If Your Birthday is September 17th...

 ...you share it with Jose Ramirez, the Indians' sweet swinging 3rd baseman, who has posted some big numbers the last five years -- he hit 56 doubles in 2017 and paired 39 homers with 105 RBIs (and 106 walks) a year later. 

Marcus Semien, one of the American League's circle of talented shortstops. He posted career-best numbers in 2019, including 33 homers, when he finished third for American League MVP.

Greg Golson was the Phillies 1st round draft pick in 2004, but played just 40 big league games over parts of four seasons, including a pair of brief stints with the Yankees (2010 and '11).

John Franco, the Brooklyn, New York native who saved more games than any lefthander ever -- 424 games over 21 seasons, mostly with the Reds and Mets. His 1119 appearances are the most for pitcher in NL history. (Franco graduated from Lafayette High School, as did Sandy Koufax, Al Ferrara, brothers Bob and Ken Aspromonte, Mike Fiore and fellow former Met Pete Falcone -- all of whom enjoyed long MLB careers,)

Marshall Brant played just 10 games in the majors, although you saw a lot of him on TV in the summer of 1981. When the players struck, SportsChannel, televised Columbus Clippers games, giving Yankee fans a hint of what might be. Brandt smacked 25 home runs that season; Steve Balboni banged out 33 -- both looked cornerstones of future Yankee squads. Of course, it didn't work out that way for either of them.

Orlando Cepeda, was one of a groundbreaking group of Latin American players signed and developed by the late 1950s Giants, along with fellow Hall of Famer Juan Marichal and Felipe Alou. The 1958 NL Rookie of the Year for San Francisco, the Baby Bull went on to win the MVP with the '67 Cardinals and helped the '69 Braves reach the playoffs.  

Tom Carroll was a 1950s Yankees bonus baby who never panned out. The Brooklyn native was signed out of Notre Dame University, and hit .348 in 23 at bats for the pennant winning '55 and '56 clubs. After a couple of years in the minors, he played briefly for the 1959 Kansas City A's.

Bobby Wine personified the defense-first middle infielder. Over 12 big league seasons, he hit but .215 and won Gold Gloves for the '63 and '64 Phillies. He later spent another dozen seasons as a Phillies coach, before moving onto similar positions with the Braves and Mets. His son Robbie played briefly in the majors and was later the baseball coach at Penn State. 

And we remember:

Ernie Koy, an outfielder who played five seasons in majors (1938-'42) beginning with Brooklyn Dodgers. His namesake son also found fame in sports in the same city -- young Ernie was a running back with the New York Giants between 1965 and '70.

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