The best baseball players born on May 14

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 May 14:

1) Roy Halladay (1977)
The Hall of Fame right-hander was a workhorse for the Blue Jays and Phillies, winning a pair of Cy Young Awards and being selected to eight All-Star teams. Halladay won the AL Cy for Toronto in 2003 and the NL Cy in 2010 for Philadelphia, becoming the fifth pitcher to win the award in both leagues. He made even more history in 2010 by tossing a perfect game on May 29 against the Marlins and throwing the second no-hitter in postseason history in Game 1 of the NL Division Series against the Reds. Halladay led his league in complete games seven times and innings pitched four times, finishing his career with a 203-105 record and 3.38 ERA. He died at age 40 when a plane he was piloting crashed into the Gulf of Mexico near Tampa on Nov. 7, 2017, and he was inducted into Cooperstown two years later.

2) Ed Walsh (1881)
One of the most dominant pitchers of the dead-ball era, Walsh's career ERA of 1.82 is the best in AL/NL history. The righty pitched all but one of his 14 Major League seasons with the White Sox, posting a 195-126 record and 1,736 strikeouts in 2,964 1/3 innings. Walsh won an astounding 40 games in 1908, starting 49 games and completing 42 of them while also pitching 17 times in relief. His best ERA in a season was 1.27 in 1910, when he also led the American League in losses as he went 18-20. Walsh retired after pitching briefly for the Boston Braves in 1917, and he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1946.

3) Tony Pérez (1942)
Pérez was one of the Big Red Machine's top sluggers, driving in 100 or more runs five times and finishing his career second in franchise history with 1,192 RBIs. He totaled 379 homers and 1,867 RBIs in 23 big league seasons, also spending time with the Expos, Red Sox and Phillies. Pérez made seven All-Star teams and was MVP of the 1967 contest after hitting the game-winning home run in the 15th inning against fellow future Hall of Famer Catfish Hunter. An inductee in 2000, Pérez played in five World Series and homered three times for the Reds when they won the 1975 Fall Classic against the Red Sox.

4) Dennis Martínez (1954)
Known as El Presidente, the right-hander from Nicaragua racked up 245 wins over 23 seasons in the Majors. Martínez broke into the big leagues with the Orioles in 1976 and led MLB in victories with 14 in 1981. He went on to spend eight seasons with the Expos, where he became the first pitcher born outside the United States to throw a perfect game on July 28, 1991, against the Dodgers. It was also the last no-hitter for the Expos before they relocated to Washington, D.C., and became the Nationals.

5) Earle Combs (1899)
Combs was the table-setter for Murderers' Row, leading off for the Yankees as they dominated baseball in the late '20s and early '30s. He surpassed 100 runs scored in eight consecutive seasons, topped off by 143 in 1932. Combs also led the American League in triples three times with 23 in 1927, 21 in '28 and 22 in '30. The left-handed-hitting center fielder batted .325 for his career and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1970.

Others of note:

Kyle Freeland (1993)
After a solid rookie year for the Rockies in 2017, Freeland broke out the next season by going 17-7 with a 2.85 ERA. The left-hander struck out 173 and walked 70 in 202 1/3 innings and finished fourth in NL Cy Young Award voting.

Dave LaRoche (1948)
Pitching primarily out of the bullpen for his 14 years in the Majors, LaRoche was famous for an eephus pitch that he called "La Lob." His sons Adam and Andy also played in the big leagues.

Dick Howser (1936)
Howser's playing career was highlighted by a rookie season in which he was an All-Star and finished second in AL Rookie of the Year voting for the Kansas City A's in 1961. He made an even bigger mark on K.C. as the manager of the Royals when the franchise won its first World Series in 1985.

Tony Gonsolin (1994)
Gonsolin finished fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting for the Dodgers in 2020, and his well-known love of cats even extends to his cleats.

Dick Tidrow (1947)
Tidrow was a setup man for the Yankees' World Series-winning clubs in 1977 and '78, although he also made 25 starts during the '78 regular season after injuries to Catfish Hunter and Don Gullett.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for May 14? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.