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 June 19:

1) Lou Gehrig (1903)
This is an easy one. The Iron Horse is known for his dignity in the face of the brutal disease that interrupted his career and led to his death just shy of his 38th birthday. He’s known for the incredible streak of consecutive games eventually surpassed by Cal Ripken Jr. And he’s known as Babe Ruth’s partner on those legendary Yankees teams of the 1920s and '30s. But all of that can make it too easy to overlook just how jaw-dropping Gehrig’s stats were. Over an 11-season span (1927-37) before ALS began to exert its influence, Gehrig never produced lower than a .424 OBP, 1.015 OPS, 166 OPS+ or 7.2 WAR.

2) Jacob deGrom (1988)
Before deGrom developed into a multiple-time Cy Young Award winner, he hardly seemed destined for pitching greatness. He was primarily an infielder at Stetson University, making just one appearance on the mound until his junior year. He was a ninth-round Draft pick and didn’t show up on top prospect lists. And by the time he debuted with the Mets in 2014, he was approaching his 26th birthday.

3) Eddie Cicotte (1884)
Now infamous for his role in the Black Sox scandal, which led to his lifetime banishment from baseball, the right-hander was also a heck of a pitcher. One of the great knuckleballers of all time, he twice led the AL in innings pitched and wins and finished with a 2.38 ERA (123 ERA+) over 14 seasons.

4) Jerry Reuss (1949)
The prolific lefty started his career with one game in 1969 and finished it with four games in 1990, thereby joining the exclusive four-decade club. A two-time All-Star, Reuss threw a no-hitter for the Dodgers at San Francisco on June 27, 1980.

5) Doug Mientkiewicz (1974)
A slick-fielding first baseman who played 12 MLB seasons for the Twins and six other teams, Mientkiewicz’s No. 1 claim to fame might be catching the final out of Boston’s curse-breaking World Series win in 2004. But he also won a Gold Glove Award (2001) and twice batted .300 or better. In 2007, he was Yankees teammates with Alex Rodriguez, a reunion for the Westminster Christian School alumni, who played both baseball and football together in their days as Miami prep stars.

Others of note:
Jim Slaton (1950)
Drafted in 1969, the Brewers’ lone season as the Seattle Pilots, Slaton remains the franchise record holder in starts (268), innings (2,025 1/3), wins (117) and shutouts (19).

Collin McHugh (1987)
Through 2023, the righty is the only big leaguer to ever emerge from Berry (Ga.) College, despite being an 18th-round pick.

Bruce Chen (1977)
He is tied with Mariano Rivera for the most wins (82) by a pitcher born in Panama -- albeit in 217 more starts than the Hall of Fame closer.

Duane Kuiper (1950)
He is the only player in the Modern Era (since 1900) to hit only one home run in more than 3,500 career plate appearances. But he’s now far more well known as a beloved Giants broadcaster, alongside Mike Krukow.

Bob Gibson (1957)
No, not that Bob Gibson. This one was also a right-handed pitcher, though, who played for the Brewers and Mets from 1983-87.

Oscar Taveras (1992)
A top-five MLB prospect who had debuted for the Cardinals in 2014, Taveras tragically died in a car accident that October in the Dominican Republic, at age 22.

Johnnie LeMaster (1954)
Let’s end on a lighter note. While LeMaster produced -5.4 WAR over 12 seasons, he has this claim to fame: On Sept. 2, 1975, at Candlestick Park, he hit an inside-the-park homer in his first career plate appearance -- off Hall of Famer Don Sutton.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for June 19? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.