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. 16:

1. Gene Woodling (1922)
He was a part of those Yankees teams that won five World Series in a row from 1949-53, and he received MVP votes six times. He actually led the American League in OBP in 1953, even though he was probably more well known for his defense in the outfield. He also ended up playing for the 1962 Mets at the age of 39; he would have the third highest OBP on the team.

2. Baby Doll Jacobson (1890)
He got the nickname because a woman behind home plate yelled “you must be that beautiful doll everyone was talking about” after he hit a home run. (This is a good way for a nickname to stick.) He might have been thought of as a bigger slugger had he not played at the same time Babe Ruth was emerging; he regularly finished (a distant) second to him in offensive categories. He was a huge man but swung like a little man; many reporters at the time thought he was stronger than Ruth, if only he had not half-swung at everything.

3. Yu Darvish (1986)
He has finished second in Cy Young voting twice, as recently as 2020, and has also made five all-Star teams. He’s one of the game’s funnier and more thoughtful players and is an absolute must-follow on social media. He ended up reaching the 500-strikeout plateau faster than any other pitcher in MLB history.

4. Willie Jones (1925)
Known as “Puddin’ Head,” he was a member of the "Whiz Kids" Phillies teams of the 1950s, and he was one of their best hitters in 1950, when they reached the World Series.

5. Rick Reed (1964)
A journeyman pitcher who was a replacement player during the 1994-95 strike, he’d make it to the bigs three years later and stick for nearly a decade. He pitched in the 2000 World Series for the Mets against the Yankees, starting Game 3, the only game that series that the Mets won.

Others of note:

Delino DeShields (1992)
The younger one, not the older one.

Tiny Bonham (1913)
He sounds like a drummer for a 1970s glam rock band, but he actually won 103 games in the 1940s.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for Aug. 16? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.