The best baseball players born on March 18

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 March 18.

1) Dwayne Murphy (1955)
The best defensive center fielder in the AL during the early to mid-1980s? That's easy, it was Murphy, who patrolled the cavernous Oakland Coliseum alongside Rickey Henderson in left and Tony Armas in right to form one of baseball's best all-around outfields. Murphy, who won Gold Gloves from 1980-85, was no slouch at the plate, either, blasting 125 homers over that same span. He was superb during his one taste of the postseason, too, going 8 for 19 (.421) in 1981 as the A's swept the Royals in the Division Series before falling to the Yankees in the ALCS.

2) J.T. Realmuto (1991)
The sweet-swinging backstop had the finest season of his career in 2019 after being signed as a free agent by the Phillies following five seasons with the Marlins. He won Gold Glove and Silver Slugger honors in addition to garnering MVP votes. He won his second Gold Glove and third Silver Slugger Award in '22, posting a 20-20 season (22 homers and 21 steals) and helping to lead the Phils to the NL pennant.

3) Fernando Rodney (1977)
Armed with a ridiculously effective changeup and a highly memorable bow and arrow celebration, Rodney spent his first seven seasons with the Tigers, then pitched for the Angels, Rays, Mariners, Cubs, Padres, Marlins, D-backs, Twins, A's and Nationals, where he won a World Series in '19. All told, the righty reliever stuck around MLB for 17 seasons before heading off to pitch professionally in Mexico after being released by the Astros in '20. His 327 saves rank 18th all time.

4) Scott Podsednik (1976)
"The Podfather" etched himself into White Sox lore when he blasted a walk-off homer against Astros closer Brad Lidge in Game 2 of the 2005 Fall Classic, which Chicago would go on to sweep for its first World Series title since 1917. He was pretty decent before coming to the South Side of Chicago in a deal with the Brewers in 2004, too, finishing second to Dontrelle Willis in '03 NL Rookie of the Year balloting and leading the league with 70 stolen bases in '04.

5) Trey Mancini (1992)
Mancini missed all of the 2020 season while being treated for Stage 3 colon cancer, then came back in a huge way in '21 as he hit 21 homers, drove in 71 runs and was named AL Comeback Player of the Year, the first Oriole to win the honor. The 29-year-old backstop hit his 100th career homer June 20, then proceeded to finish as runner-up to Pete Alonso in the Home Run Derby at Denver's Coors Field.

Others of note:

Tomo Ohka (1976)
Signed by the Red Sox out of Japan in 1998, the right-hander pitched in 202 games over his 10-year MLB career, highlighted by a career-high 13 wins and 3.18 ERA for Montreal in '02.

Pat Jarvis (1941)
The "Little Bulldog" won 60 games for the Braves from 1967-70, with 14 complete games, 16 wins and a 2.60 ERA in '68.

Geronimo Berroa (1965)
He enjoyed the finest three-year stretch of his career after signing with the A's in '04, including a monster '96 season in which he hit 36 homers and drove in 106 runs.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for March 18? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.