If Your Birthday is July 15th...


...you share it with Peter O'Brien. Seen above in July 2014 with the Yankees' Trenton farm club, he whacked 125 home runs in six minor league seasons. Just days after I took this photo, he was swapped to the Diamondbacks for Martin Prado. Since then, major league pitching has been too much of a challenge up for the Miami-area native.
Looking over the rest of those born July 15th, we see some familiar names, such as Cardinal player-turned-broadcaster Mike Shannon, and longtime backup catcher Kirt Manwaring, but no Hall of Famers. In fact, of the 49 major leaguers born on this date since 1910, only two were ever named to an All Star team: Dodgers catcher Bruce Edwards and White Sox pitcher James Baldwin.
But being overlooked in All Star consideration isn't the best measure of a player's value. Was there a more important non-pitcher on the 1969 Mets than Donn Clendenon? Acquired at the June trade deadline, he supplied power and leadership to young pitching-rich club that went onto shock the baseball world. That October, he -- not Seaver, Koosman or Ryan -- earned World Series MVP honors. A year later, he was an even better hitter, batting close to .290 with 22 home runs. But playing at the same time that Ernie Banks, Willie McCovey and Willie Stargell were the best at their position in the NL, Clendenon was never selected to baseball's mid-summer classic.
Now, check the numbers for our July 15th birthday team: Donn Clendenon is the best ballplayer born on this date.

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