The best baseball players born on July 3

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 3.

1. Frank Tanana (1953)
Tanana made his Major League debut as a 19-year-old with the California Angels in 1973. Known for his upper-90s fastball, Tanana led MLB in strikeouts in 1975, which marked the start of a three-year streak in which he finished among the top 10 in the Cy Young voting. However, arm injuries toward the end of the decade made Tanana realize that he needed to change his repertoire if he wanted to have a long career, and a greater reliance on offspeed pitches helped him stick around for 21 seasons. Tanana's 4,188 1/3 innings and 2,733 K’s each rank among the top 40 in AL/NL history. His 240 wins are the 15th-most by a left-hander. Another sign of Tanana's longevity: He is one of only two pitchers to allow a home run to Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds.

2. Moises Alou (1966)
Alou was a fantastic hitter for the bulk of his 17-year career as he posted a .303/.369/.516 slash line with a 128 OPS+. One can only wonder what totals Alou would have posted if he hadn’t been so snakebitten by injuries; he played more than 150 games in just three seasons during his career and lost two full years to separate maladies. The No. 2 overall pick in the 1986 MLB Draft, Alou was the Rookie of the Year runner-up in 1992 and made his first of six All-Star teams in 1994 while playing with the Montreal Expos, who were managed by his father, Felipe. Moises helped the Marlins bring home their first championship with three homers during the 1997 World Series. He also finished among the top 3 for the NL batting title in 2000 (.355) and 2001 (.331).

3. George Cuppy (1869)
Although he spent most of his career in the shadow of the man whose name is synonymous with pitching greatness (Cy Young), Cuppy had his own prolific seasons from 1892-96 with the Cleveland Spiders. He racked up 121 wins over that five-year period. That’s a lot of victories in a short amount of time, but Cuppy was known to take his sweet time on the mound. He assumed dozens of positions and poses before delivering each pitch, often taking more than a minute to unleash the ball. According to one reporter’s account, Cuppy’s manager with the Boston Americans, Jimmy Collins, would have one of the team’s younger players stand behind Cuppy as he warmed up. If the 5-foot-7, 160-pound pitcher didn’t deliver the ball promptly enough, that player was instructed to jab Cuppy with a hatpin. Cuppy finished his 10-year career in 1901 with a 162-98 record, but he was never really the same after his right arm gave out in 1897.

4. Greg Vaughn (1965)
Power. That's the word that best describes Vaughn's career. He hit 103 homers over his first four years in the Minors, recording a .900 or better OPS in each year, and went on to slug 355 home runs across 15 years in the Majors. Greg’s best years came in 1998 and 1999. He mashed 50 homers for the pennant-winning Padres in ‘98, trailing only Mark McGwire (70) and Sammy Sosa (66) in the NL home run race. Following an offseason trade to Cincinnati, Vaughn hit 45 homers for the Reds and also caused the team to change its facial hair policy.

5. Piper Davis (1917)
A high-average hitter and versatile defender, Davis was a solid player for 16 seasons split between the Negro Leagues and the Minors. But he was so close to becoming a legendary figure in baseball history. In 1945, Davis was in the middle of his fourth season with the Birmingham Black Barons and on his way to hitting .360 that summer. Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey was so impressed by Davis, he considered offering the 28-year-old a contract. However, Rickey considered Davis to be too old and signed Jackie Robinson instead. In 1948, Davis was in his first season as a player-manager for the Black Barons, and besides hitting .385 that season and guiding his team to the Negro League World Series, Davis gave a 17-year-old kid his first opportunity to play Major League ball: Willie Mays.

Others of note:
Cesar Tovar (1940)
Tovar led the American League with 204 hits in 1971 and received MVP votes in each season from 1967-71. He averaged 100 runs for the Twins over that five-year span. Primarily an outfielder, Tovar could play anywhere on the diamond and proved it in a 1968 game against the Oakland A's as he became the second player in AL/NL history to see time at all nine positions. Tovar was the starting pitcher that day and struck out Reggie Jackson in his scoreless inning of work.

Buddy Rosar (1914)
Rosar was a five-time All-Star and one of the game's finest defensive catchers. He had a caught-stealing percentage of nearly 55 percent and once went 147 consecutive games without committing an error. Rosar won the World Series with the Yankees in 1941.

Edinson Vólquez (1983)
Traded from Texas to Cincinnati for Josh Hamilton in 2007, Volquez became an All-Star as a rookie for the Reds the following year. He tossed 200 1/3 innings and was the leader of the Royals' rotation as they won the 2015 World Series. Two years later, Vólquez notched a no-hitter for the Marlins against the D-backs. He faced the minimum 27 batters and threw just 98 pitches.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for July 3? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.