The best baseball players born on Feb. 16

The best baseball players born on Feb. 16

February 16th, 2023

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 Feb. 16.

1) Ben Sanders (1865)
Sanders came tantalizingly close to throwing a perfect game during his rookie season with the Philadelphia Quakers in 1888, but he lost his bid after giving up a single to the opposing starting pitcher with one out in the ninth inning. Sanders eventually threw a no-hitter for the Louisville Colonels against the Orioles in 1892, the final season of his five-year career.

Ben Sanders in an 1888 photograph. (The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library)

2) Logan Hensley (1900)
Nicknamed “Slap,” Hensley led the Negro National League in both innings and wins in 1926 and 1930. The Missouri native also won two NNL championships with the St. Louis Stars in 1928 and 1930.

3) (1976)
Known for his all-out hustle, Byrnes enjoyed an 11-year career in the Majors before serving as an analyst for MLB Network for 10 years. In 2019, Byrnes also set a Guinness Book of World Records mark by playing 420 holes of golf in a 24-hour span.

4) Carl Lundgren (1880)
Lundgren pitched in the Majors for eight seasons with the Cubs, finishing second in the National League with a 1.17 ERA in 1907. Once his playing career ended, Lundgren transitioned into college coaching, guiding the University of Michigan and his alma mater, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, to eight Big Ten Conference championships in baseball.

5) (1992)
A first-round Draft pick of the Cardinals in 2013, Gonzales was dealt to the Mariners in exchange for Tyler O’Neill ahead of the 2017 Trade Deadline. He was named Seattle’s Opening Day starter in 2019, ending Félix Hernández’s 10-year run with the assignment.

Others of note:

Bill Pecota (1960)
The namesake of Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA projection system, Pecota served as a slick-fielding utility player for the Royals, Mets and Braves over his nine-year career in the Majors.

Jerry Hairston (1952)
A pinch-hitting specialist for the White Sox, Hairston is the father former big leaguers Jerry Hairston Jr. and Scott Hairston.

(1987)
Milone made his Major League debut with the Nationals on Sept. 3, 2011, crushing a three-run home run on the first pitch of his first MLB at-bat. He became the 27th player -- and only the eighth pitcher -- to accomplish the feat.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for Feb. 16? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.