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The best baseball players born on April 15

April 15th, 2024

Who are the best players born on each day of the year? We have a list for every day on the calendar.

Here’s a subjective ranking of the top five for April 15:

1) Willie Davis (1940)
In many facets of his game and career, Davis had the making of a Hall of Famer. Longevity? 19 years in the big leagues. Championships? Two World Series titles. Stats? How does a 60.2 bWAR fueled by 2,561 hits and 398 stolen bases sound? Davis didn’t have the home run power of some of his Hall of Fame contemporaries, but he had all that and a few accolades (two All-Star selections and three Gold Glove Awards). By far, he holds the top spot on this list.

2) Ed Bailey (1931)
Bailey was a well-liked player, earning spots on six All-Star teams. While he had some peaks on offense, including a .300 average with 28 home runs in 1956, his calling card was his defense. Despite a dropoff after he was traded by the Reds at age 30, his career caught-stealing rate sat at a strong 40%, and he led the league in the stat in 1957 (46%). Bailey was fortunate enough to catch his brother, Jim, for three games in ‘59 – the only appearances Jim made in MLB.

3) Jeromy Burnitz (1969)
Burnitz declined his 24th-round selection by the Brewers in the 1987 Draft, then was taken in the first round by the Mets in ‘90. However, after two average seasons in New York to begin his Major League career, he moved to Milwaukee in ‘96, the first of six seasons he’d spend with the Crew in his 14-year MLB tenure. Burnitz’s lone All-Star selection came in ‘99, though it wasn’t one of the three seasons in which he earned MVP Award votes. In 2001, the right fielder hit the first Brewers home run in Miller Park (now American Family Field) history. All in all, Burnitz played for seven teams, hitting 315 homers with a 112 OPS+ in 1,694 games.

4) John Danks (1985)
A standout in the baseball-saturated Texas prep leagues, Danks was selected by the Rangers with the ninth overall pick in the 2003 Draft, but he was traded to the White Sox before he debuted. The left-hander helped lead Chicago back to the postseason in 2008, its first appearance since their ‘05 World Series-winning team, and that season kickstarted his peak from ‘08-11, when he recorded a 3.77 ERA (119 ERA+). A shoulder injury sidelined Danks for much of ‘12, and his numbers began to drop off. But even then, there was a silver lining: Like Bailey, Danks got to play on the same MLB team as his brother, Jordan, from ‘12-14.

5) Ted Sizemore (1945)
At 5-foot-10 and 165 lbs, Sizemore did not strike fear in many pitchers, but he could be a nightmare to get out. The middle infielder, who played for five teams in 12 years as a Major Leaguer, had a miniscule 6.2% strikeout rate and passed the baton through sacrifices. Sizemore ran away with the NL Rookie of the Year Award in 1969, beating out the likes of Pirates star Al Oliver, and he played solid defense for his career (9.5 defensive bWAR).

Others of note:

Chaney White (1894)
White, an outfielder, hit .321 in 11 years across six Negro Leagues teams; he only hit below .300 in three seasons.

Hub Collins (1864)
Collins could have been one of the best second basemen of the early days of baseball. He hit .284/.365/.369 with 15.0 bWAR accumulated in seven seasons before passing away at 28 from typhoid fever.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for April 15? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.