If Your Birthday is June 19th...

...you share it with one of the very best pitchers in baseball, Jacob de Grom. The Mets ace (seen here May 18th against Arizona) hasn't always received support from his batting order, but one stat that doesn't lie is ERA. With the season approaching its halfway point, his is 1.51. Tack on a 5:1 strikeout to walk ratio (120:24) and best in the league ERA+ (252) and home runs per nine innings (0.4) and you're talking Cy Young candidate. Last night at Coors Field, the Floridian got his celebration underway early with a typically dominating performance: one earned run over eight innings, continuing a stretch where his ERA in his last 10 starts was less than one! Unfortunately, the Mets don't maximize his dominance -- un-amazingly, they went 2 & 8 in those same 10 games. You might not see de Grom in the playoffs, but bank on him visiting Washington next month for the All Star Game.

Who else gets cake and candles on June 19th?


  • Bruce Chen, the Panamanian born lefty whose career was bookended by time with the Braves and Indians. Never an ace, he started, relieved and ended his 17 years with a winning record (82-81).
  • Doug Mientkiewicz, the defensively gifted 1st baseman best known for his years with the Twins. Alex Rodriguez's high school teammate at Westminster Christian in Miami is still in the game today, managing the Triple A Toledo Mud Hens.
  • Jerry Reuss, who won 220 games over 22 big league seasons and then spent years seasons as one of ESPN's baseball voices.
  • Duane Kuiper is another player-turned-broadcaster. After 12 seasons playing 2nd base for the Indians and Giants, he's become an even bigger name as San Francisco's very entertaining TV voice since 1994.
  • Bob Aspromonte, a Brooklyn, New York native who made his big league debut with his hometown "Bums" in 1956. Best known for his years with Houston's Colt .45s and Astros, he was the final active Brooklyn player in the majors when he closed out his career back in New York with the 1971 Mets.

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