The best baseball players born on July 7

Who are the best players born on each day of the year? We have a list for every day on the calendar.

Here is a subjective ranking of the top five for July 7:

1) Satchel Paige (1906)
Paige’s actual birthday is something less precise than historical fact; he even questioned it during his playing career. But it's officially remembered as July 7, making the legendary, Hall of Fame hurler an easy choice to top this list. The ageless Paige starred for years in the Negro Leagues before making his MLB debut at age 42 for the Indians in 1948. He was 59 when he played his last MLB game, for the Kansas City A’s in ’65. All told, his career spanned five decades.

2) Billy Herman (1909)
A career .304 hitter, Herman was one of the most productive second basemen of the 1930s, earning nine All-Star appearances with the Cubs and Brooklyn Dodgers. He led the Majors in hits and doubles in ’35, in triples in ’39, and batted over .300 nine times. He is the only position player born on July 7 in the Hall of Fame.

3) Chuck Knoblauch (1968)
The bat-first second baseman was a four-time All-Star and four-time World Series champion, winning rings with the Twins in ’91 and Yankees in ’98, ’99 and 2000. Knoblauch was the American League Rookie of the Year in ’91 and retired a career .289/.378/.406 hitter across 12 seasons.

4) Bill Melton (1945)

Melton hit 160 home runs in 10 seasons for the White Sox, Indians and Angels, including an AL-best 33 for Chicago in 1971. He was also an All-Star that season, for the only time.

5) Franmil Reyes (1995)

The hulking Reyes eclipsed the 30-home run mark in two of his first three full big league seasons, the only exception being the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. He slugged 30 homers for Cleveland in 2021.

Others of note:

Sammy White (1927)

The everyday catcher for the Red Sox in the 1950s, White hit double-digit homers in four consecutive seasons from ’52-’55 and was an All-Star in ’53. He twice earned down-ballot MVP votes.

Jeff Shaw (1966)

Longtime reliever led the National League with 42 saves in 1997 and was an All-Star in ’98 and 2001.

John Buck (1980)

A dependable backstop for the Royals, Marlins and five other teams, Buck was an All-Star for the Blue Jays in 2010. He hit 134 home runs over 11 big league seasons from 2004-’14.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for July 7? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.