The best baseball players born on Feb. 13

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 Feb. 13:

1) Sal Bando (1944)
A three-time World Series champion and a four-time All-Star, Bando captained the Athletics during their runs to the title from 1972-74. Over a 16-year career, he finished in the top five in AL Most Valuable Player voting three times, and he retired with 242 home runs on his ledger. His greatest postseason contributions came in the American League Championship Series. In 17 games over four straight ALCS (1971-74), he hit five home runs, including two in Game 2 in 1973. He turned his attention to the front office when his playing days were over. After wrapping up his career with the Brewers in 1981, Bando became a special assistant to Milwaukee’s GM from 1982 to 1991, and he served as GM from 1991 to 1999.

2) Bill Bradley (1878)
Bradley was one of the top sluggers in the American League in the early 20th century, with his finest seasons played for Cleveland (1901-10). In 1902, he homered in four straight games before finishing top five in the league in home runs, doubles, slugging percentage and OPS. He had a number of memorable games in 1903, hitting three triples in one game and hitting for the cycle in another. Another solid campaign followed in 1904, when he drove in a career-best 83 runs. He was no slouch as a third baseman, either, leading the AL in fielding percentage four times.

3) Eddie Foster (1887)
Another standout third baseman from the early 1900s, Foster made more of an impact with his glove than his bat, landing in the top five in fielding four times and retiring with a .935 percentage. He wasn’t much of a home run hitter, connecting on just six over a 13-year career, but one of them was especially memorable. The final long ball of his career was an inside-the-parker, hit in Washington and witnessed by President Woodrow Wilson.

4) Hal Chase (1883)
Chase was considered by many of his contemporaries -- Babe Ruth and Cy Young among them -- to be the finest first baseman of his time. Though less heralded for his hitting prowess, Chase strung together a 33-game hitting streak in 1907 (tied for the 19th longest of all time), and he was the NL batting champion in 1916. His reputation, however, is marred by accusations of game-fixing and a rumored involvement in the Black Sox scandal of 1919.

5) Nathan Eovaldi (1990)
We return to the present day for Eovaldi, a two-time All-Star who earned All-MLB Second Team honors in 2023 after helping the Rangers to a World Series championship. The right-hander also won a World Series title with the Red Sox in 2018. In Game 3 of the ALDS that year, he limited New York to one run in seven innings, striking out five, helping to hand the Yankees the worst postseason loss in the franchise’s history. That postseason also saw Eovaldi give up the winning hit in the longest (time-wise) World Series game of all time. Max Muncy’s homer in the bottom of the 18th inning gave the Dodgers the win and brought the marathon to an end.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for Feb. 13? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.