Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

+ I made my first visit to AT&T Park in late August and was deeply impressed. Yes, I snapped away all evening, building an archive of images I'll share throughout the offseason. Here, it's just about dusk, with the perfect convergence of sky, architecture and the Giants/Brewers game in progress.

Thanks to Madison Bumgarner, who turned in a pitching performance for the ages -- throwing shutout ball in games one and five, then five shutout innings of relief to save game seven -- the San Francisco Giants are champions of baseball for the third time in five seasons. Here's the jewel of a ballpark they call home.

Go ahead, call him "Ace," because Yordano Ventura certainly pitched like one Tuesday night (he was pretty impressive when I saw him against the Yankees in September, too). The 23 year old fireballer threw seven innings of shutout ball as the Royals forced a seventh game in the World Series with a 10 - 0 rout of the Giants. The KC offense eased much of the pressure from Ventura by scoring seven runs in the 2nd inning. Still, give Ventura his share of the credit -- he shut down the same San Francisco hitters that pummeled the Royals Saturday and Sunday. So now, it's the ultimate showdown -- a winnter-take-all game seven.

Ground was broken on October 28th, 1961 for Shea Stadium in New York. It would take two-and-a-half years to complete. For 45 years, it would be home to the Mets -- spanning skippers Casey Stengel to Jerry Manuel; starting pitcher Jack Fisher to Oliver Perez and shortstops Amado Samuel to Jose Reyes. Highlights, low lights, an All Star Game and four World Series. The round, spartan multi-purpose design wouldn't place it high on any iconic list, and the wing and the ever-present airplanes overhead added a unique twist. Never to be as beloved as Ebbets Field -- which also ironically hosted baseball for 45 seasons -- or as distinctive as the Polo Ground, the Shea story began on this date in 1961.

Found it! My press pass from the '86 World Series. I have no idea why Game 7 is not punched. I was there. In fact, I gave away tickets to the (Super Bowl-bound) Giants game against the Redskins that night to be at Shea Stadium. Delayed a day by rain, game 7 was not the epic game 6 was, but still packed plenty of excitement. Yet another come-from-behind win for the Mets... who came back from an early 3 - 0 deficit (Dwight Evans and Rich Gedman homered off Ron Darling in the 2nd inning and Wade Boggs added an RBI single). The Mets finally got to Bruce Hurst in the 6th inning and tied it at 3. A 7th inning home run by Ray Knight -- voted series MVP -- off the beleaguered Calvin Schiradli gave the Mets the lead for keeps. The game ended 8 - 5 New York. Jesse Orosco retired Marty Barrett for the final out in the top of the 9th. 27 years ago tonight, the Mets were champions of baseball for the second time in their history.

You're never prepared to hear about the unexpected death of a 22 year old. That's the age when life's just beginning; school or career prep is in the rear view mirror. And that's why the news Sunday night of the death of the young Cardinals outfielder Oscar Taveras was so shocking. Considered one of the Top 5 prospects in all of baseball, the Dominican outfielder made his major league debut last summer. And while he didn't have the immediate impact of a Mike Trout or Jose Abreu, big things were predicted for him. When I photographed him during the Cardinals/Phillies game in late August, I assumed that it was the first of many times I'd watch this good looking lefthanded hitter. But it was not to be. Word came out during game five of the World Series that Taveras was killed in a car wreck in his native country. Amidst all the joy of baseball's greatest event is the ache, the sadness, the realization that young life of promise had ended before it r...

The most amazing win in Mets history took place on this night, and I was lucky enough to be there. Covering the World Series for WYNY radio, i was with several other local radio folks (including Howie Rose, then a weekend sports anchor on WCBS-AM; and Dennis Murray, then a news producer-editor for WINS) in "the auxillary press box", which was really an unused suite, totally empty except for the seats. It was cold, it was damp, it was high drama. Game Six of the World Series, the Mets coming into the night trailing three games to two. Entering the bottom of the 10th inning down by two and facing elimination, the Mets rally for three runs -- capped by Mookie Wilson's grounder spinning between Bill Buckner's legs as Ray Knight delightedly scampers home. That quirky 6 - 5 win sends the Series to a 7th and final game (in which the Mets have to come from behind again to nail down the title). No cameras of course in the press box. But I did find my copy of the World S...