If Your Birthday is June 17th...

...you share it with Matt Barnes. The Danbury, Connecticut native has spent the past five seasons in the Red Sox bullpen (this photo is from his May 8th, 2018 appearance against the Yankees). He's been especially effective since 2016 -- striking out 360 batters in 262 innings. while surrendering less than one home run per nine innings.

June 17th is not a stellar day for talent: no Hall of Fame inductees and only one player with borderline credentials for Cooperstown. That would be Dave Concepcion, the defensive glue of the Reds great 1970s teams. A nine-time all star and five-time Gold Glove winner, he's the kind of player who should get more respect from the Veterans Committee, especially with ex-teammates such as Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and Tony Perez already enshrined. The Venezuelan native had a terrific 10-year peak, batting .282, and averaging 37 extra base hits and 22 stolen bases a season.

A few other names caught our attention, if only briefly:
  • Joe Charboneau was the 1980 American League Rookie of the Year. But injuries derailed his career and he was out of the majors two years later.
  • Shawn Abner has a nice nickname, inspired by the famed comic book character. But he never lived up to the being a 1st round pick of the Mets. Sent to San Diego in the Kevin McReynolds trade, he played parts of six big league seasons, but was never a regular.
  • Victor Mata hit over .300 in 30 games for the 1984 Yankees, but has become a far bigger contributor as a scout, helping discover such Yankees as Robinson Cano, Eduardo Nunez and Francisco Cervelli.
And remembering:
  • Pete Browning, a 19th century star who led his league in batting three times and hit a lifetime .341. And he accomplished that as a deaf player. I knew almost nothing about Browning and his legacy, until I checked out the impressive SABR biography on his life and career.

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