The best baseball players born on Nov. 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 Nov. 23.

1) Luis Tiant (1940)
Arguably the most popular Red Sox pitcher of modern times until Pedro Martinez came along, El Tiante was a charismatic competitor known for his whirling and twirling windup. Fans at Fenway would chant “Looie, Looie, Looie” whenever he was at a crucial juncture of a start. In the season of the pitcher, 1968, Tiant was right in the mix, going 21-9 with a 1.60 ERA for the Indians. In ’72, his second season with the Red Sox, Tiant pitched in 43 games, starting 19 of them. He won 15 games and led the Majors with a 1.91 ERA. Tiant was the ace of a Red Sox team that went to the ’75 World Series, winning Games 1 and 4 and taking a no-decision in the Game 6 epic. He won 229 games in his career -- 122 of them coming for the Red Sox.

2) Justin Turner (1984)
The long-time leader of the Dodgers was a late bloomer in his career, not even getting to double digits in homers until he was 30 years old. But Turner made up for lost time, was a centerpiece of the Dodgers’ lineup for nearly a decade beginning in 2014. The third baseman, known for his bright red beard and his remarkable consistency, hit exactly 27 homers three times -- in 2016, ’19 and ’21. Turner inked a deal to join the Red Sox in 2023, and he went on to hit .276 with 23 home runs and 96 RBIs for the season with Boston.

3) Jonathan Papelbon (1980)
The all-time leader in saves for the Red Sox, Papelbon was not only a dominant pitcher but also a character. His Irish jigs during Boston’s postseason celebrations in the championship season of 2007 are as memorable as some of the highlights from that October. It was Papelbon who recorded the final out of that World Series when he struck out Colorado’s Seth Smith to give the Red Sox the sweep. Papelbon burst onto the scene with a 0.92 ERA in his first season as a closer in ’06. He earned 368 saves in his career -- the first 219 of them coming for the Red Sox.

4) Hal Schumacher (1910)
Pitching in the same New York Giants rotation as Hall of Famer Carl Hubbell, Schumacher flew under the radar. But fans who were paying attention realized how important Schumacher was to those teams. He had a 2.16 ERA in 1933 and won 23 games the following year. The righty was a 158-game winner over 13 seasons and missed three years while serving in World War II.

5) Brook Jacoby (1959)
The corner infielder was a cornerstone player for an Indians squad that wasn’t very good in the mid to late 1980s. Jacoby played 150 games or more five times. He had 32 homers in 1987, a season that was remembered for having a “live ball.” He went deep 20 times in ’85 and three other seasons of 13 homers or more. Jacoby was an All-Star in ’86 and ’90.

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