The best baseball players born on Nov. 17

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 Nov. 17.

1) Tom Seaver (1944)
Few players are as synonymous with their team as Seaver and the Mets. Dubbed "The Franchise," Seaver was the driving force in transforming the Amazin' Mets from laughingstock to World Series champions in 1969, the year he won his first of three Cy Young Awards. He paired dominant stuff with fierce intelligence to forge a legacy that will likely never be matched in Mets history. His career stats are gaudy: He went 311-205 with a 2.86 ERA in 20 years, and his 3,640 strikeouts rank sixth all time. He was elected to the Hall of Fame with a record-setting 98.8% of the vote in 1992, a distinction that lasted until 2016 (Ken Griffey Jr., 99.32%).

2) Ryan Braun (1983)
The Brewers had been wandering in the wilderness for a generation before Braun's arrival in the Majors in 2007. The slugger made an immediate impact, winning NL Rookie of the Year after slugging 34 homers and helping Milwaukee to its first winning season since 1992. He earned the first of six All-Star selections the next year as the Crew secured just its third postseason berth in franchise history, then he took home -- albeit controversially, as he was later suspended for PEDs -- NL MVP in 2011 after belting 33 homers and leading the NL in slugging and OPS. He retired in 2021, capping a tremendous career that included 352 homers, 1,154 RBIs and an .891 OPS.

3) Nick Markakis (1983)
One of the best pure hitters of his generation, Markakis was an underappreciated master of his craft in the batter's box for the Orioles and Braves from 2006-20. A stalwart in right field who appeared in 147 games or more in 12 of his 15 seasons, he is one of only 43 players in the Divisional Era (since 1969) to rack up at least 2,300 hits with a batting average of .288 or higher.

4) Jean Faut (1925)
The consensus best overhand pitcher to play in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, Faut was utterly dominant for the South Bend Blue Sox from 1946-53. Her career included a 1.23 ERA -- the lowest in league history -- back-to-back championships with South Bend in 1951 and '52 and two perfect games. She earned her first of two Player of the Year Awards in 1951, an accomplishment made all the more impressive given she spent the year navigating a complicated clubhouse dynamic. Unbeknownst to Faut, her husband Karl Winsch had been named Blue Sox manager to start the season. A strict disciplinarian, Winsch was disliked by his players, forcing Faut into an uncomfortable position that isolated her from her teammates and ultimately led to her retiring after what ended up being the league's penultimate season in 1953, despite a 1.53 ERA and .275 batting average at the plate.

5) Mike Garcia (1923)
The right-handed Garcia was a key member of Cleveland's dominant starting rotations of the early 1950s that included Hall of Famers Bob Feller, Bob Lemon and Early Wynn. Garcia could have been on a track to Cooperstown himself after a stellar peak from 1949-57 that saw him go 138-90 with a 3.20 ERA, but a series a freak injuries, including slipping on a wet mound, an emergency appendectomy and breaking his leg on a comebacker limited him over his final four seasons.

Others of note:

Kim Ng (1968)
Ng is a true trailblazer. After working for decades in the front offices of the White Sox, Yankees and Dodgers as well as spending time in the Commissioner's office, she became the first woman to hold the general manager title of a major North American professional men's sports team when she assumed the role for the Marlins on Nov. 13, 2020. She was also the second person of Asian descent to lead an MLB club's baseball operations department. Ng did not return to the Marlins after the 2023 season, and in '24 she was named a senior advisor for the new Athletes Unlimited Softball League.

Gary Bell (1936)
Bell was a reliable right-hander for four teams from 1958-69, including a 10-year stint with Cleveland. Bouncing between the rotation and the bullpen, Bell posted a 3.68 ERA over 2,015 Major League innings, earning four All-Star selections and finishing third in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 1958. He's best remembered as a main character in Jim Bouton's famed book "Ball Four," which chronicled the expansion Seattle Pilots' sole season in 1969, Bell's last in the Majors.

Jeff Nelson (1966)
The mustachioed Nelson was an important bullpen piece for two of the greatest teams of all time: the 1998 Yankees and the 116-win 2001 Mariners. Nelson earned four rings by posting a 3.41 ERA for the dynastic Bombers from 1996-2000, then earned his sole All-Star appearance with a 2.76 ERA in 69 games for the M's in '01.

Seth Lugo (1989)
The veteran righty had his best season to date in 2024, his first year with the Royals, as he was an All Star, won a Gold Glove Award, was selected to the All-MLB second team and earned a spot as an AL Cy Young Award finalist.

Elias Díaz (1990)
The catcher was named the 2023 All-Star Game MVP, when he crushed a two-run homer in the eighth inning to lead the NL to victory.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for Nov. 17? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.