The best baseball players born on June 17

February 7th, 2022

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 June 17:

1 ) Dave Concepción (1948)
Concepción played all 19 of his MLB seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, compiling over 2000 hits and 900 RBIs. He was the shortstop for the Reds teams that won four National League pennants and two World Series championships between 1970 and 1976. He ranks second in Cincinnati history in both games played and at-bats.

2) Manuel Lee (1965)
Lee spent the first eight years of his MLB career with the Blue Jays, helping the club to AL East division titles in 1985, '89 and '91. He also helped Toronto become the first Canadian team to win the World Series in 1992, when he collected 11 hits over 12 games.

3) Willard Nixon (1928)
Nixon, who pitched all of his eight MLB seasons with the Red Sox, was once nicknamed the “Yankee Killer” because of his consistent success against the Bronx Bombers. While he had a 4.39 career ERA, against New York he posted a 3.54 ERA with 10 complete games and two shutouts.

4) Andrew Chafin (1990)
While Chafin is one of four active players born on this date, he has already accumulated 6.5 WAR, which is the highest of those active players and eighth highest among all players born on this day. Working mostly as a reliever, Chafin posted a 3.30 ERA through his first eight MLB seasons, seven of which came in Arizona.

5) Mike Magnante (1965)
Magnante, a lefty reliever who pitched for 12 years in the big leagues, is most known for pitching an immaculate inning against the Reds on Aug. 22, 1997. He was the 20th National League pitcher and the 29th pitcher in AL/NL history to do so.

Others of note:

Pete Browning (1861)
Browning played just four years in the National League after 10 elite seasons for Louisville in the American Association. Across five teams in the NL, Browning slashed .316/.404/.412 before retiring from professional baseball.

Joe Bowman (1910)
Bowman was a career starter but filled many roles both in the rotation and out of the bullpen, across his 11 seasons and six teams. He posted a career 4.40 ERA, with 74 complete games and 298 appearances.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for June 17? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.