The best baseball players born on Nov. 6

November 6th, 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 Nov. 6:

1. Walter Johnson (1887)
“The Big Train,” who played 21 seasons for the Washington Senators from 1907-27, just might have been the best pitcher of all-time. Born in Humboldt, Kan., Johnson used his sidearm delivery and legendary fastball to win 417 games (the most in the modern Major Leagues, dating back to 1901), with 110 shutouts (most all-time) and 3,509 strikeouts (ninth all-time and recorded in an era when strikeouts were few). Johnson won three pitching Triple Crowns, five ERA titles, the 1924 World Series and was twice voted the AL’s MVP (in 1913 and 1924). Johnson was inducted into the Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 1936 and passed away on Dec. 10, 1946.

2. John Candelaria (1953)
“The Candy Man” played for eight teams -- the Pirates, Angels, Mets, Yankees, Expos, Twins, Blue Jays and Dodgers -- in a 19-season career that spanned 1975-93. Raised in Brooklyn by Puerto Rican parents, the 6-foot-7 Candelaria’s pro sports career began as a center in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional basketball league in Puerto Rico. But in the early 1970s he left the Quebradillas basketball “Pirates” for the Pittsburgh Pirates, for whom he was an All-Star in 1977 and a 14-game winner on the 1979 World Series championship team. In a career split almost evenly between starting and relieving, Candelaria went 177-122 with a 3.33 ERA in 600 appearances.

3. Mack Jones (1938)
The Atlanta native known as “Mack the Knife” came up as a center fielder with the Milwaukee Braves in 1961 and was there when the franchise moved to his hometown in 1966. In a 10-season career with the Braves, Reds and Expos, Jones slashed .252/.347/.444 with 133 home runs, 132 doubles and 415 RBIs. After he was taken by the Expos in the Expansion Draft, his three-run home run at Parc Jarry in the club’s first home victory on April 14, 1969, was the first to be hit in a Major League regular-season game in Canada.

4. Adam LaRoche (1979)
The son of pitcher Dave LaRoche and brother of third baseman Andy LaRoche, this LaRoche forged his own big league path as a first baseman for 12 seasons with the Braves, Pirates, Red Sox, D-backs, Nationals and White Sox from 2004-15. In 1,605 career games, LaRoche slashed .260/.336/.462 with 255 homers, 340 doubles and 882 RBIs. He was a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger winner and finished sixth in the NL MVP voting after posting an .853 OPS for the Nationals in 2012. His career ended abruptly in Spring Training in '16 when the White Sox placed a restriction on his 14-year-old son, Drake, accompanying him in the clubhouse every day.

5. James Paxton (1988)
A native of Ladner, British Columbia in suburban Vancouver, Paxton was given the nickname “The Big Maple” for his maple leaf tattoo on his right arm, but it was his work with his left that made him a Major Leaguer. Paxton was drafted out of the University of Kentucky by the Mariners, for whom he debuted in 2013 and threw a no-hitter against the Blue Jays on May 8, 2018. That no-hitter at Rogers Centre was the first thrown by a Canadian in a Major League game on Canadian soil. Paxton was traded to the Yankees, for whom he pitched in '19-20, before returning to Seattle in '21. He made just one start in his second stint with the Mariners due to an elbow injury, which required Tommy John surgery. After missing the 2022 season, Paxton pitched for the Red Sox for '23.

Others of note:

Danny Green (1876)
The Burlington, N.J., native was a center fielder and right fielder for the Chicago Orphans and White Sox in a career that spanned 1898-1905. Green hit a career-high .313 for the Orphans (who would become the Cubs) in 1901 before Charles Comiskey signed him to play for the Sox in the nascent American League.

Buddy Kerr (1922)
Born in Queens, this light-hitting, slick-fielding shortstop played nine seasons for the New York Giants and Boston Braves from 1943-51. He was an All-Star for the Giants in 1948. He went on to serve as a special assignment scout for his hometown Mets from 1975 through 2000 before passing away at age 84 in 2006.

Ricky Romero (1984)
The left-handed Los Angeles native was taken by the Blue Jays in the sixth round of the 2005 Draft, debuted in '09 and was a front-line starter in a '11 season in which he went 15-11 with a 2.92 ERA and was named an All-Star. Alas, injury and performance issues truncated his career.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for Nov. 6? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.