The best baseball players born on Sept. 10

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. 10.

1) Randy Johnson (1963)
The Big Unit was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015 following a 22-year career that included record-setting performances, big-game wins and mind-boggling statistics. Johnson won 303 games and ranks second all-time behind Nolan Ryan in strikeouts with 4,875. Johnson's best years came with the D-backs with whom he signed as a free agent prior to the 1999 season. Johnson went on to win four straight NL Cy Young Awards while also leading the D-backs to a World Series title in 2001. In that World Series, Johnson won Game 6 and then got the victory in relief in Game 7. In addition to his five Cy Young Awards, Johnson finished second in the voting three times. Johnson's finest season came in 2002 when he went 24-5 with a 2.32 ERA in 35 starts. He tossed eight complete games that year (four shutouts) and struck out 334 in 260 innings. A couple of Johnson's best games include striking out 20 Reds in 2001 and tossing a perfect game against the Braves in Atlanta.

2) Joey Votto (1983)
Votto gets the nod for now over Paul Goldschmidt based on his 64.5 bWAR to Goldschmidt's 62.6, but it will be interesting to see how Goldschmidt performs over the rest of his career. Votto was the NL MVP in 2010 and he finished second in 2017 and third in 2015. The six-time All-Star is known for a sharp eye at the plate, leading the league in walks five times and on-base percentage seven times. After tailing off a bit in 2019, Votto rebounded with a solid 2020 season and in 2021 he began to swing with more power, posting the fifth-highest slugging percentage of his career while hitting 36 homers. Votto played his final game for the Reds in 2023, his 17th season in Cincinnati, and he retired in '24.

3) Paul Goldschmidt (1987)
Drafted in the eighth round in 2009 by the D-backs, Goldschmidt was not a heralded prospect coming up through the Arizona system, but worked to make himself one of the game's elite first basemen. He was the 2022 NL MVP and he also finished second in NL MVP voting twice and third once. A seven-time All-Star, Goldschmidt has won four Gold Glove Awards and five Silver Slugger Awards. His breakout season came in 2013 when he led the NL in both homers (36) and RBIs (125) while compiling a 160 OPS+.

4) Roger Maris (1934)
In 1960, Maris was named the American League MVP when he hit 39 home runs and drove in a league-leading 112 runs for the Yankees. It seemed like a career year at the time for the left-handed-hitting outfielder, but it was what Maris did the following season that earned him a place in baseball history. Maris hit just one home run in 61 plate appearances in April of 1961, but by the time the season was over, he had broken one of the most iconic records in baseball, smacking 61 home runs, one more than Babe Ruth did in 1927, while driving in 141 runs and winning his second straight MVP award.

5) Ted Kluszewski (1924)
The Big Klu played 15 years in the big leagues for the Reds, Pirates, White Sox and Angels, finishing with a .298 batting average to go with 279 homers and 1,028 RBIs. Kluszewski's best season came in 1954 for the Reds when he led the NL in homers with 49 and RBIs with 141 while hitting .326 and finishing second in the MVP voting to Willie Mays. Kluszewski drew 78 walks that year and struck out just 35 times in 659 plate appearances. The burly Kluszewski had massive biceps and at one point cut off the sleeves of his jersey because he said they hampered his swing. He was the Reds' hitting coach from 1970-79 during which time the Big Red Machine won back-to-back World Series.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for Sept. 10? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.