The best baseball players born on Feb. 9

Here’s a subjective rating of the highest 5 for Feb. 9.

1) Vladimir Guerrero (1975)
One of the nice sluggers and most-fun-to-watch gamers of the early 2000s, Guerrero gave us some sort of spotlight nearly each time he took the sphere. Whether it was his infamous bad-ball hitting zone that appeared to increase from shoelaces to eyes or his cannon arm within the outfield, the Hall of Famer and 2004 AL MVP was a generational participant and solely the third Dominican to be enshrined in Cooperstown (Pedro Martinez and Juan Marichal, each pitchers, are the others). Despite the quite a few accolades, which embrace 9 All-Star appearances, eight Silver Slugger Awards and a Home Run Derby title, when it’s all stated and finished he won’t even be one of the best baseball participant in his family.

2) Heinie Zimmerman (1887)
The indisputable fact that he was a Triple Crown winner in 1912 — though his RBI complete has come below some dispute and he’s not listed as such in all document books – is hardly probably the most attention-grabbing a part of Zimmerman’s baseball life, a wild one that’s match for the silver display screen. Zimmerman can credit score that Triple Crown, partially, to the premature demise of Cubs third baseman Jimmy Doyle in 1912, which in a morbid twist opened a beginning spot for Zimmerman. But his story takes a flip after the hot-tempered infielder went to the Giants in 1916, the place he fell in with infamous game-thrower Hal Chase. Though Zimmerman was by no means formally banned from baseball, his sport fixing was the start of the tip of his profession, and his post-playing days have been spent hobnobbing with notorious New York gangster Dutch Schultz at a speakeasy they operated collectively.

3) Vic Wertz (1925)
For Vic Wertz, the sport of inches was all too actual. Inches separated him from historical past, from turning into the primary participant to document 5 hits in a World Series sport. Inches have been the explanation he was solely ever requested about one second from a 17-year profession that consisted of hundreds of moments, a lot of them memorable. Inches, and a person by the title of Willie Mays. “The Catch” is broadly thought-about one of many best performs ever made, and it began with a drive off Wertz’s bat, a 400-plus-foot shot that may’ve gone out of many stadiums, however not the Polo Grounds. The huge heart subject there gave top-of-the-line defensive outfielders of all time an opportunity to make a basket catch that will be remembered and replicated by generations to come back. All Wertz may do was make the lengthy stroll again to the dugout, his bid for a fifth hit spoiled. “Well, I got my man,” aid pitcher Don Liddle famously stated as he got here off the sphere.

4) Clete Boyer (1937)
He could have solely captured one Gold Glove, however the surehanded Boyer was top-of-the-line third basemen of his period. It simply so occurred that period coincided with maybe one of the best third baseman ever, Brooks Robinson, who took dwelling the award 16 consecutive instances from 1960-75. Boyer lastly obtained his with the Braves in 1969, solely after shifting over to the National League, away from Robinson, who did bestow a excessive honor upon his fellow sizzling nook handler: “In terms of catching the ball and throwing, Clete Boyer was the best defensive third baseman I played against,” Robinson as soon as stated. Though Boyer was much less recognized for his bat, he did hit .318 through the 1962 World Series, which his Yankees gained for the second consecutive 12 months. Boyer and his brother Ken additionally grew to become the primary brothers to homer in the identical Major League sport, doing so in Game 7 of the 1964 World Series.

5) Mookie Wilson (1956)
A sluggish curler off Mookie Wilson’s bat rolled up the first-base line, below the legs of Bill Buckner and straight on into baseball historical past. Wilson’s profession would by no means be the identical, outlined by one play that ended Game 6 of the 1986 World Series and despatched the Mets to a Game 7 that they might additionally win. Mookie has maintained he would’ve crushed the injury-riddled Buckner to the bag anyway, however the largest hit of his life wasn’t a success in any respect, an E3 within the books. Though he was a strong Major League participant for 12 seasons (.274 profession common, 327 stolen bases) and beloved by followers in Queens as a sparkplug atop the order, it’s not onerous to know why his title will ceaselessly be related to one play. That didn’t all the time sit so effectively with Mookie, who stated, “I think I’ve done more for the game than just hit a ground ball — not even a hard-hit ground ball.” Nevertheless, his place in baseball lore is safe.

John Kruk (1961)
A 3-time All-Star who hit .348 within the 1993 World Series, which the Phillies misplaced in heartbreaking style to Toronto, Kruk’s voice has develop into well-known to followers in Philadelphia, the place he’s been the colour commentator since 2017.

Vidál Bruján (1998)
A heralded prospect within the well-regarded Rays system, Bruján had his first style of the Majors in 2021. Though it was a brief stint, Tampa Bay has excessive hopes that he can kind a dynamic middle-infield duo with phenom Wander Franco for a few years to come back.