The best baseball players born on Oct. 17

October 17th, 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 Oct. 17.

1) Buck Ewing (1859)
Ewing stands as the only Hall of Famer born on Oct. 17. When the museum first opened in 1939, just three members stood on the Veterans Committee and were in charge of electing 19th century players for enshrinement. Ewing was one of six elected in that committee's first election, becoming the first catcher to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. He led the National League with 10 homers in 1883 before helping lead the New York Giants to championships in ’88 and ’89.

An Old Judge tobacco card of Buck Ewing. (Bain Collection/Library of Congress)

2) Jim Gilliam (1928)
After beginning his career in the Negro Leagues, Gilliam joined the Brooklyn Dodgers and was named the Rookie of the Year in 1953, leading the league in triples (17) and plate appearances (710). He drew MVP votes in four different seasons, but primarily remained a quietly consistent player for the Dodgers (both Brooklyn and Los Angeles) for 14 seasons, accumulating 2,016 hits.

3) Paul Derringer (1906)
No one born on this day appeared in more All-Star Games than Derringer, and he certainly deserved it. All his selections came with Cincinnati, beginning in 1935. In '38 (his second All-Star season), he led the National League in games started (37) and complete games (26) before posting the best winning percentage (.781) and the lowest FIP (2.77) the next season.

4) Carlos González (1985)
González wrapped up his time in the Majors at the end of the 2019 season, concluding his 12-year stint in the big leagues. The majority of his career was spent in Colorado, where he earned three All-Star selections, three Gold Gloves and two Silver Sluggers. It was in 2010 that the man known as CarGo put his name on national radars, leading the National League in hits (197) and batting average (.336) with a .974 OPS, which led to his third-place finish in the NL MVP vote.

5) Red Rolfe (1908)
From 1937-40, Rolfe was a lean, mean hitting machine, prompting a trip to the All-Star Game in each of those seasons. He led the Majors with 213 hits in '39, while leading the American League with 46 doubles. Despite his brief stretch of putting up attention-grabbing offensive numbers, Rolfe never placed higher than 24th in the American League MVP vote and finished his 10-year career with the Yankees in 1942.

Others of note:
Johnny Klippstein (1927)
Klippstein has to be recognized based on longevity itself. He played in 18 Major League seasons, split between eight different clubs as both a reliever and a starter.

Dan Pasqua (1961)
Born in Yonkers, N.Y., Pasqua was drafted by his hometown Yankees and played in the Bronx for three seasons before joining the White Sox for the last seven years of his career.

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