If Your Birthday is September 10th...

...you share it with Phillip Evans, who blossomed as a hitter after several years in the Mets farm system, but was never considered a top prospect. After playing 34 games -- and being passed by Jeff McNeil among infield prospects -- he spent 2019 in the minors. Moving onto the Pirates this year, his season ended early after a broken jaw and concussion in an outfield colission with teammate Gregory Polanco.

Neil Walker, the Pennsylvania native who has now played for both Pennsylvania's teams and both of New York's (as well as the Brewers and Marlins). The switch-hitting 2nd baseman -- who homered from both sides of the plate in a 2018 game with the Yankees -- has reinvented himself as an effective utility player, even pitching in a game last month for his current club, the Phillies.

Paul Goldschmidt spent eight impressive seasons with the Diamondbacks, making six All Star teams, before being deemed too pricey as his walk year approached. Traded to the Cardinals before the 2019 season, he signed a contract extension that runs through 2024.

Joey Votto, who after 14 seasons, ranks with Larry Walker as the best everyday ever player to come out of Canada. A lifetime .305 hitter with the Reds, this six-time All Star is approaching 300 career home runs.

Randy Johnson, the towering lefty who succeeded Nolan Ryan as the game's most feared flamethrower. The Big Unit retired after the 2009 season with 303 career victories, five Cy Young Awards and 10 All-Star selections. His stat line sparkles with 4875 strikeouts, (trailing onluy Ryan's 5,714) and two no-hitters, the second of which was a perfect game at Atlanta on May 18, 2004. Johnson's peak moment came in the 2001 World Series, when he was virtually unstoppable -- winning three games, including a relief stint in the seventh and deciding game.

And We Remember:

Roger Maris, the best of the Yankee heists from the old Kansas City A's. His first two summers in the Bronx moved him into baseball's elite -- winning back-to-back MVP's, leading the American League in RBIs and, in 1961, topping Babe Ruth's hallowed record by smashing 61 home runs. After slipping back a bit in '62, Maris's

career was sidetracked by hand injuries, which robbed him of his power, proved difficult to diagnose and led to the organization and fans souring on him.

Unhappy with in the media fishbowl and the big city vibe, Maris forced a trade to the Cardinals in 1967, where contributed to a pair of pennant winning clubs before heading off to a comfortable retirement.

The George Steinbrenner Yankees, realizing how badly things ended with Maris under the Michael Burke regime, made amends with Roger in the early 1980s. He finally returned for Old Timers Days, when he was honored for his excellence and finally shown all the love by New York fans. In 1984, the recognition was taken to a higher level, when the Yankees retired Roger's number-9. Sadly, Roger wasn't around to hear the cheers much longer. Diagnosed with non-Hodgins lympoma, he died in December 1985 at the young age of 51. 

We can forever debate whether Roger Maris has enough on the back of his card to be in the Hall of Fame. Where Cooperstown falls short is not having an honor -- which I equate to the Songwriters Hall of Fame's Towering Song -- that represents standout moments. 

Roger Maris's 1961 accomplishments deserve the spotlight.

Ted Kluszewski looked like he was heading to Cooperstown until, like Roger Maris, he was tripped up by injuries. The lefty slugger crushed 171 home runs for the Reds betwen 1953 and '56 -- and hit over. 300 for seven straight years -- before the magic evaporated. He still had his moments -- hitting three home runs and batting .391 for the White Sox in the 1959 World Series, and smacking a pair of home runs in the first game the expansion Angels ever played in April 1961.

Big Klu later earned raves as the Reds' hitting coach and minor league hitting supervisor. The club has since retired his number 18 and erected a Great American Ballpark statue as a tribute.