The best baseball players born on Sept. 1

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 Sept. 1:

1) Jim O’Rourke (1850)
O’Rourke is the only Hall of Famer born on Sept. 1. He was inducted into Cooperstown in 1945 through the Old Timers Committee due to his 23-year playing career. The outfielder, catcher and first baseman led the league in homers three times, while leading all other players in games played and on-base percentage twice. He ended his career in 1904, finishing with a .310 batting average and a .775 OPS. But that final game was more special than most. O’Rourke hadn’t played in the Major Leagues since 1893, spending his free time in his own baseball league. However, in 1904, he was summoned back to go behind the dish for one last game with New York Giants (whom he had won a pennant with in 1889) as a 53-year-old.

2) Garry Maddox (1949)
Maddox spent the majority of his 15-year career with the Phillies (12 seasons) after the first 3 1/2 years came with San Francisco. During his time in the Majors, the center fielder dazzled on defense, securing eight Gold Gloves. He had a standout year as a 26-year-old, hitting .330 with an .833 OPS, 37 doubles and six triples in 146 games in 1976, which earned him a fifth-place finish in the National League MVP vote.

3) Rico Carty (1939)
In his first full season in 1964, Carty logged a .330 average with a .942 OPS, 22 homers, 28 doubles and 88 RBIs. While impressive, Philadelphia’s Dick Allen ran away with the NL Rookie of the Year vote, with Carty as the runner-up. In 1970, Carty was named to his first and only All-Star Game and finished the season hitting an MLB-best .366 and a .454 on-base percentage with Atlanta. He finished his 15-year career with the Blue Jays in 1979.

4) Darby O’Brien (1863)
Five of O’Brien's six MLB seasons came with the Brooklyn Bridegrooms (including when the team switched to the Brooklyn Grooms in 1891). His rookie campaign was spent with the New York Metropolitans, as he got off to a hot start with a .301 average, a .792 OPS, 30 doubles, 13 triples and 73 RBIs in 127 games. His next-best season came in 1889, boasting a .300 average with an .802 OPS, 30 doubles, 11 triples and 80 RBIs in a career-high 136 contests.

5) Rob Wilfong (1953)
Over 11 years, Wilfong spent parts of six seasons with Minnesota, five with California and one (just two games to end his career in 1987) with San Francisco. The 13th-round Draft pick from 1971 had a solid ’79 season with the Twins, hitting .313 with an .810 OPS, a career-high 22 doubles and 59 RBIs.

Others of note:

Bill Ricks (1919)
Ricks was only part of the Negro Leagues for five seasons, but made the most of his short career. In his rookie season in 1944, he led the league in games (22), games started (18), innings pitched (157) and strikeouts (96). He returned as an All Star in ’45 and closed out his career leading all other hurlers in 1948 with a 1.56 ERA in nine games.

Shota Imanaga (1993)
The lefty was an All-Star for the Cubs in his first MLB season in 2024 after starring for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in Japan.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for Sept. 1? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.