The best baseball players born on July 21

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 July 21:

1) CC Sabathia (1980)
An imposing presence on the mound over his 19 big league seasons, Sabathia racked up more strikeouts than any pitcher in American League history with 3,093. The 6-foot-6 lefty weighed in at over 300 pounds for much of his career, which included six All-Star appearances and the AL Cy Young Award in 2007 for Cleveland. In 2008, Sabathia finished fifth in NL Cy Young voting and sixth in NL MVP voting despite not joining the Brewers until a July 7 trade. In 17 starts for Milwaukee, he went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA and seven complete games, including three shutouts. Then it was on to the Yankees, where Sabathia spent the final 11 years of his career. Sabathia led the AL in victories with 19 in 2009 and a career-high 21 in 2010, and he was the ALCS MVP in '09 for the eventual World Series champs.

2) Johnny Evers (1881)
Part of the famous Tinker to Evers to Chance double-play combination, the diminutive second baseman won three World Series during his Hall of Fame career. Evers was part of back-to-back World Series titles for the Cubs in 1907 and '08, and he won another championship with the Boston Braves in 1914 while also claiming NL MVP honors. He was also in the middle of one of the most famous plays in baseball history, supposedly being the player who noticed Fred Merkle never touched second base in what became known as "Merkle's Boner" during the 1908 NL pennant race between the Cubs and Giants.

3) Dave Henderson (1958)
Known as "Hendu," the fun-loving center fielder was a key contributor to three pennant-winning A's teams and seemed to save his best for October. After beginning his career with the Mariners, Henderson spent parts of two seasons with the Red Sox, putting together a postseason for the ages in 1986. With the Red Sox down to their last strike in Game 5 of the ALCS, Henderson hit a go-ahead homer and drove in the eventual game-winning run with a sac fly. He followed it up by hitting .400 in the World Series, including another go-ahead shot in the 10th inning of Game 6 before the Mets' amazin' comeback. Hendu did win a ring three years later for the A's, hitting two home runs in Game 3 of the World Series against the Giants.

4) Dennis Menke (1940)
Menke played all over the infield during his 13 seasons in the Majors for the Braves, Astros and Reds. He was a two-time All-Star for Houston in 1969 and '70, establishing career highs with a .304 average and 92 RBIs in the latter season. Menke also tied the AL/NL record for a shortstop by participating in five double plays in one game on May 4, 1969, against the Giants. He joined the Reds in the same trade that sent Hall of Famer Joe Morgan to Cincy before the 1972 season and was the primary third baseman for the Big Red Machine in '72 and '73.

5) Mike Bordick (1965)
A reliable glove man at shortstop, Bordick broke into the Majors in 1990 with the A's and batted .300 in his first full season in 1992. After the 1996 season, he signed with the Orioles for the unenviable assignment of replacing Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. at shortstop. Ripken had played six games at third base in 1996 and agreed to move there full-time after 15 years at shortstop, passing the torch in a phone call with Bordick before the Orioles finalized the deal. Bordick hit 20 of his 91 career home runs in 2000, making his only All-Star team for the Orioles before being traded to the Mets for the stretch run.

Others of note:

Al Hrabosky (1949)
Hrabosky was a successful and reliable reliever for 13 seasons, saving 97 games with a 3.10 ERA. But what the Mad Hungarian was really known for was his elaborate, pre-pitch psyche-up routine. The left-hander would turn his back to the plate and pound the ball into his glove before quickly turning around and stalking back to the pitching rubber, irritating opposing players. Not surprisingly, Hrabosky was involved in one of the strangest baseball brawls of all time.

Geoff Jenkins (1974)
Jenkins spent 10 of his 11 big league seasons with the Brewers, slugging 221 career home runs. He batted .303 with a career-high 34 home runs and drove in 94 runs in 2000, and he made his lone All-Star team when he batted .296 with 28 homers and a career-high 95 RBIs in 2003.

Moe Drabowsky (1935)
Drabowsky often found himself in the middle of historic moments, but not necessarily his own. On the bright side, his 17-year Major League career included World Series wins with the Orioles in 1966 and '70. In the 1966 Fall Classic, he struck out 11 in relief to win Game 1, including six in a row. On the other side of the ledger, Drabowsky allowed Stan Musial's 3,000th career hit and was on the losing end of Early Wynn's 300th career victory.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for July 21? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.