If Your Birthday is December 16th...

 ..you share it with Pete Fairbanks, the Rays fireballing relief pitcher. In his three major league seasons, he's struck out 123 batters over 90 innings.

Alcides Escobar has spent 12 seasons in the majors, eight as the Royals everyday shortstop. His personal highlight: an inside-the-park home run off Matt Harvey on the first pltch of the 2015 World Series. And among the 55 major leaguers born on this date, the Venezuela native is the only one to have appeared in over 1000 games.

Hector Santiago, the New Jersey born lefty who pitched for five teams, most notably the White Sox and Angels. His best season was 2016, when he won 13, split between Chicago and Minnesota.


Chris Britton, the heavyset relief pitcher who appeared for the Orioles and Yankees between 2006 and 2008.

 

Billy Ripken may be the less accomplished player in his family, but Cal's younger brother has enjoyed more success as a broadcaster, becoming one of MLB Network's top analysts. Still, let's not discount that he appeared in parts of 12 big league seasons.

And we remember:

Mike Flanagan, who spent 15 of his 18 big league seasons with the Orioles and was a mainstay of their rotation during Baltimore's winning seasons of the late '70s and early '80s. Fittingly for this longtime Baltimore veteran, he was the last pitcher to appear for the O's in their final game at Memorial Stadium (in 1991). Flanagan remained with the organization after retiring, as a TV analyst and club vice president. Plagued by depression in his final years, he took his own life in 2011.

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