The best baseball players born on Aug. 6

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. 6.

1) Andy Messersmith (1945)
The New Jersey native enjoyed years of on-field success in the big leagues, earning two Gold Gloves, three top-five finishes in Cy Young voting and four All-Star selections while pitching to a 2.86 ERA. However, he is best known for helping establish modern free agency, along with fellow pitcher Dave McNally. In 1975, Messersmith and McNally played the entire year without signed contracts and asked to be declared free agents after the season ended, since their option years had expired. In a landmark decision, arbitrator Peter Seitz ruled that the MLB owners could no longer indefinitely renew players’ contracts without their consent. Both pitchers became the first free agents under the new ruling in MLB history.

2) Sherry Magee (1884)
Magee may not have the name recognition of peers like Ty Cobb, Shoeless Joe Jackson and Tris Speaker, but he had a long and productive career for the Phillies, Reds and Boston Braves. His final campaign was with the 1919 Reds, who faced off vs. the infamous “Black Sox” in that year’s World Series. Playing in the heart of the dead-ball era, Magee led the NL in RBIs four times and in slugging and total bases twice. He ranks in the top 10 all-time for the Phillies in many hitting categories, including offensive WAR (per Baseball Reference), runs scored, hits, games played, doubles, triples, RBIs and stolen bases.

3) Sam Mertes (1872)
The outfielder was instrumental to the Giants’ first World Series title in 1905, playing 150 games and scoring the deciding run in the Game 5 clincher for New York. Two seasons prior, he led the NL in doubles (32) and RBIs (104). Mertes’ single best game came on Oct. 4, 1904, when he hit for the sixth cycle in Giants history and one of 10 “reverse natural cycles” in the MLB canon (meaning he hit a home run, triple, double and single in that order). His accomplishments were slightly overshadowed by the fact that the Giants lost the game, which was Game 1 of a doubleheader, and then forfeited Game 2 after several ejections, which led to a fan riot.

4) Bob Horner (1957)
After he was drafted first overall by the Braves in the 1978 Draft, the Arizona State University grad bypassed the Minors and rocketed straight to The Show. Horner was one of four draftees from ‘78, and one of just 23 players in MLB history, to go directly from the MLB Draft to the Major Leagues. He immediately lived up to his billing, winning the NL Rookie of the Year award in 1978, and he received MVP votes three times over his 10-year career. Horner is also one of just 18 players in MLB history to hit four home runs in a game, which he achieved on July 6, 1986, vs. the Expos.

5) Clem Labine (1926)
Across a 13-year MLB tenure, Labine made history with several different teams. He was a member of the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers, who won the franchise’s first World Series title. Labine also pitched on the 1959 Dodgers team that won the club’s first championship in Los Angeles and made 15 relief outings for the World Series-champion Pirates in 1960. He finished his career as one of the original Mets in their inaugural 1962 season, though he made just three appearances in orange and blue before retiring. Labine twice led the NL in saves, finished third in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 1951 and was a two-time All-Star.

Others of note:

Wilmer Flores (1991)
The man known as “walk-off Wilmer” certainly earned that moniker, as he is the Mets’ all-time leader in walk-off RBIs with 10. He is also partial to the TV show Friends, which helped teach him English when he moved from Venezuela to the U.S. to play baseball, and has had the show’s theme song as his walk-up music throughout his career.

Jake McGee (1986)
McGee was a World Series champion with the Dodgers in 2020 and also pitched in the postseason in 2011 and 2013 with the Rays, 2017 with the Rockies and 2021 with the Giants. He is the Rays’ all-time leader in pitching appearances with 297.

Victor Zambrano (1975)
In 2004, the Devil Rays traded Zambrano and Bartolome Fortunato to the Mets in exchange for Jose Diaz and Scott Kazmir. This trade is often considered one of the worst trades in Mets history, given that neither Fortunato nor Zambrano were major contributors in Queens. Meanwhile, Kazmir finished ninth in the 2005 AL Rookie of the Year voting and was a two-time All-Star with Tampa Bay.

Ray Culp (1941)
Culp burst onto the scene with the Phillies in 1963. He pitched to a 2.97 ERA, struck out 176 batters, made the All-Star team and finished third in the NL Rookie of the Year voting. After a few up-and-down seasons in Philadelphia, he revived his career in the late ‘60s with the Red Sox. At the height of his success in Boston, Culp reeled off seven straight complete-game victories in 1968, from Aug. 27-Sept. 25.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for Aug. 6? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.