If Your Birthday is September 23rd...


...you share it with Joba Chamberlain. An instant cult hero and perhaps the most exciting Yankee rookie since Derek Jeter, he was nearly unhittable as a rookie reliever during the final two months of the 2007 season -- posting a 2-0 record with a microscopic 0.38 ERA in 19 games, while striking out 34 batters in 24 innings as Mariano Rivera's set up man.

But he couldn't sustain the success. A bad omen was his ill-fated playoff appearance that October, when swarms of midges, small flying bugs, descended on him, shaking his concentration and leading to a Yankee loss. That moment seemed to be a tipping point for the Nebraskan.

The organization's desire to turn him into starting pitcher outweighed fan sentiments that be groomed as the great Rivera's eventual success. Instead, he was plagued by ineffectiveness and eventually, a series of arm injuries that dimmed his star. Joba moved onto the Indians, Royals and Indians, but the magic in his arm was gone. Chamberlain turns 33 today.

Also on today's cake and candles list:
  • Matt Kemp, who enjoyed a productive 15 year career, 10 of them with the Dodgers, where he made three all star teams.
  • Jim Morrison was able to light a few fires over his 12 year career during the '70s and '80s. The infielder belted 112 home runs as he moved from the Phillies to the White Sox, Pirates, Tigers and Braves. Besides sharing a name with the rock icon, both Morrisons were Sunshine State natives. The baseball Morrison was born in Gainesville, Florida, the Lizard King, in Melbourne.

Mets relief pitcher Trevor May, now in his second season in Flushing.

Saturday's list includes five players with brief or inconsquential Yankee tenures:
  • Travis Ishikawa, who played in just one game for the 2013 Yankees, a year before his walk-off homer sent the Giants to their third World Series of the decade.
  • Jeff Karstens pitched parts of two seasons in the Bronx and the next six in Pittsburgh.
  • Eric Soderholm, who wrapped up his nine-season career on the division-winning 1980 Yankees.
  • Wally Hood only pitched in two major league games -- both with the 1949 Yanks.
  • Dixie Walker, who before becoming a beloved Brooklyn Dodger (and hit .311 over nine seasons) and nicknamed "The People's Cherce," was a rather ordinary Yankee during parts of five seasons in the early 1930s.

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