The best baseball players born on Aug. 25

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 Aug. 25:

1) Rollie Fingers (1946)
Fingers was a Hall of Fame closer with a Hall of Fame mustache, his trademark handlebar originating in 1972. The right-hander was one of baseball's first and most successful dedicated closers, saving 341 games over 17 seasons. Fingers bounced back and forth between the rotation and bullpen in his early years for the A's, even tossing a five-hit shutout in his first career Major League start in 1969. He settled into his role as Oakland's relief ace in 1971 and closed out the '72 and '74 World Series as the A's won three consecutive titles. Fingers signed with the Padres before the 1977 season and won back-to-back saves titles. He added a third saves title for the Brewers in 1981, posting a 1.04 ERA with 28 saves to earn the AL Cy Young and MVP Awards in the strike-shortened season. Fingers was the first pitcher to reach 300 career saves and retired as the AL/NL all-time saves leader before being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1992.

2) Albert Belle (1966)
Belle was feared at the plate -- and in the clubhouse -- during his 12 seasons in the Majors. After breaking into the big leagues as Joey Belle, he changed his name to Albert after undergoing counseling. Prone to temper tantrums that included breaking sinks and ripping thermostats off walls, Belle did even more damage to baseballs. Beginning in 1992, he hit 30 or more homers in eight consecutive seasons, winning five Silver Slugger Awards and being selected to five All-Star teams. During the strike-shortened 1995 season, he hit 52 doubles and 50 homers and slugged .690, leading the Majors in each category while also leading the American League with 121 runs and 126 RBIs. He drove in an AL-best 148 runs the following season before signing a five-year, $55 million contract with the White Sox that made him baseball's highest-paid player. A provision in his contract allowed him to become a free agent again after a 49-homer season for the White Sox in 1998, but two years later his career was over due to a degenerative hip condition.

3) Justin Upton (1987)
Drafted No. 1 overall in 2005, Upton wasted little time reaching the Majors, debuting with the D-backs before his 20th birthday. Two seasons later, he was already an All-Star, batting .300 with 26 homers, 86 RBIs and 20 stolen bases in 2009. Justin had another 20-20 season in 2011, making him and B.J. Upton of the Rays the first brothers in AL/NL history to go 20-20 in the same season. The two became teammates when Justin was traded to the Braves before the 2013 season, and on April 6 they became the first brothers since Billy and Cal Ripken in 1996 to homer in the same inning. They ended up homering in the same game six times, an AL/NL record for brothers. Justin was a two-time All-Star for the Braves and also was selected to one All-Star team each with the Padres and Tigers.

4) Max Muncy (1990)
Part of the launch-angle revolution, Muncy reinvented himself with the Dodgers after struggling in his first two big league seasons with the A's. After spending the 2017 season in the Minor Leagues, Muncy broke out with a 35-homer season for the Dodgers. He added another 35 homers and 98 RBIs in 2019 to earn his first All-Star appearance, and also provided a memorable moment against the rival Giants. After Muncy homered into McCovey Cove, San Francisco ace Madison Bumgarner took issue with Muncy pausing to admire the blast. Bumgarner yelled at the Dodgers slugger, who provided fodder for memes, T-shirts and bobbleheads by telling the lefty he could "Go get it out of the ocean." Muncy earned another All-Star selection while belting a career-high 36 homers and driving in 94 runs in 2021.

5) Dick Rudolph (1887)
Rudolph was part of the "Big Three" for the 1914 Miracle Braves, who went from last place at midseason to winning the pennant by 10 1/2 games and sweeping the Philadelphia A's in the World Series. He went 26-10 with a 2.35 ERA that season, completing 31 of his 36 regular-season starts. Rudolph also went the distance in his two World Series starts, allowing one earned run total while winning both games, including the clincher. He was no stranger to tightly pitched games, winning three 1-0 decisions in August of 1916, a feat since matched by only Carl Hubbell in 1933 and Félix Hernández in 2012.

Others of note:

Gary Matthews (1974)
The son of the 1973 Rookie of the Year by the same name, Matthews carved his own path in his 12 years in the Majors, matching dad with one All-Star appearance. He batted .313 with a career-high 19 homers and 79 RBIs for the Rangers in 2006 and pulled off one of the most spectacular home run robberies in baseball history. He turned his career year into a five-year, $50 million deal with the Angels, where he had one more solid season before tailing off.

Doug Glanville (1970)
Glanville debuted with the Cubs in 1996 and batted .300 the next year in his first full season before moving on to the Phillies. It was near his alma mater of the University of Philadelphia that his career really took off, as he tallied 189 and 204 hits in his first two years there, also batting a career-high .325 in 1999. Glanville's MLB career ended in 2004, but he has worked as an announcer and reporter and even taught a class at Penn.

Oddibe McDowell (1962)
Part of the legendary 1984 USA Olympics team with Mark McGwire, Barry Larkin and others, McDowell was in the Major Leagues a year later with the Rangers. He hit 50 homers and stole 82 bases over his first three MLB seasons, but his power waned as he never slugged over .400 again. McDowell's big league career ended after seven seasons, in which he totaled 169 stolen bases.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for Aug. 25? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.