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 28:

1) Kirk Gibson (1957)
He’s most famous for one swing that will forever be revered in Dodgers lore, but he also won the NL MVP Award for Los Angeles that season and received votes for the hardware three other times, finishing as high as sixth. That dramatic swing, of course, ended Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, with a hobbled Gibson pinch-hitting with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and launching a walk-off two-run blast off Dennis Eckersley, kicking off the Dodgers’ World Series-winning run. Vin Scully’s call remains one of baseball’s most quotable moments: “In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened.”

2) Craig Kimbrel (1988)
Known for his hawkish stare and drooping crouch on the mound, Kimbrel was an immediate force among Major League relievers, winning the NL Rookie of the Year Award with the Braves in 2011 and making the All-Star team in his first four seasons. Though he became a household name in Atlanta, where he had an ERA below 2 in three of his four full seasons, he also had two dominant years as the Red Sox closer, winning a World Series in 2018 and picking up a save in Game 2 against the Dodgers, his sixth of that postseason run. Kimbrel put the finishing touches on a combined no-hitter for the Cubs in 2021, and as a member of the Phillies in '23, he became the eighth pitcher to reach 400 career saves.

3) Bill Doran (1958)
Though Doran never made the All-Star team over a productive 12-year Major League career, he played an important role for the Astros teams of the 1980s and received MVP votes in three seasons. He homered off Ron Darling in Game 3 of the epic 1986 NLCS against the Mets, which the Astros would go on to lose in six games. He remains in the top-10 Astros all-time categories for hits, runs and stolen bases.

4) Duane Ward (1964)
Ward emerged as a key bullpen piece for the back-to-back World Series champion Blue Jays of 1992-93. As the full-time closer in ’93, he racked up 45 saves, which remains the franchise’s single-season record, and he’s second behind Tom Henke on Toronto’s all-time saves leaderboard. Ward’s fingerprints were all over the 1993 World Series run, securing two saves, including in the dramatic 15-14 Game 4 win over the Phillies, and he picked up the win in Game 6, pitching a scoreless top of the ninth to set the stage for Joe Carter’s walk-off heroics.

5) Jhonny Peralta (1982)
A three-time All-Star, Peralta’s burgeoning career was marred by a 50-game suspension in 2013 for his role in the Biogenesis PED scandal. He was the starting shortstop for the 2012 Tigers team that went to the World Series, and he had a memorable ALCS against the Yankees, homering twice in the decisive Game 4.

Others of note:

Jim Thorpe (1887)
Sure, his time in baseball may be a mere footprint on a ridiculous athletic resume, but Thorpe deserves mention for that all-around body of work. To go along with his six seasons in MLB (1913-1919), he also barnstormed as a pro basketball player, is a member of the NFL Hall of Fame and, as a cherry on top, was the first Native American to win an Olympic gold medal for the U.S.

Ryan Burr (1994)
The righty reliever probably doesn’t make this list if not for the random cosmic reckoning that put him on the same team at the same time with fellow reliever Ian Hamilton. Peep the last names. The bullpen-mates definitely leaned into this infamous piece of American history, so we’ll call this a dual mention (or should we say duel mention?)

Want to see more baseball birthdays for May 28? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.