The best baseball players born on May 23

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 May 23.

1) Zack Wheat (1888)
The lone Hall of Famer thus far to be born on May 23, Wheat is best known for his 18 seasons with Brooklyn in the National League from 1909-26. He produced just over 2,800 hits during that span and is the only player in NL history to win a batting title without recording at least one home run. The Missouri native hit .335 across 105 games during the 1918 season.

2) Augie Galan (1912)
A broken elbow during his childhood drove Galan into becoming a switch-hitter, a painful decision which ultimately proved beneficial for the 16-year MLB veteran. In 1935, Galan became the first player to ever play a full season’s worth of games (154) without hitting into a double play. During the 1936 All-Star Game, the California native crushed a home run and led the NL to its first victory in the history of the Midsummer Classic.

3) Deacon Phillippe (1872)
Phillippe out-dueled Cy Young to give Pittsburgh the win in Game 1 of the 1903 World Series, which is now recognized as the first WS of the modern era (since 1901). The 31-year-old returned to the mound for four more starts during the two-week, eight game Series, finishing with a 3-2 record and a 3.07 ERA across 44 innings of work.

4) Billy “Dummy” Hoy (1862)
William Ellsworth Hoy was given his colloquial nickname after a bout with meningitis at the age of 3 left him deaf and mute. He overcame his physical handicap to excel on the baseball diamond, playing 14 Major League seasons between 1888-1902. Hoy Field at Gallaudet University, the world's only university in which all programs and services are specifically designed to accommodate deaf and hard of hearing students, bears his name.

5) Willis Hudlin (1906)
Hudlin arrived in Cleveland near the end of the 1926 season with a fabulous fastball, having studied training guides written by Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson while idolizing a young southpaw named Babe Ruth. Nearly three years to the day he made his Major League debut, Hudlin would face Ruth -- who by then had become the “Sultan of Swat” -- once again in the latest iteration of their idols-become-rivals matchup. The result? Ruth hit his historic 500th career home run.

Others of note:

Jordan Zimmermann (1986)
One of the most prolific pitchers in Washington Nationals history, Zimmermann called it a career in May 2021 after 13 seasons and 275 starts in the Major Leagues. The two-time All-Star threw a no-hitter on Sept. 28, 2014.

César Hernández (1990)
The Venezuelan infielder won a Gold Glove for his play during the abbreviated 2020 season. He made his Major League debut just six days after his 23rd birthday on May 29, 2013.

Clyde King (1924)
SABR’s Bio Project sums up King’s contributions to the game neatly: “His youth connected him to the Gashouse Gang; his playing career linked him with Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella; he witnessed close up Bobby Thomson’s and Bucky Dent’s pennant-winning home runs; he managed Juan Marichal and Willie Mays and Hank Aaron; and he survived thirty years with George Steinbrenner. That sounds like a pretty rich baseball life.”

King was also one of the initial founders of the Baseball Assistance Team (B.A.T.) in 1986.

Frank Kelliher (1899)
Kelliher ranks among the elite “Cup of Coffee” batters (per Baseball Reference) in baseball’s modern era (since 1901). According to BRef’s box score data, he is one of just 98 players to appear in one game and record 1 plate appearance, 1 at-bat, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 RBIs, 0 stolen base attempts, 0 walks, and 0 strikeouts while also not playing a defensive position.

Logan Allen (1997)
Allen won a years-long bet with actor/wrestler/mogul John Cena when he made his Major League debut on June 18, 2019. The talented southpaw tossed seven shutout innings that day with Cena in attendance to hold up his end of the bargain.

Kevin Romine (1961)
After seven seasons with the Boston Red Sox, Romine retired in part to spend more time with his family -- including sons Andrew (5) and Austin (2). The boys blossomed into big leaguers themselves, and became history-making teammates multiple times with the Cubs in 2021.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for May 23? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.