Birthdays are important. So are year-end awards.

After winning a pitching Triple Crown this season, Tarik Skubal added an even rarer combo to his resume by winning the American League Cy Young Award on Wednesday. It wasn’t just any day of the week for Skubal, it was his 28th birthday.

Skubal is just the second individual to win a BBWAA award – that’s Manager of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Cy Young or MVP – on his birthday. The MVP has been awarded since 1931, Rookie of the Year joined the fray in 1947, Cy Young in 1956 and Manager of the Year in 1983. In other words, this is a pretty large sample size of awards in baseball history.

• The best baseball players born on each day of the year

The first birthday winner was Dodgers catcher Roy Campanella on Nov. 19, 1953, when he won his second career MVP Award.

Lest you think a fascination with birthdays is a more novel concept, every newspaper article published covering his award made mention of the birthday in some way, many in the headline, too.

“Makes a man feel pretty good. ... I can’t ask for too much more in life, I guess. It sure was a nice birthday present,” Campanella told reporters at the time.

Now, 71 years later, the Birthday Award Club has a new member in Skubal. But there have been a few others to come close. Four have won an award either the day before or day after their birthdays.

When Ryan Howard won NL MVP honors on Nov. 20, 2006, that announcement came the day after his 27th birthday. “It’s a good birthday present,” he said at his presser.

Before Howard, it was Pat Hentgen, who won his AL Cy Young Award on Nov. 12, 1996, the day before he turned 28. Eric Karros won NL Rookie of the Year in 1992 on Nov. 3, the day before his 25th birthday.

And in 1946, Stan Musial won NL MVP on Nov. 22, the day after his 26th.

• Complete Awards coverage

One other piece of birthday award research bears mentioning. When Dwight Gooden won the NL Cy Young in 1985, becoming the youngest player to win the award, he did so three days before his 21st birthday. At the press conference, he spoke behind a birthday cake with 21 candles, and stories covering the event referred to the award as a birthday present.

• All-time Cy Young Award winners

Players with birthdays between late March and the first week in November often get the chance to show off their skills on their birthdays. Those who celebrate in the offseason are not as lucky. But if you’re a player or manager with a mid-November birthday, there’s a chance you could join this exclusive club one day.