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 24:

1) Doug Jones (1957)
In an alternate universe, Jones might have followed in his father’s footsteps into a career in racecar driving, but a crash during a qualifying heat when he was 18 years old quickly squelched those dreams. Jones turned to baseball and though it took some time for him to catch on with Cleveland, he became a top-flight closer armed with a low-80s fastball (some nicknamed him Mild Thing) and a devastating changeup that was his signature pitch. He went on to make five All-Star teams and is a member of the 300-saves club (303). He secured 302 of those saves after turning 30 years old.

2) Don Mincher (1938)
A highlight of Mincher’s 13-year career was taking Don Drysdale deep in his first postseason at-bat, in Game 1 of the 1965 World Series. The Twins would lose to the Dodgers in seven games, but Mincher later won a World Series title with the 1972 A’s, though he played a smaller role on that team. Mincher finished his career with a 127 OPS+ and exactly 200 home runs, and he was a two-time All-Star, including as a member of the Seattle Pilots in 1969, when he replaced teammate Mike Hegan. He was their lone representative and, since the expansion team lasted just one season, the only All-Star in their history.

3) Jake Stenzel (1867)
You might think a guy who was a career .338 hitter over more than 3,000 at-bats would be on your radar, a household name even, but Stenzel played in an era when they weren’t exactly facing Jacob deGrom sliders. In fact, in 1897 he hit .353 for the Orioles, good enough for the fifth-best batting average … on his own team. After his playing days were over, Stenzel opened a bar across the street from where the Reds played at the time, though business suffered after World War I.

4) Phil Hughes (1986)
A first-round Draft pick by the Yankees in 2004 who was heralded as the team’s top prospect, Hughes had a 12-year career in the Majors that was full of ups and downs and hampered by injuries. He did win a World Series with the 2009 Yankees and was an All-Star in 2010, but perhaps his best season came with the Twins in 2014, when he finished seventh in the Cy Young Award voting. Hughes’ 11.86 strikeout-to-walk ratio that season (186 K's to just 16 BBs) remains the all-time single-season record. Hughes’ Twitter presence has always been a thing of beauty, whether he’s live-tweeting “The Bachelor” or comforting an injured Matt Harvey, and since retiring in 2021 he has started a YouTube channel that features him opening baseball card packs.

5) Rollie Hemsley (1907)
The nickname bestowed upon the five-time All-Star Hemsley – Rollicking Rollie – was an appropriate one. Known as a hard drinker in the early days of his career, Hemsley often ran into trouble with management and was never able to stick long on one team, despite his promising talent as a backstop. As the Hall of Famer Bob Feller once said of Hemsley: “He was a better catcher drunk than many catchers were sober.” The pinnacle of Hemsley’s career actually came with Feller on the mound, when the Cleveland ace threw a no-hitter on Opening Day in 1940, still the only Opening Day no-no in Major League history. Cleveland won the game 1-0, and the lone RBI belonged to Hemsley, on a triple in the fourth inning. Though his career was certainly affected by his drinking habits, Hemsley eventually was able to get sober with the help of AA and helped bring the program into the public eye as a national figure.

Others of note:

Mo'ne Davis (2001)
The ace of Pennsylvania's Little League World Series team took the baseball world by storm in 2014, mowing down hitters and breaking down barriers in the process by becoming the first girl to pitch a shutout and to record a win in a Little League World Series game in the history of the tournament. She carried her team all the way to the semifinals and her popularity soared from there, as Davis was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and received praise from sports figures and celebrities across the world. She was called "the most talked about baseball player on earth" in a profile in the New York Times, all of this before turning 14 years old. Davis went on to play the infield for Hampton University's softball team and has since done broadcasting work for ESPN on the Little League World Series and Little League Classic.

George Harper (1892)
A career .303 hitter across 11 years in the Majors, Harper was lauded more for his outfield play and a strong arm that once unleashed a 389-foot throw during a field test in Tigers Spring Training. He also was a footwear innovator, making a subtle change to his spikes that he eventually patented.

Juan Francisco (1987)
Though he only spent parts of six years in the Majors with four teams, Francisco has a reputation as a prolific slugger in 16 seasons of pro ball between the Minors and international leagues. He’s hit 256 home runs across all levels with a penchant for some mammoth ones. As a member of the Reds, he once sent a ball clear out of Great American Ball Park, thought to be over 500 feet.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for June 24? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.