The best baseball players born on Aug. 31

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. 31:

1) Frank Robinson (1935)
The only player to win the MVP Award in both leagues and the first Black manager in MLB history, Robinson was a titan of the sport. The Hall of Famer, who passed away at the age of 83 in February 2019, was a unanimous pick for the NL Rookie of the Year in 1956 with the Reds, won the NL MVP Award in ‘61 with Cincinnati, then was named the AL MVP with the Orioles in ‘66 after capturing the Triple Crown (.316 average, 49 home runs, 122 RBIs). A 14-time All-Star who hit 586 homers during a career that spanned 21 seasons, Robinson was named World Series MVP in ’66 with the Orioles and won another title with Baltimore in ‘70.

Robinson homered in the first inning of his barrier-breaking first game as player-manager with Cleveland on April 8, 1975, and went on to manage the Giants, Orioles and Expos/Nationals in what became a 17-year career as a skipper. As manager of the Nats in ‘05, Robinson also came out on top in arguably the greatest staring contest of all time with umpire Jim Wolf.

2) Eddie Plank (1875)
A Hall of Famer, Plank finished his career with 326 wins, which was at the time a record for left-handers, while his 69 shutouts remain the gold standard for lefties. He won 20 or more games eight times during his 17 big league seasons, most of which was spent with the Philadelphia Athletics, with whom he won two World Series titles (1911, ‘13). Plank was traded by the St. Louis Browns to the Yankees in 1918 but never pitched for New York, as he had already announced his retirement: “I will not go to New York next season,” he said from his Gettysburg farm. “I am through with baseball forever. I have my farm and my home and enough to take care of me, so why should I work and worry any longer?”

3) Hideo Nomo (1968)
Owner of one of the most memorable windups in MLB history (the writer of this article among countless Little Leaguers to mimic his tornado delivery back in the day), Nomo was a sensation upon joining the Dodgers in 1995 after a successful career in Japan. He started for the NL in the All-Star Game that season, striking out three over two innings, and was named NL Rookie of the Year after going 13-6 with a 2.54 ERA and an NL-high 236 K’s. The right-hander would throw two no-hitters, his first coming at, of all places, Coors Field with the Dodgers on Sept. 17, 1996, and his second coming in his Red Sox debut on April 4, 2001. It made Nomo just the fourth pitcher to author a no-hitter in both the NL and AL.

4) Tom Candiotti (1957)
The “Candy Man” was a knuckleballer whose best season came in 1991, when he posted a 2.24 ERA in 15 starts for Cleveland before being dealt to the Blue Jays, with whom he posted a 2.98 ERA in 19 starts. He went 151-164 with a 3.73 ERA and 1,735 strikeouts in 451 games overall during his 16-year Major League career. An accomplished bowler, Candiotti was named to the Professional Bowling Hall of Fame’s celebrity wing in 2007. He also made an appearance in Billy Crystal’s film “61*” as Hall of Fame knuckleball pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm.

5) Claudell Washington (1954)
A two-time All-Star most known from his time with the Braves, Washington stole at least 30 bases four times in his career and won a World Series title with the A’s in 1974. His pinch-hit homer off the Twins’ Jeff Reardon on April 20, 1988, was the 10,000th home run hit in Yankees franchise history. Washington had three-homer games with the White Sox (July 14, 1979) and Mets (June 22, 1980), which made him the third player in big league history (Babe Ruth and Johnny Mize were the others) to hit three home runs in a game in each league. He also hit the foul ball Ferris Bueller snared in the 1980s classic film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

Others of note:
Von Hayes (1958)
The Phillies sent five players to Cleveland to acquire Hayes at the 1982 Winter Meetings. He would go on to play for the Phils from 1983-91, with his best year coming in 1986, when he hit .305 with 107 runs scored and 46 doubles, finishing eighth in NL MVP voting (his teammate, Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt, won the award that season). On June 11, 1985, Hayes became the first player in history to hit two home runs in the first inning of a game, with his second homer of the opening frame against the Mets being a grand slam.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for Aug. 31? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.