If Your Birthday is October 12th


You share it with the first Mets player synonymous with the number 50, Sid Fernandez. The Hawaiian born lefty came up through the Dodgers farm system, but enjoyed his most productive years in Flushing, winning 12 or more games five times. His best season was 1986, when he went 16-6 for the Mets club that went on to win the World Series.

There's another familiar New York baseball name on our October 12th list -- Tony Kubek. The 1957 American League Rookie of the Year played on seven pennant-winning clubs, including five straight during the Mantle-Maris dyansty from 1960 to '64. A neck injury sustained while on military service in '62 cut his playing career short. But he remained a fixture in the game for three more decades as a broadcaster with NBC, the Yankees and Blue Jays. That second career proved to be his ticket to Cooperstown, as he received the Ford Frick Award in 2009.

Rounding out today's cake and candle list:

  • Ketel Marte, the Mariners regular shortstop this past season.
  • Nolan Reimold, the Orioles leftfielder.
  • Jose Valentin, the power hitting infielder with 249 homers over 16 major league seasons.
  • The late Hall of Famers Joe Cronin and Rick Ferrell.
And a special mention for John Kennedy, the first black player in Phillies history. It took 10 years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier -- in fact, Jackie was already retired from the game -- for the Phillies to finally integrate. Kennedy, a light-hitting infielder, had little impact statistically -- he appeared in just five games, came to bat twice and never got a hit. He soon returned to the minor leagues. No, he was not a star, and his arrival meant the Phils were merely catching up to a wave that had remade the game. But on this date, it's worth saluting his place in history and likely the emotional abuse he took joining -- and quickly being jettisoned by -- what was not a very inclusive ballclub.


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