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Here’s a subjective ranking of the top five for Nov. 14:
1) Curt Schilling (1966)
Schilling was one of the best big-game pitchers in baseball history — in 19 career postseason starts, the right-hander had a 2.23 ERA and 0.97 WHIP, striking out 120 and walking only 25. He was the MVP of the 1993 National League Championship Series, in which he helped lead the Phillies past the Braves. He was also co-MVP of the 2001 World Series, in which he and Randy Johnson silenced the Yankees’ bats in a seven-game victory for the D-backs’ first championship.
In 2004, Schilling pitched with a torn tendon sutured back onto his ankle in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series against the Yankees in what became known as “the Bloody Sock Game” — the Red Sox won to even up the ALCS at three games apiece after falling into a 3-0 series deficit. Boston won the pennant the following night to complete the epic comeback, and then went on to sweep the Cardinals in the World Series for the franchise’s first championship in 86 years. Schilling helped Boston win another title three years later.
Overall, Schilling had a 20-year Major League career in which he finished with a 3.46 ERA and 3,116 strikeouts.
2) Francisco Lindor (1993)
Lindor is one of the best all-around shortstops in baseball, already with four All-Star selections and two Gold Glove Awards to his name by age 28. He posted an .833 OPS with 138 home runs and 99 steals in six seasons with Cleveland before being traded to the Mets and signing a long-term extension with New York in 2021. He recorded a .230/.322/.412 slash line with 20 homers and 10 steals in an injury-shortened first season with the Mets (125 games).
3) Willie Hernandez (1954)
Hernandez had an unremarkable first seven seasons in the Majors, pitching to a 3.72 ERA for the Cubs and Phillies, primarily out of the bullpen. But then he was traded to the Tigers, and over the next five seasons posted a 2.79 ERA with 105 saves for Detroit, earning three All-Star selections and both the AL Cy Young Award and AL MVP Award in 1984, when he helped the club win a World Series title. He only pitched one more MLB season after that, struggling to a 5.74 ERA over 32 appearances before being released.
4) Jim Piersall (1929)
Piersall patrolled the outfield for the Red Sox, Cleveland, the Senators, Mets and Angels. He was a two-time All-Star, leading the Majors with 40 doubles in ’56. He also won a pair of Gold Glove Awards, one with Boston in ’58 and another with Cleveland in ’61. Overall, he was a .272/.332/.386 hitter during his 17-year MLB career.
5) Jim Brewer (1937)
Brewer pitched 17 seasons in the Majors for the Cubs, Dodgers and Angels (unfortunately, never for the Brewers), winning a World Series with the Dodgers in 1965. His best stretch came with the Dodgers from 1964-74, when he posted a 2.51 ERA and 1.11 WHIP over 789 innings. That included an All-Star campaign in ’73.
Want to see more baseball birthdays for Nov. 14? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.