The best baseball players born on Dec. 28

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 Dec. 28.

1) Bill "Spaceman" Lee (1946)
Eccentric, endlessly quotable, competitive but never boring, Lee was an All-Star lefty who helped push the Red Sox to the doorstep of a World Series title in 1975, but he's best remembered as an overwhelmingly free spirit who wasn't afraid to clash with authority, including his teams' managers or front offices. Lee called out racial injustice where he saw it, prioritized loyalty to teammates above all else and teamed with the ACLU after being fined by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn. Long after he retired in 1982, Lee became what was believed to be the oldest person to win a pro baseball game when he worked a complete game for the independent North American League's San Rafael Pacifics at the age of 65 in 2012.

Lee ran for president of the United States in 1988 as a member of the Rhinoceros Party, and he received more than 8,000 votes in his bid to be governor of Vermont in 2016 upon vowing to eliminate the border between Canada and the Green Mountain State. But the singular quirkiness he brought to baseball will always be his trademark.

"I think about the cosmic snowball theory," Lee said. "A few million years from now, the sun will burn out and lose its gravitational pull. The earth will turn into a giant snowball and be hurled through space. When that happens, it won't matter if I get this guy out."

2) Ray Knight (1952)
Pete Rose's successor at third base in Cincinnati, Knight earned MVP votes and All-Star recognition with the Reds, but most fans remember the Georgia native for his heroics during the Mets' incredible run to the 1986 World Series title. Knight capped an absurd three-run, 10th-inning rally in Game 6 at Shea Stadium, scoring the winning run on a Mookie Wilson dribbler that got past Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner. In Game 7, Knight pulled off an encore. He gave the Mets the lead for good with a seventh-inning homer, ultimately claiming World Series MVP honors on the strength of a .391/.440/.565 slash line.

3) Ted Lyons (1900)
The White Sox franchise leader in complete games with 356, Lyons never spent a day in the Minor Leagues, making his big league debut shortly after signing with the Sox, who kept him around for all 21 seasons of his Hall of Fame career. The righty led the AL in wins twice (1925, '27), losses once (21 in 1933) and ERA once (2.10 in 1942), but his claim to fame was the no-hitter he threw against the Red Sox on Aug. 21, 1926. Lyons walked the first batter he faced that day, then retired 27 of the next 28 hitters on his way to history.

4) Tommy Bridges (1906)
Bridges was named to six All-Star teams and helped the Tigers win two World Series titles in his 16-year career, but one of his most notable accomplishments came the first time he stepped on a Major League mound. The right-hander was brought in to face Babe Ruth, Tony Lazzeri and Lou Gehrig for his big league debut on Aug. 13, 1930, and he gave up just a single to Lazzeri between a popout to Ruth and a strikeout of Gehrig. He was best known for his curveball but also threw what teammate Charlie Metro called "the dangedest spitter you ever saw."

5) John Milner (1949)
Nicknamed “the Hammer” for his admiration of Hank Aaron, Milner hit 16 homers in 1979 to help the Pirates win the World Series, during which he posted a .455 OBP. He spent the first seven seasons of his 12-year career with the Mets, finishing third in NL Rookie of the Year balloting in 1972, and wrapped up his playing days with the Expos.

Others of note:

Dylan Cease (1995)
The right-hander spent five seasons with the White Sox before being acquired by the Padres in a trade in 2024. In his first season with San Diego, Cease recorded the second no-hitter in franchise history and finished fourth in NL Cy Young Award voting.

Austin Nola (1989)
In 2023 while with the Padres, the veteran catcher and his sibling, Aaron, became the first brothers to face each other as pitcher and batter in MLB postseason history when San Diego took on Philadelphia in the NLCS.

Aurelio Rodriguez (1947)
The A-Rod before A-Rod, he won a Gold Glove at third base with the Tigers in 1976.

Count Sensenderfer (1847)
Not just a center fielder, the Count also served as an umpire during his playing days, working a total of 13 games.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for Dec. 28? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.