...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. Over parts of four seasons, big league pitching proved too much of a challenge up for the Miami-area native.Ramon Laureano is another of the toolsy, inexpensive and productive players the A's specialize in. Oakland's center fielder made history August 3rd, 2018 when he made his major league debut: he's the first Athletics player (in any of the franchise's three home cities) with a walk-off RBI hit as their first major league hit.Among the other players born July 15th, we see some familiar names, such as Cardinal player-turned-broadcaster Mike Shannon, -- who played in three World Series during the 1960s and homered in each of them -- and longtime backup catcher Kirt Manwaring, but no Hall of Famers.
In fact, of the 53 major leaguers born on this date since 1900, only two were ever named to an All Star team: Dodgers catcher Bruce Edwards and White Sox pitcher James Baldwin.
But All Star consideration isn't always 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 on to 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 chosen for baseball's mid-summer classic.
Just check the numbers for our July 15th birthday team: Donn Clendenon is the best ballplayer born on this date.
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