The best baseball players born on April 24

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 24:

1) Chipper Jones (1972)
Part of a select few No. 1 overall MLB Draft picks to become generational players -- alongside the likes of Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez -- Jones spent his entire 19-year career with the Braves team that chose him in 1990, winning a World Series title in 1995 and retiring in 2012 as a franchise icon. Jones won the 1999 National League MVP with a career-high 45 homers and the 2008 NL batting title with a .364 average; he also earned eight All-Star selections, including one as a 40-year-old in his final MLB season. One of the greatest third basemen of all time, Jones was elected to the Hall of Fame on his first year on the ballot in 2018, garnering 97.2% of the vote.

2) Carlos Beltrán (1977)
One of MLB’s finest Puerto Rican-born players, Beltrán proved himself to be among the league’s best throughout his two-decade-long career. He earned the American League Rookie of the Year Award in 1999, and he retired on top after winning an elusive World Series championship in 2017. Beltrán was a nine-time All-Star, with three consecutive Gold Gloves and two straight Silver Sluggers to his name. However, his link to the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal from 2017 -- the final season of his playing days -- complicates his Hall of Fame case. Because of that, Beltrán was ousted as Mets skipper before even managing a game.

3) Andy Cooper (1898)
A Negro Leagues star who was nicknamed “Lefty” due to his formidable pitching prowess, Cooper was part of the class of 17 players and executives elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Committee on the Negro Leagues in 2006. Cooper enjoyed much success as a starting pitcher with the Detroit Stars, and he became a valuable reliever in his later years; he holds the Negro Leagues career record for saves with 29. Cooper was also an adept manager, leading the Kansas City Monarchs to consecutive Negro American League titles from 1937-40 before his untimely death due to illness in ’41.

4) Bill Singer (1944)
Singer, otherwise known as “The Singer Throwing Machine,” was a 20-game winner in both the National and American League, but he is perhaps best known for one of only two saves he recorded in his 14-year career. The save became an official statistic in 1969, and on Opening Day of that season, Singer pitched three shutout relief innings in the Dodgers’ 3-2 win, garnering him the first save in Major League history.

5) Pat Zachry (1952)
Zachry had a debut season to remember in 1976, winning the NL Rookie of the Year Award after pitching to a 14-7 record and a 2.74 ERA in 38 appearances (28 starts). He followed that up by helping Cincinnati’s “Big Red Machine” claim their second consecutive World Series title, going 2-0 with a 3.09 ERA in 11 2/3 postseason innings.

Others of note:
Bob Ewing (1873)
Buoyed by his 6-foot-1, 170-pound frame, “Long Bob” Ewing won over 100 games for the Reds as a notable spitballer during the Dead Ball era.

Howard Ehmke (1894)
In a storied World Series game, Ehmke set a then-Fall Classic record with 13 strikeouts in a complete-game eight-hitter, guiding the Philadelphia Athletics to a Game 1 win en route to their 1929 championship.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for April 24? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.