The best baseball players born on Aug. 10

August 10th, 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 Aug. 10:

1) Willie Wells (1904)
Wells played in an era where the color of his skin kept him barred from the big leagues, but he starred in the Negro Leagues and Canada -- as well as Mexico and Cuba, where he played against white Major Leaguers. During his 20-plus year career, Wells could hit for average and power, run and was a tremendous defensive shortstop with an accurate arm. He led the Chicago American Giants to back-to-back pennants in two different leagues, capturing the Negro Southern League title in 1932 and then the inaugural pennant of the new Negro National League the following season. Wells was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1997.

2) Rocky Colavito (1933)
Colavito played for six teams across a 14-year career, spending most of his career with the Cleveland Indians (1955-59, ’65-67). He was an All-Star for six seasons, playing in nine All-Star Games, and led the AL in homers in 1959 (42) and RBIs in 1965 (108). He reached 40 homers in a season three times and drove in 100 runs six times, as well as becoming the first AL outfielder to play a complete season with a 1.000 fielding percentage (1965).

3) Buddy Lewis (1916)
Lewis, a third baseman and right-fielder, played 11 years for the Washington Senators (1935-41, ’45-47, ’49), spending three years serving as a transport pilot for the U.S. Army during World War II. An All-Star in 1938, he posted a career batting average of .297 with 71 homers, 607 RBIs, 830 runs, 249 doubles, 93 triples and 83 stolen bases. He batted .300 or better four times.

4) Larry Corcoran (1859)
Corcoran pitched for eight years in the 1880s, spending most of his career with the Cubs. He won 170 games in five seasons, averaging 34 wins a year, from 1880-84, including 43 wins in 1880. He threw 536 1/3 innings in 60 starts in 1880 as part of a two-man rotation. In 1882, the 5-foot-3 Corcoran became the first pitcher to throw two no-hitters in a career and a year later threw his third no-hitter -- a record that stood until Sandy Koufax threw his fourth in 1965. He was also a switch-pitcher, meaning he could throw both lefty and righty.

5) Bob Porterfield (1923)
Porterfield’s 12-year Major League career include five years with the Washington Senators, four years with the Yankees and three years with the Red Sox. He went 87-97 with a 3.79 ERA in his career, including a 22-10 record and a league-leading 24 complete games and nine shutouts in 1953. He was elected to his only All-Star team in 1954.

Others of note
Wilson Ramos (1987)

A two-time Silver Slugger Award winner and two-time All-Star catcher, Ramos received NL MVP votes in 2016 when he hit .307 and slugged 22 homers with 80 RBIs for the Nationals.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for Aug. 10? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.