If Your Birthday is June 16th...

... you share it with Wally Joyner. A sweet-swinging 1st baseman whose 16-year career began with the Angels, where he was runner up for the 1986 AL Rookie for the Year.  The suburban Atlanta native and BYU product later coached for the Padres, Phillies and Tigers.

Kerry Wood struck out 20 batters as a 20-year old rookie with the '98 Cubs.  And while he pitched for 14 seasons in the majors, injuries kept him from living up to his early promise.

Ian Hamilton was doing the best work of his major league career out of the Yankees bullpen when a groin injury landed him on the I-L back in May.

Ron LeFlore's journey from inmate to major league star was chronicled in the movie One in a Million, in which he was played  by LeVar Burton.  Over his nine year career, he batted .288 with 455 stole bases.

And we remember:

Pancho Herrera was a highly touted Phillies prospect who finished second for the NL 1960 Rookie of the Year.  But he struck out too much (136 led the league that season) and was a shaky fielder -- which landed him back in the minors in 1962.  There, he flashed his power for the rest of the decade but never made it back to the show.

Ernie Johnson spent most of the 1950s in the Braves bullpen, but is best remembered as one of the team's longtime TV voices during its Superstation TBS days.  His namesake son follow him into the media business and is Turner's lead studio host for its NBA and MLB coverage.

 

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