The best baseball players born on Jan. 8

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 Jan. 8:

1) Bruce Sutter (1953)
The first Major Leaguer to use the split-fingered fastball and the first pitcher to reach the Hall of Fame without starting a game, Sutter may be fortunate to have had a career at all. The right-hander needed surgery to repair a pinched nerve in his elbow just two appearances into his pro career, and months later found that his fastball would no longer cut it. With that, the splitter was born, and Sutter was on a path to stardom. Much of Sutter’s success came with the Cubs; he became just the third reliever in history to win a Cy Young Award when he reeled off 37 saves with a 2.22 ERA in 1979. But that would be Sutter’s penultimate year in Chicago, as the rival Cardinals pulled off a trade for him in December 1980. Among the highlights of Sutter’s four standout seasons in St. Louis were his World Series-clinching strikeout in 1982 and his MLB-best 45 saves in ‘84. Sutter retired in 1988 with exactly 300 saves and reached Cooperstown 18 years later.

2) Mike Cameron (1973)
When you’re the key piece traded for a first-ballot Hall of Famer, expectations are bound to be high. Cameron never reached Ken Griffey Jr.’s heights, but he did accomplish something done by very few. Cameron became the 13th player in AL/NL history to hit four homers in a game when he did so for the Mariners on May 2, 2002. A few years later, an outfield collision with Carlos Beltrán hospitalized both players and left Cameron with a concussion, broken nose and multiple cheekbone fractures. Despite that trauma, Cameron won his third and final Gold Glove Award the next season and played six more in all.

3) Jason Giambi (1971)
Giambi's booming power helped him win one MVP (2000) and place in the top five twice more. Also in his favor was a sharp eye at a time when OBP was increasingly valued by front offices and awards voters. Giambi's reputation took a hit as his prime was coming to an end; he testified to a grand jury in 2003 about his use of performance-enhancing drugs, and years later publicly and fully admitted to having used steroids. He retired with 440 career homers and a .399 OBP.

4) Walker Cooper (1915)
An eight-time All-Star, two-time World Series champ and MVP runner-up, Cooper was known as the best all-around catcher in the game for the first half of his career, and for good reason. He hit .300 or better in six of his 18 seasons and spent a few of those years forming a dominant battery with his older brother Mort, the NL MVP in 1942 with a 1.78 ERA and 22 wins. Both brothers were key to the Cardinals' World Series titles in '42 and '44.

5) Jeff Francoeur (1984)
A .379 average and 10 homers in his first 33 games earned a 21-year-old Francoeur nationwide publicity, and a Sports Illustrated cover anointing him "The Natural" didn't hurt. While strikeouts made Francoeur more of a dependable regular than a standout, he did offer plenty of value in the field. The Atlanta native won a Gold Glove Award with the Braves as a 23-year-old and led his league in outfield assists three times.

Others of note:
Jeff Francis (1981)
The Canadian lefty was instrumental in the Rockies' run to the 2007 NL pennant, which included a 21-1 stretch from mid-September to late October.

Carl Pavano (1976)
A dominant World Series showing against the Yankees in 2003 paved the way for Pavano's four-year deal with the Bombers, but an impossible string of injuries left New York’s tabloids more devoted to the right-hander than the fan base was.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for Jan. 8? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.