If Your Birthday is October 7th...

 

...you share it with Mookie Betts, the best outfielder developed by the Red Sox since Jim Rice, who was deemed too expensive and, after a trade and pricey contract extension, now stars for the Dodgers. After a stellar first season in L.A., he hit .429 in the Wild Card series, and last night, broke up San Diego's no-hitter with a 6th inning double that ignited a game-changing rally.

Bud Daley pitched well for some lousy Kansas City A's teams in the '50s, but battled injuries after being traded to the Yankees. He did have one shining moment -- working the last 6-2/3 innings, earning the win in the fifth and final game of the 1961 World Series.

Jose Cardenal spent 18 years in the majors, most notably for the 1970s Cubs. The Cuban expat (and cousin of A's star Bert Campaneris), also coached for Joe Torre with the Cardinals and Yankees -- where he earned rings as 1st base coach for the 1996, '98 and '99 champs.


Evan Longoria, the Rays' longtime "Face of the Franchise," was cashed in by Tampa Bay for a quartet of prospects (none of whom have panned out) after the 2017 season -- just before his numbers began to slip. San Francisco is still on the hook for his contract through 2022.

And we remember:

Charlie Fox played just three games with the 1942 New York Giants -- going 3-for-7, leaving him a lifetime .429 hitter -- and then spent the next three decades in the organization, highlighted by a five-year stretch as manager. His 1971 Giants -- with future Hall of Famers Mays, McCovey and Marichal -- won the NL West but fell in the NLCS to the eventual champion Pirates.

Chuck Klein, a .320 lifetime hitter who spent most of his career with the Phillies. Playing in an era when uniform numbers didn't have the historic or marketing significance they do now, Klein wore 1, 3, 14, 26 and 29 at Baker Bowl and Shibe Park.

One plaque along the club's Wall of Fame just bears a stylized P in his honor. Another tells his story to fans born decades too early to have seen the Phillie to homer four times in a game, a four-time home run champ, 1932 MVP and 1933 NL batting champ. Cooperstown finally welcomed the Indianapolis native in 1980 -- but he never lived to enjoy the moment.

Chuck's health declined just a few years after his playing days ended. He died young, in 1958 at just 53, so baby boomers and fans whose Phillies experience began at Veterans Stadium never got to meet him or cheer for him.


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