Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

Roberto Clemente 's death in a plane crash ferrying humanitarian aid to Nicaragua remains one of baseball's greatest offseason tragedies. Still at the top of his game -- and having ended the 1972 regular season with exactly 3000 hits -- the Pirates superstar chose to personally deliver supplies to the earthquake-stricken nation. Distrubed by reports that the Somoza dictatorship was stealing aid meant for the victims, Clemente felt his presence would keep things honest. Instead, the overloaded plane crashed not far from the Puerto Rican coast, with all aboard killed. Clemente's body was never found, only his briefcase was recovered. His legacy of leadership is honored in this statue outside the Pirates current home, PNC Park.

Bryce Harper enters 2018 knowing he's almost certain to be the most coveted free agent after the season. Coming off a dynamic but injury-shortened year, and still just 25, he probably just needs to stay healthy to claim an unprecedented windfall. There's only one small shred of doubt -- which perhaps the Nationals replacing manager Dusty Baker with Dave Martinez could overcome. His teams have never won a playoff series. Four times in the past six seasons, Washington has won the NL East -- and all seasons ended with Division Series losses. More than any other, baseball is a team game. Pitching failures can't be blamed on Harper. Playing in a weak division, where it's again possible the Nats will be the only club over .500, they appear to be a lock to return to the playoffs. Reaching the Championship Series or, even better, the World Series, could be the cherry on top for Bryce Harper's resume -- especially with uber-agent Scott Boras handling his negotiations.

During the Mets disappointing and injury-riddled 2017, Jacob de Grom was their one rock of consistency. Going 15 - 10, with 239 strikeouts in 201 innings, he lived up to expectations while Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, Zach Wheeler and Steven Matz were sidelined or ineffective. This onetime infielder is also a respectable hitter. A .211 average last season, with a home run in 77 at bats, places him somewhere between Don Drysdale and Don Newcombe. But he needs a little work on the bat flip after a walk. It looks a little awkward in this attempt from the June 30th game against the Phillies.

From August 19th, 2007 : Shawn Hill of the Nationals pitching to Shawn Green of the Mets in a Sunday afternoon game at RFK Stadium. We're in the top of the 1st inning, with David Wright on 2nd base (and Washington shortstop Felipe Lopez just behind him). Green would fly out to end the inning... the Mets would go on to win this game 8 -2 . Take a good look over the field toward the outfield seats. This was the first of the circular multi-purpose stadiums, the model on which Busch Stadium II, Riverfront, Three Rivers and Veterans Stadiums were based.

With the northeast heading into a 10-day deep freeze, the time's right for some Spring Training memories. We're at Osceola County Stadium in Kissimmee, Florida for an Astros/Tigers exhibition game in 2015. Blue skies with a slight haze. Temperature around 80. And how can you not love a setting where most home runs land between the palm trees?   George Springer (below) wasn't yet a household name in March of 2015. Just 78 games into his major league career, he was prepping for his first full season with the Astros -- which would take them to an American League Wild Card, a playoff win over the Yankees and a tough five-game ALDS where they'd lose to the eventual World Champion Royals. This would be Houston's next-to-last spring in Kissimmee -- in 2017, they joined the Washington Nationals in a new complex in Palm Beach.

I had just the right angle at the March 9th Yankees-Braves exhibition to capture the seams on the ball -- just above home plate -- after a swing-and-miss by Jacoby Ellsbury. The pitcher was Aaron Blair , who made just one appearance for the Braves in the 2017 regular season.

The stolen base king and greatest leadoff hitter of all time was born on Christmas Day. Rickey Henderson played 25 seasons in the majors -- and never stopped being an intimidating presence. He led the American League in steals 12 times -- the final time at age 39! While none of his five Yankee seasons ended in a post-season appearance, he's become a regular at their Old Timers Day. Since baseball already has its Mister October (Reggie Jackson) and Mister November (Derek Jeter), shouldn't we consider -- even though he never played a major league game on his birthday -- Rickey as Mister Christmas? Two other Hall of Famers were born on this date -- Nellie Fox , who teamed with fellow Cooperstown inductee Luis Aparicio on the great White Sox teams of the 1950s -- including the Go Go Sox that won the 1959 AL pennant; and Pud Galvin , the 19th century pitcher and the first 300-game winner in the game's history. Only one present-day player shares Rickey's birthday:...