Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

A day after closer David Robertson's trade to Miami prompted  Max Scherzer  to tell reporters that he needed to "talk to the [Mets] brass," the future Hall of Famer was traded to the Texas Rangers.   Clearly unhappy on a club whose season went sour amidst huge expectations, Max leaves New York with a 20-9 record in 42 starts, along with a disaster of a Wild Card series start last October, when the Padres roasted him for seven runs in 4-2/3 innings. His 2023 mark was underwhelming: even with Friday's seven innings with just one run allowed,he sports a  4.01 ERA with 121 strikeouts over 107 2/3 innings -- and a career-worst 1.9 home runs per nine innings. Now, Scherzer will try to fill the shoes of another ex-Met.  Jacob deGrom's season is over (as likely is his 2024) following Tommy John surgery.  With the ex-Cy Young winner on the shelf, and Nate Eovaldi again dealing with arm issues, Scherzer will get the chance to save the Rangers season, while ...

...you share it with Walker Buehler , the Dodgers pitcher hoping to make it back in September after 2022 Tommy John surgery.  Already with 14- and 16-win seasons (and two All Star game appearances) to his credit, a healthy Buehler is the logical successor to Clayton Kershaw as LA's ace -- as well as arm who could be the difference as the Dodgers battle to stay ahead of the Giants and Diamondbacks in the NL West. Tylor Megill was a dependable middle-of-the-rotation starter for the '21 Mets, before dealing with injuries in 2022.  And this year, the Californian never got on track, before being optioned to their Syracuse farm club in late June.  (My image is from a June '22 rehab start for Binghamton.) Some other names you might recognize in our July 28th birthday circle: Spencer Howard , once a top pitching prospect for the Phillies, who has struggled with the Rangers since a deadline 2021 trade to Texas. Carmelo Martinez homered for the Cubs in his first big league at ba...

While looking for a photo of a different Met from the 2013 season -- I'll explain who and why later on -- I landed on the game of August 26th , and discovered three young players all in Flushing pinstripes, whose careers are still going strong a decade later.  Of course, none of them now call New York home.  Just a random night when the 6-7-8 hitters were (top to bottom) Wilmer Flores , Travis d'Arnaud and Justin Turner . Teammates on the 2013 Mets -- not a very good club, finishing 74-88 -- and still productive major leaguers today: Flores with the Giants, d'Arnaud with the Braves and Turner, in the midst of a nice bounce-back year with the Red Sox. Could anyone have predicted that on this night in '13 where their baseball journeys would take them -- and that all would find their best years in cities other than New York? Now onto that other Met, the one whose photo I was looking for... it was Matt Harvey (below).  He didn't pitch that night.  The star-crossed hu...

Sunday afternoon's game in Binghamton featured a matchup of two of the best pitching prospects in AA ball, Christian Scott of the Mets (above) and Ty Madden from the Pirates' Erie Seawolves; both drafted in 2021 and likely on their way to the majors.  In just his third start since being promoted from Single-A Brooklyn, Scott (above) threw four shutout innings, allowing just two hits (with no walks) while striking out six.  Madden worked five innings and totaled 10 k's.  Dented for a solo home run by the Rumble Ponies Agustin Ruiz, he otherwise displayed the talent that has him ranked number five among all Pittsburgh prospects.   It's also worth noting that both Scott (Florida) and Madden (Texas) came from from big time college programs, which often shortens the timeline to reach the majors, compared to high school kids or teenagers from Latin America.

...you share it with CC Sabathia , whose 251 career victories (134 as a Yankee) and 3093 strikeouts will likely punch his ticket to Cooperstown in 2026.  The California native thrived in New York: winning a World Series his first season, when he won 19, then 21 and 19 games, finishing in the Top 4 of voting for the Cy Young Award.   Odds are his 52 will be the next Yankee uniform number to be retired.  Also on today's cake and candles list: Mike Bordick , a capable shortstop who spent 13 of his 14 big league seasons with the A's and Orioles. Geoff Jenkins , the power-hitting 3rd baseman best known for his decade with the Milwaukee Brewers. Al Hrabosky , the often-animated pitcher nicknamed The Mad Hungarian, appeared in 545 games with the Cardinals, Royals and Braves during the '70s and '80s -- all but one as a reliever. He's enjoyed a far longer second career as a member of the Cardinals TV team.  

Juan Marichal makes a splash in his major league debut, pitching a  one-hit 2-0 shutout as the Giants blank the Phillies.  He retired the first 19 batters before Tony Taylor reached on a Jim Davenport error in the 7th.  That, a walk two batters later to Pancho Herrera and Clay Dalrymple's 8th inning pinch single were all that stood between the rookie and perfection. It was a sign of great things to come for the Dominican native.  There'd be 242 more victories -- all but five in a San Francisco uniform -- six 20-win seasons, 10 shutouts in 1965 and a remarkable 30 complete games in 1968 en route to Cooperstown. ( My top image came from the 2012 BAT Dinner; the smaller one is from the 2008 All Star Parade up the Avenue of the Americas in New York.)  

Over the weekend, Binghamton hosted the latest edition of the Junior Subway Series as the AA Mets played their Eastern League rivals from Somerset.  That meant another chance to see Jasson Domingue z.  And Saturday night, the Yankees top prospect delivered.  Above, he's watching the ball he just crushed fly toward and past the left field fence.  Rumble Ponies left fielder Jaylen Palmer got an even closer look. It's no secret that "The Martian" has struck out too much (98 in 358 plate appearances); but he also walks a lot (64 times so far).  He just doesn't see a lot of strikes -- opposing teams treat him almost as if he's Barry Bonds.  But when he makes contact, it's sweet.  You hear that special sound when bat meets ball.  Oh, besides the homer, Dominguez also singled (hard), walked and, batting righthanded late in the game, smacked another laser to the opposite field that stayed in the park. And apparently I'm not the only person focusing my cam...