The best baseball players born on Nov. 11

November 11th, 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 Nov. 11.

1) Rabbit Maranville (1891)
A Hall of Fame shortstop known for being a practical joker, Maranville played for five teams over a 23-year big league career. He played 15 seasons for the Boston Braves and received MVP votes in eight seasons. Maranville had 2,605 hits and 1,256 runs scored in 2,670 games, finishing with a career slash line of .258/.318/.340. He helped lead the Braves to a World Series championship in 1914, going 4-for-13 with three RBIs and two stolen bases in their 4-0 sweep of the Philadelphia A's. Maranville died on Jan. 5, 1954, then was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame shortly after.

Rabbit Maranville with the Cardinals in 1928. (AP)

2) Pie Traynor (1899)
Traynor spent his entire 17-year Hall of Fame career playing for the Pirates, providing stability at third base for the majority of that time. He was a career .320/.362/.435 hitter who had 2,416 hits, 371 doubles, 164 triples and 1,273 RBIs in 1,941 games. Traynor helped lead Pittsburgh to a World Series championship in 1925, going 9-for-26 with one homer, two triples and four RBIs in a seven-game Series victory over the Washington Senators. Traynor played in the first two MLB All-Star Games in 1933 and '34, his final two seasons as a full-time player. He became the first third baseman elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers' Association of America in 1948.

3) Hal Trosky Sr. (1912)
Trosky played only 11 big league seasons, but he racked up some impressive hitting stats from 1933-46. He spent his first nine years with Cleveland, hitting .313 in 1,124 games over that span. He received MVP votes in four seasons, including in 1936, when he led the American League with 162 RBIs and 405 total bases. Trosky also had career highs in homers (42), doubles (45), hits (216) and OPS (1.026) that season. He played all but one inning of his career at first base. After two seasons with the White Sox, Trosky retired at age 33 in 1946, finishing with a career .302/.371/.522 slash line.

4) Roberto Hernandez (1964)
Hernandez was an effective right-handed reliever during his 17-year big league career, during which he played for 10 teams. He spent his first seven seasons with the White Sox, recording a 2.87 ERA and 161 saves in 345 games. He was an All-Star for Chicago in 1996, when he finished sixth in AL Cy Young Award voting and had a 1.91 ERA and 38 saves in 72 appearances. Hernandez was a two-time All-Star, with his second selection coming in 1999, when he had a 3.07 ERA and a career-high 43 saves in 72 games for Tampa Bay. He finished his career with a 3.45 ERA and 326 saves in 1,010 games.

5) George Case (1915)
Case was a speedy outfielder who earned four All-Star selections and led the AL in stolen bases six times during his 11-year big league career. He spent 10 of his 11 seasons with the Washington Senators, and he led the AL in steals every year from 1939-43, swiping 224 bags over that span. Case had a career-high 61 stolen bases in 1943, when he also led the AL with 102 runs scored. He finished his career with a .282/.341/.358 slash line, 1,415 hits, 349 stolen bases and 785 runs scored in 1,226 games.

Others of note:
Damion Easley
(1969)

Easley played seven of his 17 MLB seasons for the Tigers, and his best year came while he was in Detroit. In 1998, he batted .271/.332/.478 with 27 home runs, 38 doubles and 100 RBIs in 153 games, earning his lone career All-Star selection and winning the AL Silver Slugger Award at second base.

Jason Grilli (1976)
Grilli pitched for nine teams during his 15-year big league career. His lone All-Star selection came in 2013, when he recorded a 2.70 ERA and a career-high 33 saves in 54 games for the Pirates. The right-hander had a 4.22 ERA in 595 career appearances.

Jessica Mendoza (1980)
Mendoza joined ESPN in 2007, and she's been a key contributor to the network's baseball coverage since. She was part of the Sunday Night Baseball broadcast team from 2016-19. Mendoza played softball at Stanford University, then twice represented the United States in the Summer Olympics, winning a gold medal in 2004, and a silver in '08.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for Nov. 11? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.