5 MLB players who became champs on their birthdays

Birthdays are important. So are championships. What about when they intersect?

Both Saquon Barkley and Cooper DeJean of the Philadelphia Eagles will be celebrating birthdays when they play in the Super Bowl on Sunday.

That got us thinking about baseball players who became champs on their special days.

Here’s a look at the five players in MLB history to win a World Series on their birthdays, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. (Note: This includes all players to appear in at least one postseason game for the champ whose birthdays were the date of the clincher.)

2015 World Series Game 5: Paulo Orlando, Royals (30th birthday)
Orlando entered the game in a double switch in the seventh. He ended up getting three plate appearances with the game going to extra innings. He reached on an error in the 12th, coming around to score the fifth run in an eventual 7-2 win. The game ended after midnight, so technically, Orlando’s birthday was over, but all stats go down in the books on the day the game started. So officially, he won on his birthday, becoming the first Brazilian-born World Series champion.

1993 World Series Game 6: Al Leiter, Blue Jays (28th)
Entering the game, newspaper previews pointed out Leiter’s birthday and noted that the first pitcher to win a World Series game on his birthday was Johnny Podres in 1955 Game 3. Podres was the current pitching coach for the Phillies, who were facing the Jays. Leiter entered in the seventh with the bases loaded and one out, four runs already across in the frame for the Phillies. One inherited runner scored on a sacrifice fly, giving Philly the lead, then Leiter pitched a scoreless eighth. Joe Carter hit his famous homer in the ninth, and Leiter became a champ on his birthday.

1987 World Series Game 7: Roy Smalley, Twins (35th)
Talk about a storybook ending. In what would end up being the final game of his career, in his second stint with the Twins, Smalley pinch-hit in the sixth and drew a walk in an eventual Minnesota win. He ended his career as a birthday champ. “There’s nothing this good -- nothing. … What a present,” he said postgame. He sang “Happy birthday to me” amidst the celebration. Newspaper accounts made mention of Smalley’s birthday. One story talking to fans about the title even included a quote from someone who worked at the Twins’ Spring Training facility, saying, “I think the happiest was Roy Smalley. He won it on his birthday.”

1982 World Series Game 7: Keith Hernandez, Cardinals (29th)
Hernandez had two hits, including a game-tying two-run single in the sixth, as well as two walks, one of which was intentional. That’s a great birthday on its own -- and he did it in Game 7 to clinch the World Series. “Even if it wasn’t my birthday, I couldn’t be happier,” Hernandez said postgame. “How’s this for a birthday present?” he shouted as the team celebrated. Adding to the Hernandez storyline was the fact that Bob McClure, whom he hit the game-tying single off of, was a high school rival and junior college classmate of Hernandez.

1970 World Series Game 5: Jim Palmer, Orioles (25th)
Palmer didn’t pitch in the clincher, but he did win his second of three World Series titles on his 25th birthday. He started three games in the 1970 postseason. Those included a 12-strikeout complete game in ALCS Game 3 and 8 2/3 innings in a World Series Game 1 win.