The best baseball players born on Sept. 20

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. 20.

1) Jason Bay (1978)
Bay, the 2004 National League Rookie of the Year, hit 21 or more homers for seven consecutive seasons from 2004-09, mostly for the Pirates. While Mets fans might remember him mostly for failing to deliver much (.687 OPS) on the four-year, $66 million contract he signed in 2010, we remember him for being part of two of the more memorable trades of the century’s first decade, first going from San Diego to Pittsburgh along with Oliver Perez in 2003, then going from the Pirates to the Red Sox in the 2008 three-teamer that brought Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers.

2) Tom Tresh (1938)
It’s easy to forget about Yankees of the 1960s who weren’t Mantle, Maris or Ford, but the versatile Tresh won the 1962 American League Rookie of the Year Award and collected down-ballot Most Valuable Player support in four of his eight full seasons. Son of Mike Tresh, an All-Star catcher for the White Sox in the 1940s, Tom hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning of Game 5 of the 1962 World Series, then made a great running catch to rob Willie Mays in the seventh inning of Game 7, which the Yankees would win 1-0.

3) Ian Desmond (1985)
Don’t focus too much on the ill-fated five-year deal with the Rockies that didn’t work out for either side, and remember how interesting and valuable he was growing along with a Washington franchise that went from 103 losses the year he debuted to a pair of division titles by the time he left. Desmond, a two-time All-Star, had three 20/20 seasons for the Nationals in a row (2012-14), and he’d add two more after he left. All told, he hit 181 homers over 11 seasons … and stole 181 bases.

4) Ken Giles (1990)
“100 Miles Giles” lived a few baseball lives before he was even 30, getting traded from the Phillies to the Astros in a deal for a recent No. 1 overall pick (Mark Appel) in 2015, then serving as one of baseball’s better relievers while winning a ring in 2017. Dealt to Toronto the next year, Giles posted a 1.87 ERA in 2019 before missing almost all of 2020-21 due to Tommy John surgery. In the first seven years of his career, though, he’s struck out 478 hitters in 351 innings.

5) Zeke Bonura (1908)
Maybe you don’t remember Henry “Zeke” Bonura, who hit 119 homers as a beloved first baseman for the White Sox and three other clubs in the late 1930s. But Bonura’s contributions to baseball went beyond what he did in uniform, because as his playing career was winding down in 1941, he was drafted by the Army, where he organized baseball leagues for service members first at Camp Shelby, N.C., then in North Africa, supervising over 150 teams and eventually “the World Series of North Africa,” earning the Legion of Merit award for his efforts.

Others of note:
Chuck Dressen (1894)
Dressen had a relatively nondescript playing career as a Cincinnati third baseman in the 1920s, but went on to greater success as a manager for five teams between age 39 and 71, including the 105-win 1953 Dodgers. Having also been with the 1933 Giants as a player and the 1947 Yankees as a coach, Dressen will always be the only man to be in uniform for a pennant clincher for three different New York teams.

Vic Lombardi (1922)
A mere 5-foot-7 and 122 pounds, the lefty Lombardi was one of the top starters on the 1947 Dodgers, notably being one of the most welcoming Dodgers to rookie Jackie Robinson as he integrated into the Majors. "I wasn't prejudiced,” Lombardi later said. “The only thing I was prejudiced about was [jerks]. And they come in all colors. If you're a good guy, you're my friend. If you're [a jerk], see ya later. It's that simple."

AJ Ramos (1986)
There was a brief period, back from 2014-16, where Ramos was one of the more underrated relievers in baseball, posting a 2.41 ERA for the Marlins and making the 2016 All-Star team. Due to injuries, it didn’t last, but after over two years away from the Majors, he did manage to get back up to the bigs with the Rockies in 2020 and Angels in 2021.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for Sept. 20? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.