The best baseball players born on April 10

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 10:

1) Ken Griffey (1950)
Long before his son embarked on a Hall of Fame career, the elder Griffey was a three-time All-Star (including MVP at the 1980 event) and two-time World Series champion with the Reds, who inducted him into their Hall of Fame in 2004. In the consecutive title years with the Big Red Machine (1975 and '76), Griffey batted .305/.391/.402 and .336/.401/.450, respectively -- falling just three points shy of the batting crown in '76. He capped his career in Seattle on a field of dreams, becoming the first father to play with his son in the same Major League game. On Aug. 31, 1990, side by side in the outfield, they hit back-to-back singles in their first at-bats together -- merely a prelude to Sept. 14 when, perhaps inevitably, they famously hit consecutive home runs. And when Junior stepped in front of Senior to steal a fly ball on one memorable occasion? It wasn't quite John and Ray Kinsella, but it was no less a relationship-defining moment.

2) Corey Kluber (1986)
A two-time Cy Young Award winner (2014, '17) and three-time All-Star with Cleveland, "The Klubot" brought a stoic, all-business approach to the art of pitching. From '14-18 he tossed 17 complete games, including seven shutouts, while averaging 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings (compared to 1.8 walks per nine). He pitched the gem of them all on May 13, 2015, vs. the Cardinals, when he took a no-hitter into the seventh en route to an 18-strikeout masterpiece over eight innings. With the Yankees in 2021, he was the author of the franchise's 12th no-hitter and first since 1999, when he shut down the Rangers -- for whom he had logged one inning a year prior before missing the rest of the shortened season due to injury.

3) Bob Watson (1946)
If you score the 1 millionth run in AL/NL history -- especially when you do so by “a second and half” -- odds are you’re going to make some kind of list. And so Watson has here, but that’s merely a unique flourish added to a career already loaded with notable achievements. A two-time All-Star, Watson clubbed 184 home runs and hit for the cycle twice over a 19-year Major League career, 14 of which were spent with the Astros. He also belted a pair of home runs during the 1981 World Series for the Yankees, with whom he played three seasons. Following his career, Watson served as general manager with Houston, and then with the Yanks -- becoming the first Black GM to win a Fall Classic when New York did so in '96 -- before serving as an accomplished executive in the Commissioner’s Office. The man known as “The Bull” was widely respected for his warmth and passion for the game, as expressed by those who mourned his passing in 2020.

4) Andre Ethier (1982)
“Captain Clutch” certainly had a flair for the dramatic. During a 12-year career spent entirely with the Dodgers, Ethier delivered 14 walk-off moments -- six of them, including four home runs, coming during a remarkable 2009 season, during which he clubbed 31 homers (including a three-homer game) with 106 RBIs to win a Silver Slugger Award. In 2011, Ethier came out of the gates with a blistering 30-game hit streak, and in the following season, he continued his streak tendencies by recording a hit in 10 consecutive at-bats before going yard for his 1,000th career hit. He authored a fitting farewell in his final career at-bat, driving in a run as a pinch-hitter in Game 7 of the 2017 World Series against the Astros, his 51st postseason game. Ethier also won a Gold Glove in the outfield and was a two-time All-Star.

5) Ross Youngs (1897)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1972 via the Veterans Committee, Youngs played all 10 seasons of his career with the New York Giants from 1917-26. He batted at least .300 in every season but one -- including .356 in '24 -- and helped lead the club to four straight World Series appearances and two titles. The outfielder's career ended when he was diagnosed with a kidney disorder, and he passed away the following year at the age of 30. Written on a plaque that was placed at the Polo Grounds in his honor: “A brave untrammelled spirit of the diamond, who brought glory to himself and his team by his strong, aggressive, courageous play. He won the admiration of the nation’s fans, the love and esteem of his friends and teammates, and the respect of his opponents. He played the game.”

Others of note:

Frank Lary (1930)
A three-time All-Star and a Gold Glove winner, Lary was known as "The Yankee Killer" due to his remarkable penchant for defeating the powerhouse Bombers of the 1950s and '60s (28-13 career record). He spent 11 of his 12 Major League seasons with the Tigers -- for whom he won 123 games -- and enjoyed his best season in '61, when he went 23-9 and led the Majors with 22 complete games.

Mike Devereaux (1963)
Acquired by the Orioles from the 1988 world champion Dodgers, Devereaux played seven of his 12 Major League seasons in Baltimore -- enjoying his best year in 1992, when he was named Most Valuable Oriole after leading the team in 10 offensive categories -- and was inducted into the club's Hall of Fame in 2021. In between a pair of stints with the O's, Devereaux made time to endear himself to another fan base. In '95, after being acquired by the Braves late in the season, he was named the NLCS MVP after hitting a decisive extra-innings single in Game 1 and a dagger of a three-run homer in the series-clinching Game 4, en route to the World Series title.

Lee Lacy (1948)
Lacy played in four World Series during the first half of his 16-year Major League career -- three with the Dodgers (1974; '77-78) and as part of the Pirates' "We Are Family" championship team in '79. He hit a career-high .335 for the Bucs in '80 and set a personal best with 40 stolen bases for Pittsburgh in '82.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for April 10? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.