If Your Birthday is December 17th...

...you share it with Chase Utley. The National League's best 2nd baseman from 2005 - 2009, he was the heart and soul of the Phillies clubs that won five consecutive NL East titles and the 2008 World Series. He reached his post-season peak the following year, belting five home runs as they lost to the Yankees. Injuries slowed the six-time All Star as the next decade began. Utley finished his career as a valued bench player on the Dodgers teams from 2015-'18 that all made their way to October. Great memories for Delaware Valley and Southern California fans. But New York fans remember him in a different light: his hard slide into Ruben Tejada left the Mets shortstop with a broken leg (and altered the course of his career) -- and led MLB officials to change the rules for what we used to call "take out slides." It's a lock that his name and likeness will eventually be added to the Phillies Wall of Fame. Utley's career numbers might fall a little shy of Cooperstown caliber, but of the 55 major league players born December 17th, he's clearly the best of the bunch.

Also on today's cake and card list:


  • Daniel Vogelbach, the Mariners slugging first baseman and one of the poster children for what a lot of us feel is wrong with today's baseball. He belted 30 home runs in 2019 along with 92 walks -- but struck out 149 times and batted all of .208. So almost 250 of his roughly 550 plate appearances resulted in NO ACTION. 
  • Josh Edgin, who made nearly 200 relief appearances for the Mets this past decade, but missed the club's World Series year, 2015, recovering from Tommy John surgery.
  • Curtis Pride, the hearing-impaired outfielder who beat huge odds to play parts of 11 seasons in the majors. These days, he's passing along his knowledge and passion for the game -- and inspiring other young players to overcome the same disability -- as baseball coach at Gallaudet College.
  • Bob Ojeda pitched in parts of 15 big league seasons, most famously winning 18 games for the World Champion '86 Mets.
  • Roland Sheldon was a rookie standout with the 1961 "M&M Boys" Yankees, where he won 11 games, including a pair of shutouts. But he never matched those numbers again, and his major league career ended in 1966. The 6-foot-4 Putnam, CT native first made his mark playing for UConn's baseball and basketball teams.

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