If Your Birthday is April 7th...

 

..you share it with Adrian Beltre, whose 21 years in the majors rank him among the best all-around 3rd basemen ever. The five-time Gold Glove winner smacked 477 homers while hitting .286, mostly with the Doegers, Mariners and Rangers. He'll debut on the Hall of Fame ballot in 2024.


Josh Hader has been one of game's best closers since debuting with the 2017 Milwaukee Brewers. The long-haired lefty led the National League in saves during the 60-game season and has averaged 1.7 strikeouts an inning!  After a mid-season trade to the Padres, he enters his walk year in 2023.


Brett Tomko was the embodiment of the journeyman pitcher -- appearing for 10 different teams during his 15-season career. He spent roughly half of the 2009 season with the Yankees, and the operative term was "rough." After posting an ERA on the wrong side of 5, he was released in August, missing out on the club's post-season run to a title.


Bill Stoneman threw two no-hitters for the Montreal Expos -- the first came in the franchise's ninth game, when he froze the Phillies at Jarry Park on April 17th, 1969. After posting a 54-85 career record, he spent several years in private business before joining the Expos front office. In 1999, he became the Angels GM, hiring manager Mike Scoscia, and presiding over the club's only World Series championship in 2002.


And we remember:

Bobby Doerr, the Red Sox greatest second baseman before the arrival of Dustin Pedroia. Ironically, both men's careers were cut short by injury. In Doerr's case, back problems led to his retirement after the 1951 season, when he was just 33. He remained active with Boston into the 2000s, and is credited as the batting coach who helped Carl Yastrzemski develop into a Hall of Fame hitter. A nine-time All Star who batted a career .286, Doerr was voted into Cooperstown in 1986. His number-one hangs alongside those of other Red Sox legends above right field at Fenway Park.


John McGraw was a scrappy player during the late 1800s, a .344 career hitter whose on-base percentage was the third best of all time -- trailing only Ted Williams and Babe Ruth. A true student of the game, he is credited with such innovations as using squeeze bunts to drive home runners, perfecting the hit and run play, having batters hit downward creating those hard-to-field Baltimore Chops, and getting pitchers to cover first base on fielding plays. Between his days with the Orioles and Giants, McGraw's clubs won 2763 games, second only to Connie Mack, along with three World Series titles.

 

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