The best baseball players born on Oct. 28

October 28th, 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. 28:

1) Juan Guzman (1966)
Guzman was famously wild, but when he was at his best, he was terrific, most notably for the Blue Jays. He was at his best in the playoffs, with a 2.44 ERA in six career starts, and he, of course, won World Series with Toronto in 1992 and 1993. He also led the AL with a 2.93 ERA in 1996.

2) Tommy Tucker (1863)
Known as “Foghorn Tom,” Tucker was most well-known for shoving guys off first base and then tagging them out. He was loud and mostly terrifying to people and infamous for being tough and rowdy. He was also hit by pitches 272 times, third most all-time.

3) Lenny Harris (1964)
Harris is the all-time pinch-hits leader with 212, though that’s again a reminder how many games he actually, you know, started. He played for 10 teams throughout his career but broke the record as a member of the Mets. He won the World Series in 2003 with the Marlins, for whom he later worked as a third-base coach.

4) Nate McLouth (1981)
McLouth leads all players with this birthday in home runs, which tells you a little bit about this birthday. He won a Gold Glove in 2008 and also led the National League in doubles that season. He also stole a base in the first AL Wild Card Game for the Orioles in 2012.

5) Spencer Strider (1998)
After finishing second in NL Rookie of the Year Award voting to Braves teammate Michael Harris II in 2022, the right hander was an All-Star and led the Majors in wins (20) and strikeouts (281) while helping Atlanta to a division title in '23.

Others of note:

Braden Looper (1974)
Looper was a longtime reliever and starter for the Cardinals and the Marlins, and he earned a bronze medal in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. He won two World Series, with Florida in 2003 and St. Louis in 2006.

Artie Wilson (1920)
The seven-time Negro League All-Star and two-team Negro American League batting champion owned a career slash line of .367/.433/.465 across six professional seasons.

Bob Melvin (1961)
In addition to a decent decade-long playing career, Melvin collected 1,517 wins during his first 20 seasons as a manager. He signed a three-year deal to become the 39th manager in Giants franchise history after the team wrapped their 2023 campaign.

Chin-Feng Chen (1977)
Chen, who made spot appearances for the Dodgers from 2002-05, was the first Taiwanese player in MLB.

Hurley McNair (1888)
McNair was one of the early great Negro League players with the Kansas City Monarchs.

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