The best baseball players born on March 24
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 March 24.
1) George Sisler (1893)
The only Hall of Famer on this list, “Gorgeous George'' was a legend even in his day. Sisler had the single-season hits record for nearly a century after he recorded 257 hits in 1920 for the St. Louis Browns; Ichiro Suzuki toppled that record in 2004 with his 262-hit season. Sisler’s hitting prowess has few equals in the baseball annals -- his .420 batting average in 1920 is the third-highest single-season mark in AL/NL history (since 1900), and his career .340 average is tied for 19th-best all-time. Sisler was as much a threat on the bases as he was at the plate, stealing 25-plus bags every year from 1916-22 and leading the AL in stolen bases four times. Not to be outdone, his defense at first base was highly regarded by peers and writers alike, long before Gold Gloves were awarded. Sisler was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1939.
2) Bruce Hurst (1958)
Long before he pitched at Fenway Park, Hurst was on the Pawtucket Red Sox in 1981 and pitched against the Rochester Red Wings in the longest game in professional baseball history. This marathon contest lasted 33 innings, spanning April 18-19 and June 23, when it finally finished after it had originally been halted. Hurst pitched innings 28-32 for the Red Sox before future MLB teammate Bob Ojeda closed it out in inning No. 33. Five years later, they sat in opposing dugouts in the 1986 World Series, with Hurst on the Red Sox and Ojeda on the Mets. For much of the Series, Hurst dazzled -- he tossed eight scoreless frames in Game 1 and earned a complete-game victory in Game 5. Hurst was in line to be the World Series MVP before the Mets’ miraculous comeback in Game 6. After New York tied up Game 7 with three runs off Hurst in the sixth inning, the Series swung permanently in the Mets’ favor.
3) Garry Templeton (1956)
The switch-hitting shortstop had several high-profile years for the Cardinals and Padres across his 16-year Major League career. He began his MLB tenure in St. Louis in 1976 and was an instant success. Templeton made the All-Star team in his second season, led the NL in triples from 1977-79, won a Silver Slugger in 1980 and hit .305 over his six years with the Cardinals. In 1981, St. Louis made a franchise-altering trade when they sent Templeton to San Diego in a package that netted them future Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith. While Templeton was never quite the sparkplug with the Padres that he was with the Cardinals, he did win another Silver Slugger in 1984 and helped San Diego make its first World Series appearance that season.
4) Roy Thomas (1874)
If you needed an on-base machine in the early 1900s, Thomas was your guy. From 1900-1907, all with the Phillies, Thomas led the National League in walks for seven of those eight seasons. He also paced the NL in on-base percentage in 1902 and 1903, and his career OBP of .413 ranks 32nd all-time. Thomas’ .457 OBP in 1899 is the 10th-best single-season mark in Phillies history, and his .421 OBP as a Phillie is the second highest in club history. Though he had over 1,500 career hits, he drove in only 299 runs over 13 seasons. But Thomas didn’t just get on base -- he put together four seasons with over 100 runs scored, and ranks eighth in Phillies history with 923 runs scored.
5) Wilson Alvarez (1970)
On July 29, 1989, the lefty hurler was part of a deal that sent him and slugger Sammy Sosa to the White Sox in exchange for future Hall of Famer Harold Baines. That trade directly led to the highlight of Alvarez’s career -- in his first start with Chicago on Aug. 11, 1991, and his second career MLB start, he twirled a no-hitter against the Orioles. It was the first no-hitter for a Venezuelan-born pitcher in Major League history. This sparkling start helped him stick on the White Sox pitching staff for parts of seven seasons. In 1993, the southpaw pitched to a 2.95 ERA over 31 starts and led Chicago back to the postseason for the first time since 1983.
Others of note:
Jose Valverde (1978)
For about a five-year span, Valverde was one of the most dominant closers in the game. From 2007-2011, he averaged 38 saves per year and pitched to a 2.74 ERA. Valverde was part of three playoff runs in his 12-year career (’07, ’11, ’12) and twice finished in the top six in Cy Young voting (’07, ’11), which is rare for a reliever.
Steve Karsay (1972)
Karsay’s only year in Atlanta was in 2001, but it was with the Braves that he had perhaps his most famous moment. On Sept. 21, 2001, the Flushing, N.Y., native pitched in his hometown at Shea Stadium in the first baseball game in New York since 9/11. In the bottom of the eighth, Karsay came on in relief and served up a go-ahead two-run homer to Mike Piazza, which stood as the game-winner for the Mets and became a symbol of New York’s recovery from tragedy.
Jesus Alou (1942)
Alou’s family is a true baseball dynasty. His brothers, Felipe and Matty, were both multi-time All-Stars, and his cousin Jose Sosa was a reliever with the Astros for two seasons. Jesus is also the uncle of three notable MLB names: Moises Alou, Luis Rojas and Mel Rojas. He enjoyed a successful big league career in his own right, playing 15 seasons as a lifetime .280 hitter.
Lucas Luetge (1987)
Luetge was one of six Mariners pitchers who combined to no-hit the Dodgers on June 8, 2012. After struggling to stick in Seattle’s bullpen in 2015, Luetge did not pitch again in the Majors until 2021, when he won a spot among the Yankees’ relief corps out of Spring Training and stuck around. The Texas native compiled a 2.74 ERA over 57 appearances in his return to the bigs. After spending a second season with the Yankees in 2022, Luetge was acquired in a trade by the Braves before the '23 season.
Starlin Castro (1990)
Castro made a splash in his rookie year with the Cubs in 2010, when he finished fifth in NL Rookie of the Year voting and hit .300 in 125 games. He also racked up four All-Star selections over his first 12 seasons and was part of the Yankees’ trade with the Marlins for Giancarlo Stanton in 2017.
Want to see more baseball birthdays for March 24? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.