Well, it's "coincidental" enough to spur the following (C'mon, you saw this coming, or at least noticed the graphic, right?) Hall of Names exercise. There have, in fact, been 44 MLB players born on this date, though no Hall of Famers yet. Mr. Maddux will be the first, though a certain Charles Hustle, had he not hustled quite so much OFF the field, would already be there.
Today's date, as noted, produced quite a few long-term more-than-serviceable catchers, three of whom have even compiled ...
... exactly the same career batting average of .255. (The starter, Brad Ausmus, the only one to make an All-Star team; the DH -- that's right, DH -- Greg Myers; and the backup, not shown, Gregg Zaun.) That synchronicity could change, as two of those three are still active
A few position changes were required to fill out the lineup, including Marty Keough playing 1B, where he spent 130 games in the bigs, though primarily an outfielder; And Tom "Parson" Nicholson is at SS, though he was mainly a 2B and spent just 10 of 160+ career games in the six-hole; has Nicholson got a prayer? Well, "Parson's" other nickname was "Deacon," so we're guessing he has a whole pocketful of 'em.
The lefty-leaning rotation is bolstered by three All-Stars, including Maddux, and while the bullpen as shown is a bit shallow, a good number of the remaining 4/14-ers not shown were pitchers who might grab a spot in Spring Training; the majority of those not shown spent just part of one year in the bigs.
So let's meet today's All-Birthday All-Stars:
Starting Lineup
C Brad Ausmus* (.255, 71 homers in 13 years through 2005)
1B Marty Keough (mostly OF; .242, 43 homers in 11 years)
2B Roberto Mejia (.219, 1993-97)
SS Parson Nicholson (mostly 2B; .262, 1888, '90, '95)
3B Pete Rose Sr. * (All-Star at five positions; .303 in 24 years)
LF David Justice* (.279/305/1017 in 14 years)
CF Don Mueller (.296, 1948-59)
RF Joe Lahoud (.223, 65 homers in 11 years)
DH Greg Myers (.255, 87 homers in 18 years through 2005)
Starting Rotation:
RHSP Greg Maddux* (318-189 through 2005)
LHSP Steve Avery* (96-83 in 11 years)
RHRP Mark Bomback (16-18; 10-8 with NYM; 6-10 with TOR)
LHSP Carlos Perez* (40-53, 1995-2000)
LHSP Chris Welsh (22-31, 1981-86)
Bullpen:
RHRP Mike Trombley (44 saves in 11 years)
RHRP Kyle Farnsworth (23-28, 20 saves through 2005)
LHRP Brad Pennington (3-6, 4 saves, 1993-98)
LHR-SP Frank Bertaina (19-29, 1964-70)
Not a bad ballclub! In fact, it runs only second in quality so far to the All-October 20 team we did a while back -- of course, this is only the sixth of 366 possible days we've put together so far, so who knows which day will eventually be the best?
