If Your Birthday is October 2nd...

 

...you share it with Aaron Hicks.  The Twins 2008 1st round draft pick struggled in his three Minnesota seasons, before being traded to the Yankees. After a couple of ordinary years, he blossomed in 2018, taking over for Jacoby Ellsbury as the everyday center fielder.  But he never posted similar numbers after signing a long-term contract extension.  Released in 2023, he spent time with the Orioles and Angels before calling it a career.

October 2nd's birthday circle lacks star power.  You'd recognize some of the other names such as Earl Wilson, a starting pitcher for the 1968 World Champion Tigers, Lance McCullers Junior, an effective pitcher for the Astros and Brewers, longtime reliever "Everyday" Eddie Guardado and Andre Robertson, a promising Yankee infielder of the early 1980s whose career was derailed by injuries in a Manhattan car wreck.
While no one born on this date has made the Hall of Fame, the best player (by WAR) with this birthday deserves more Cooperstown consideration.  It's fair to say that Maury Wills was a game changer, one of the most dangerous players in the game during the 1960s.  The National League leader in stolen bases for six consecutive years -- including 1962 when he was named MVP when he swiped a then-record 104 -- he elevated the speed game re-introduced by Jackie Robinson to another level.  Though I saw him play many times, the only photo I have including him is this shot from 1969, when he started at shortstop on opening day for the expansion Expos facing the Mets at Shea Stadium.  Look carefully just to the right of my copyright, and you'll see him facing the outfield  after an RBI double by New York's Tommie Agee.

A more fitting image of Wills lives forever on the cover of the Dodgers 1963 Yearbook. 


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