Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

...you share it with  Ian Kinsler ... Now with the Padres, the 14-year veteran will soon reach 2000 career hits. In fact, of all the position players born on this date, he has the most hits, home runs, RBIs, stolen bases and has scored the most runs. (My image is from 2017, when he was with the Tigers). Only one Hall of Famer was born on the 22nd of June. Carl Hubbell , wrote his ticket to Cooperstown with 253 victories in his 16 big league seasons -- all with the New York Giants. The pitcher known for his superb slider was a five-time 20-game winner, with 260 complete games; he threw 10 shutouts in 1933 with a 1.66 ERA, while working more than 300 innings! A season that good might have inspired Cy Young, then enjoying his retirement in Ohio, to commission a trophy and present Hubbell the award that, of course, wasn't inaugurated until 1956. He set a still-unmatched record for consecutive victories, with 26 (that stretched from the 1936 to '37 season). Hubbell's reti...

Say hello to the Houston Astros next budding star. A club largely built with home grown talent such as Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, George Springer and Carlos Correia, just added Yordan Alvarez to the lineup. The Cuban expat originally signed with the Dodgers, who swapped him for Houston for Josh Fields -- an effective reliever, but hardly a star. Alvarez -- who bashed 23 homers in the first half of the minor league season -- could be on track to become the latter. Watch him swing and you'll get the message. And you have to love a lefty power hitter who wears 44, the same number and side of the plate as McCovey and Reggie Jackson.

You've heard the accolades about Max Scherzer . Yet the Washington Nationals ace and three-time Cy Young Award winner (seen here this April), still did something above and beyond on Wednesday. Just over 24 hours after a batting practice bunt attempt wound up in his face, he still took the mound against the Phillies. Working with a broken nose and ugly black and blue mark under his right eye, he still stopped the Phillies cold. His seven shutout innings and 10 strikeouts were backed by Brian Dozier's solo homer in the 2nd inning. No margin for error, and a totally dominating performance. Victor Robles homered in the 8th, to give the bullpen a little breathing room. Breathing room Max never had while he was in the game. Breathing through a broken nose and tacking another game onto the win column for the suddenly surging Nats.

John Sterling has coined many great home run calls over the years: spanning "Bern, Baby, Bern" (for Williams) to "It's Gleyber Day" (Torres). And his latest ranks among the greatest -- and most surprising. "Hammerin' Cameron" has become the handle for the Yankees fill-in outfielder. Cameron Maybin has played for eight teams in 13 seasons... flashing traces of the "five tool" talent that long intrigued scouts and executives. But except for a 94-game stint with the 2016 Tigers, when he hit .315, he'd never lived up to expectations over an extended run. While 39 games is not "an extended run" either, the well-traveled outfielder has opened eyes since joining the Yankees. He's delivered plenty of clutch hits, made sparkling plays in the outfield, and caught the eye of teammates as well as the play-by-play voice in the radio booth -- especially, the last four games. On a misty Tuesday night in the Bronx, Maybin ag...

The Mets are pinching themselves, that's how happy they are that they won't see the Cardinals again this season. St. Louis has plenty of good talent, but Paul De Jong takes special pride in beating the stuffing out of the Mets. The shortstop has seemingly adopted Citi Field as his "home away from home." Sunday's tie-breaking home run gave him a remarkable six homers in 46 career at bats in Flushing. Not six in 46 games -- six in 46 at bats! Those are numbers Albert Pujols and Stan Musial might be jealous of. ( My image of De Jong is from last Friday's game at Citi Field .)

I got a terrific and unique Father's Day on Sunday. My daughter Leigh, a journalist based in Raleigh, NC, went to the nearby ballpark in Durham to cover the rehab game for Yankee sluggers Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. Not only are these great pictures that provide a nice scoop for fans who haven't seen these guys on the field since April, but it's a sweet and very personal example of baseball bonding the generations. Statistically, not exactly vintage Judge or Stanton. Number 99 went 1 for 4, driving in a run, while Stanton, expected back with the Yanks on Tuesday night was hitless. But he's swinging with full force. Take note on this image of Giancarlo breaking his bat. But the numbers don't matter -- it's the medical report. And with the Yankee replacements having cooled off recently, it will be nice to see the "A team" again intact.

Dexter Fowler hasn't had as many "moments" as expected since coming to the Cardinals as a pricey free agent. But Friday night, he delivered in the clutch, with game-changing results. A tie-breaking three-run homer off Jeurys Familia put the Cards on top, in a game they wound up winning 9-5. While crediting the Cardinal hitters for their late inning success in the first two games of this series, it wouldn't have happened had the Mets been given better bullpen work. In the first game -- suspended Thursday night, resumed Friday and won by the Cardinals in 10 innings, Edwin Diaz folded in crunch time. Friday night, it was Familia, who gave up a game-tying blast to Paul DeJong just before Fowler's go-ahead homer. Two games, two teams going in opposite directions. The Cardinals move two games over .500, while the Mets slip three below the break even point.