If Your Birthday is May 13th...

...you share it with Justus Sheffield. The Yankees top pitching prospect was the key piece in the James Paxton following the 2018 season. After appearing in eight games for the Mariners last season, Seattle expects him to be a big part of their rotation for years to come.


Mychal Givens, the Orioles hurler whose best seasons so far have been 2016 and '17, when he went 8-1 and 8-2 out of the bullpen.

Max Moroff, the former Pirates and Indians utility player who was in spring training with the Mets until the pause button was hit in March.

Willson Contreras, the Cubs power-hitting catcher. An All Star the past two seasons, he was limited by injury to just 105 games in 2019, but still cracked 24 home runs..

John Ryan Murphy, is another former Yankee prospect to have departed by a trade. After showing promise as a hitter, but stuck behind starting catcher Brian McCann, he was sent to the Twins for Aaron Hicks after the 2015 season. But he's never been able to become a regular since.

Barry Zito spent 15 seasons pitching in the majors all in the Bay Area. The lefty reached his peak, when he won 23 games and the Cy Young Award season with the 2002 A's. Though he was never that dominant again, he totaled 165 career victories and a victory in his only World Series start, the opening game of the 2012 Fall Classic with the Giants -- where he outpitched Justin Verlander.

And we remember:

  • Leon Wagner: "Daddy Wags" was part of the wave of talent produced by the Giants farm system just before the club moved to San Francisco. After an impressive 1958 debut, he struggled and moved onto the Cardinals before becoming a star with the expansion Angels, where he smacked 91 home runs in three seasons, was named MVP of the second 1962 All Star game and then enjoyed several more productive seasons with the Indians. After retiring, he acted in several films before substance issues overtook him. He died homeless in 2004.

  • John Roseboro: The catcher who succeeded Roy Campanella with the Dodgers began his career in Brooklyn understudying the legend, before taking over after Campy's accident. While never an offensive force, the six-time All Star was a capable hitter and a skilled backstop on three Dodger World Champions (1959, '63 and '65). But the most vivid memory of Roseboro is his being bashed in head by Juan Marichal's bat during an ugly 1965 game with the arch-rival Giants. Roseboro, like Wagner, took advantage of the acting opportunities for an L.A. star, appearing in episodes of Mister Ed and Dragnet, and the movie Experiment in Terror.

  • Dusty Rhodes: The capable pinch hitter and backup outfielder for the 1950s Giants became a Polo Grounds legend when he hit .667 in the 1954 World Series -- where two of his four hits were home runs, including a game one walk off blast that set the stage for New York's sweep.

With no Hall of Famer having been born on May 13th, who would you tab as the greatest player born on this date: Zito, Wagner or Roseboro? You can make a good case for any of them.

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