Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

While visiting relatives on a holiday week trip to upstate New York, I spent Friday afternoon at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown. There's a different mood touring the museum during the off-season. Two months past the the World Series, two months before the first exhibition games of '13, and with a few inches of fresh fallen snow, it was great to be surrounded by the game's heroes and history. It's the mid-point of the off-season, yet the power of baseball is never far away. The Boys of Winter : below, a sculpture on the Museum's back lawn depicts Johnny Podres and Roy Campanella; the final pitch of the 1955 World Series and greatest moment in Brooklyn baseball history. It takes on a different dynamic when covered with a fresh coating of snow.

Last August 30th in Philadelphia, Mike Baxter helped get the Mets off to a fast start with a leadoff home run off Kyle Kendrick. Let's focus on where the ball landed in the right field seats. Do you see the guy with outspread arms cheering? Wearing a Mets cap and shirt, he's clearly a fan of the fellows from Flushing. And who caught the ball? Apparently, the person with the horizonally striped tee shirt -- see how it's about to drop into his grasp. Finally, check out Phillies right fielder Michael Martinez (#7), watching helplessly as Baxter's ball carries well beyond the field.

As displayed at the 2008 All Star Game FanFest in New York, seats from the original and post-renovation Yankee Stadium. No cupholders needed and certainly no padding.

Baseball Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins with the ceremonial first pitch before a 2007 Marlins exhibition  game in Jupiter, Florida.

No doubt about it, Rickey Henderson is the greatest player ever born on December 25th. Seen here at last July's Yankees Old Timers Day, the gifted leadoff batter and alltime base-stealing champ added home run power to his other tools -- with a record 88 leadoff homers during his career. Christmas Day is actually a productive one among all time players -- two other Hall of Famers, Neillie Fox and 19th century legend Pud Galvin, a two-time 46-game winner, also were born on this date. Click on the link and see how many of these names your remember.

After four productive and often thrill-packed seasons with the Yankees, each followed by an underwhelming post-season performance, Nick Swisher is now an Indian. He inked a four-year $56-million contract with Cleveland over the weekend. Swisher (scoring here in a September game against Oakland) joins the exodus of familiar Yankee names that also includes catcher Russell Martin (#55). Do you think the Yanks made a sound decision in letting "Swishalicious" leave? Keep in mind that from 2009-2012, he averaged .267 with 26 home runs.

Does a merchandise table at a collectables show always grab your attention? Do classic newspaper backpages or magazines bring back the thrill of the original moment? You can't overlook the collective visual power of these images displayed together.