The best baseball players born on June 8
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 8.
1) Mark Belanger (1944)
Belanger won eight Gold Gloves during his 18-year big league career, mostly with the Orioles. He was mainstay of the late 1960s and early '70s O's despite hitting just .228 with 20 home runs over his career. He was Baltimore's starting shortstop during its 1970 World Series championship season.
Belanger is the only player in baseball history to have accumulated more than 40 Wins Above Replacement (rWAR) while posting an OPS+ under 70, according to Baseball Reference’s Play Index.
It is said that Belanger used only two (very small) gloves per season and broke them in with spit and coffee and became upset if anybody touched them.
2) Van Mungo (1911)
Mungo was the top strikeout pitcher of his era for the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants, leading the National League in strikeouts per nine innings from 1935-37.
He was a four-time All-Star and won 15-plus games in four seasons (1933-36), with a 200-strikeout season in '36.
Though he was not the namesake of the early 1970s British Rock band Mungo Jerry, he is remembered for the use of his name in "Van Lingle Mungo," a song composed and performed by jazz pianist Dave Frishberg in '69. The song uses names of baseball players and the words "and" and "big" and is considered the one of the best musical works that combined jazz and baseball.
3) Eddie Gaedel (1925)
The 3-foot-7 Gaedel cemented his place in baseball lore on Aug. 19, 1951, when he became the shortest and lightest person to appear in a Major League game.
Gaedel's baseball career was a publicity stunt dreamed up by eccentric St. Louis Browns owner Bill Veeck for a doubleheader against Detroit. After popping out of a cake between games, Gaedel was inserted as a pinch-hitter for Frank Saucier in the bottom of the nightcap's first inning. He drew a four-pitch walk against Tigers starter Bob Cain and, wearing a uniform with the No. 1/8, trotted down to first base before leaving for a pinch runner.
Gaedel would end his career with a perfect on-base percentage of 1.000.
4) Del Ennis (1925)
Ennis, an outfielder, had more RBIs (1,284) during his career from (1946-59) than any other Major Leaguer except Stan Musial over the same stretch. He led the National League with 126 RBIs in '50 as the Phillies won their first pennant in 35 years. He held the Phils' career record of 259 home runs from '56-80.
5) Kevin Gross (1961)
Gross won 142 games over 15 years in the Majors. He was an NL All-Star in 1988.
Want to see more baseball birthdays for June 8? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.