Walter Johnson , the Senators greatest player ever, nailed down DC's only other Championship. More than 90 years after he retired, he still holds the all time record for most shutouts (with 110), while his 3508 strikeouts remained the most ever until the 1980s! 417 career victories, a lifetime 2.17 ERA and 531 complete games underscore why, in 1936, he was a member of the first class of Cooperstown inductees. With 177 career victories, John Candelaria ranks among the most prolific pitchers ever born in New York City. The Brooklyn native made his mark in Pittsburgh during the mid 1970s,

Monday was the deadline for clubs to make Qualifying Offers to pending free agents. And the Yankees, faced with offering a guaranteed $17.9 million to shortstop Didi Gregorius , decided to pass. After making $11.75 million this past season, when, after missing the first two months recovering from elbow surgery, he turned in less-than-exciting offensive numbers. A bad time for his least productive season as a Yankee -- especially after seeing 2nd baseman Gleyber Torres fill in more than capably during April and May. The popular, multi-lingual and charismatic native of the Netherlands exceeded all expectations in taking over for franchise icon Derek Jeter. But at a time when the Yankees appear eager to remain under the luxury tax threshold, balanced against a clear need to upgrade the starting rotation, Didi, for all his positives, could well have become too pricey for a team that has more pressing off-season priorities.

Carlos Beltran didn't have to sing or dance, let alone work a ventriloquist's dummy, but the 20-year veteran outfielder is the winner of Mets reality series, Finding a Mananger . We learned Friday that the onetime Met (and Yankee) would be Mickey Callaway's replacement. GM Brodie Van Wagenen has to hope that this first time skipper turns out more like Alex Cora, Dave Martinez and Aaron Boone, who between them have two World Championships and a trip to the League Championship Series -- than his often-overmatched predecessor, or division rival Gabe Kapler, booted after two Phillies seasons.

  Yankee fans remember the date: November 2nd, 1995. The Yankees, after a crushing end to their first post-season appearance in 14 years replace manager Buck Showalter with Joe Torre. One tabloid labeled the former Mets, Braves and Cardinals manager Clueless Joe. A local writer claimed that George Steinbrenner, having what amounted to seller's remorse, was scheming for a way to bring back Showalter. Arriving under a swirl of media-fueled controversy, the 21st manager in George Steinbrenner's then-22 years of ownership would be the one to hit the jackpot. This proud son of New York would go on to win four World Series titles, help restore the Yankees to prominence and have his uniform number 6 retired alongside the other franchise greats as he earned his ticket to Cooperstown.

Baseball has done a good job of creating a 365-day news cycle. Six weeks of spring training lead into 162 regular season games, and a month-long post-season that carry us from mid-February through Halloween. Along with a few managerial and coaching spots to be filled, we're almost ready for the off-season. And like last year, one of the big question marks comes out of Washington: where will Anthony Rendon go? The star third baseman, who became a household name during the World Series will be a free agent. It's likely he'll be joined by teammate and Series MVP Stephen Strasburg, who can opt out of the final four years of his deal. And those elite names are joined by an ace from the other dugout: pitcher Gerrit Cole. Add in three-time World Champ Madison Bumgarner, Dodgers lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu and the Mets' Zack Wheeler and we could be in line for massive money and major player movement. Or maybe not. Will the analytics-driven front offices prefer to "develop th