The best baseball players born on April 27
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 April 27:
1) Rogers Hornsby (1896)
A scroll over to Hornsby’s Baseball-Reference page reveals a whole lot of bold, meaning he led the league in many statistical categories over the years. Arguably the best right-handed hitter of his era, Hornsby hit over .400 four times over his 23-year career and had a career mark of .358, the highest in NL history, which helped him to a whopping seven batting titles. But he could hit for power, too, leading the Majors in homers twice. He also won two National League MVP Awards, one each with the Cardinals and Cubs. And to top it off, "Rajah" won a World Series title with St. Louis in 1926 and was a Hall of Fame selection in ’42. His 127.3 wins above replacement, per Baseball-Reference, are ninth-most all time.
2) Enos Slaughter (1916)
A three-year service stint in World War II didn’t impact Slaughter from his status as one of the game’s best right fielders of his era. He helped the Cardinals to a World Series win in 1942, just before he shipped off, then again in ’46, immediately after he returned. He also helped the Yankees win the Fall Classic in ’56 and ’58 as part of a 19-year career that featured 10 All-Star selections. A .300/.382/.453 (.834 OPS) hitter over 2,380 games in that stretch, Slaughter was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1985.
3) Chris Carpenter (1975)
Though multiple injuries caused him to miss nearly five full seasons, when Carpenter was healthy, he was among the game’s best pitchers of his era. After six up and down seasons in Toronto, the big righty really hit his stride in St. Louis, where he won the NL Cy Young Award in 2005, finished runner-up in ’09 and earned three All-Star selections. His postseason performances, though, are what he’s most remembered for, having helped the Cardinals win the World Series in ’06 and ’11. Injuries kept Carpenter from pitching beyond the ’12 season, and he retired with a career 144-94 record and a 3.76 ERA.
4) Corey Seager (1994)
Though injuries impacted the early leg of Seager’s career, when healthy, he’s been among the Majors’ best active players. During the 2020 playoffs, he helped the Dodgers snap a 32-year World Series drought and won MVP honors for the NL Championship Series and Fall Classic, becoming just the eighth player in history to do so for both in the same postseason. Seager starred for the Dodgers from 2015-21 before signing a lucrative deal to join the Rangers. In 2023, Seager was selected as an All-Star for the fourth time in his career before winning his second World Series MVP Award as he led the Rangers to their first championship. With that honor, Seager became just the fourth player to win multiple World Series MVP Awards, joining Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson and Reggie Jackson. Only Seager and Jackson -- who won the 1973 honor with the A's and the '77 award with the Yankees -- accomplished the feat with different teams.
5) Frank Catalanotto (1974)
A 10th-round pick by the Tigers in 1992, Catalanotto carved out a 14-year career with Detroit, Texas, Toronto, Milwaukee and the Mets, hitting .291/.357/.445 (.802 OPS) while racking up 14.5 WAR, fifth-most among anyone who shared his birthday. Speaking of, he played seven times on his birthday, going 7-for-25.
Want to see more baseball birthdays for April 27? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.