The best baseball players born on Sept. 12

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. 12.

1) Freddie Freeman (1989)
Freeman followed Chipper Jones as the face of the Braves' franchise and is building a resume that may land him in Cooperstown one day. An eight-time All-Star, Freeman had four top-eight finishes in the NL MVP voting before winning the award in 2020 with a .341/.462/.640 slash line during a pandemic-shortened 60-game season. A year later, he helped lead the Braves to a World Series championship, their first in 26 years. Freeman went on to sign a six-year deal with the Dodgers in 2022 and was an All-Star in each of his first three seasons in Los Angeles, finishing fourth in NL MVP voting in '22 and third in '23.

2) Mickey Lolich (1940)
Lolich spent the majority of his 16-year Major League career with the Tigers, for whom he helped deliver a World Series championship in 1968. Lolich pitched three complete games in that Fall Classic and won all of them, including a Game 7 duel against Bob Gibson on two days’ rest. A three-time All-Star, Lolich finished second in Cy Young voting after leading the AL with 25 wins in 1971 and followed that with a third-place finish in ’72. Lolich’s 2,832 career strikeouts rank fifth all-time by a left-hander.

3) Charlie Keller (1916)
This slugging outfielder won three World Series rings with the Yankees during his 13-year big league career. The first of those came in 1939, when Keller became the first rookie to hit two home runs in a World Series game, doing so in Game 3 against the Reds. He’s also one of nine players to post multiple seasons with 30 home runs, 20 doubles and 10 triples. Keller did so three times. He made five All-Star teams during his career, which was interrupted when he was called to serve as a United States Merchant Marine from 1945-46.

4) Luis Castillo (1975)
Castillo spent the first 10 seasons of his 15-year Major League career with the Marlins, where he contributed to two World Series championship teams (1997, 2003) and won three Gold Glove Awards at second base. He twice led the league in stolen bases, including a 62-steals season in 2000. A three-time All-Star, Castillo holds the distinction of being the only player to win two World Series with the Marlins without being traded in between. His 35-game hitting streak in ’02 was the longest by a second baseman, until Chase Utley matched it four years later.

5) Spud Chandler (1907)
Chandler, who played the entirety of his 11-year career with the Yankees, joins Freeman as the only MVPs with birthdays on this date. The right-handed pitcher won the honor in 1943 after finishing 20-4 with a 1.64 ERA. To date, no Yankees starter has ever posted a lower ERA. Chandler appeared in four different World Series for the Yankees and was a part of three championship clubs. Chandler’s .717 career winning percentage remains the highest of any pitcher with at least 100 wins since 1900.

Others of note:

Andy Seminick (1920)
After playing 12 of his 15 big league seasons as a catcher for the Phillies, Seminick worked for the Phillies as a scout, Minor League manager and coach for parts of the next five decades. Interestingly, he was one of three members of the 1950 NL-pennant winning Phillies with a Sept. 12 birthdate. The others? Stan Lopata (1925) and Bubba Church (1924).

Albie Pearson (1934)
The 1958 AL Rookie of the Year winner stood just 5-foot-5 and weighed 140 pounds.

Bob Groom (1884)
Groom and Ernie Koob remain the only teammates to pitch no-hitters on back-to-back days, having accomplished the feat while with the St. Louis Browns in 1917.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for Sept. 12? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.