The best baseball players born on Dec. 11

Who are the best players born on each day of the year? We have a list for every day on the calendar.

Here’s a subjective ranking of the top five for Dec. 11:

1) Old Hoss Radbourn (1854)
The only Hall of Famer born on Dec. 11, Charles Gardner Radbourn achieved fame both in his time and even in modern times via the witty, acerbic X account bearing his name. The real-life Radbourn won 310 games in just 11 seasons with the Providence Grays, Boston Beaneaters and Cincinnati Reds from 1881-1891. In 1884, with Providence, he went 60-12 with a 1.38 ERA in 678 2/3 innings, starting and completing 73 games -- numbers that are simply unfathomable in the present day. That season, he pitched the last 27 games of the season, winning 26, and he won three straight in that era’s answer to the World Series to pitch the Grays to the championship. Radbourn passed away in 1897 and was inducted into the Hall in 1939.

2) Bill Nicholson (1914)
Known as “Swish,” the Chesterland, Md., native was a right fielder and five-time All-Star in a career that spanned from 1936-53 with the Philadelphia A’s, Cubs and Phillies. He was one of only six players in Major League history to have been intentionally walked with the bases loaded (in 1944), joining Abner Dalrymple (1881), Nap Lajoie (1901), Del Bissonette (1928), Barry Bonds (1998) and Josh Hamilton (2008). Nicholson was a career .268 hitter with 235 homers and 948 RBIs in 1,677 games. He twice led the National League in homers and RBIs (1943 and '44), and he finished in the top three of the NL MVP voting in both of those seasons. Nicholson passed away in 1996.

3) Jay Bell (1965)
The Pensacola, Fla., native played 18 seasons with the Indians, Pirates, Royals, D-backs and Mets from 1986-2003, primarily as a shortstop. Bell was a Gold Glove winner, Silver Slugger and two-time All-Star, first for Pittsburgh in 1993 (.310/.392/.437 slash) and then for Arizona in 1999 (.289/.374/.557), when he hit a career-high 38 homers. He was also a member of the D-backs’ 2001 World Series championship team, scoring the winning run in Game 7 on Luis Gonzalez’s bloop single. For his career, Bell batted .265 with 195 homers, 860 RBIs and 1,123 runs scored. He went on to be a Major League coach and Minor League manager.

4) Fred Toney (1888)
Toney is best known for what happened at Wrigley Field on May 2, 1917, when he was pitching for the Reds. He and the Cubs’ Hippo Vaughn threw a rare “double no-hitter” in which neither allowed a hit for nine innings. In the top of the 10th, Vaughn gave up a run on two hits, and Toney finished off his no-no in the bottom of the inning. That was a highlight of a 12-season career in which Toney won 139 games with a 2.69 ERA in 2,206 innings for the Cubs, Reds, New York Giants and Cardinals. He was on the 1921 Giants team that won the World Series. The Nashville native passed away in 1953.

5) Derek Bell (1968)
The Tampa-born Bell is one of only 11 people to play in both the Little League World Series (in 1980 and '81) and the World Series (with the Blue Jays in 1992 and the Mets in 2000). He spent 11 seasons in the big leagues with the Blue Jays, Padres, Astros, Mets and Pirates and hit 134 homers with 232 doubles. His best seasons came as one of Houston’s “Killer Bs” along with Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio in the mid-1990s. His career ended in Spring Training 2002, when he was upset that the Pirates told him he’d have to compete for a job and went into, as he called it, “Operation Shutdown,” leaving the team.

Others of note:

Mike Henneman (1961)
The St. Charles, Mo., native pitched 10 seasons for the Tigers, Astros and Rangers from 1987-1996 and has the second-most saves in Tigers history (behind Todd Jones), with 154.

Hal Brown (1924)
This Greensboro, N.C.-born knuckleballer pitched in the big leagues from 1951 through 1964 for the White Sox, Red Sox, Orioles, Yankees and Houston Colt .45s.

Joe Blanton (1980)
A member of the 2008 World Series champion Phillies, the right-handed Blanton also pitched for the A’s, Dodgers, Angels, Royals, Pirates and Nationals in a 13-season career in which he won 101 games with a 4.38 ERA.

Lee Maye (1934)
Maye, who passed away in 2002, was not only a Major League outfielder for the Milwaukee Braves, Astros, Indians, Washington Senators and White Sox from 1959-1971 but also the lead singer of the doo wop group, Arthur Lee Maye and the Crowns, in the 1950s. He sang backing vocals on the original version of “Louie Louie” by Richard Berry.

Mark Vientos (1999)
Vientos broke out for the Mets in 2024, clubbing 27 home runs with an .838 OPS and 135 OPS+ in 111 games.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for Dec. 11? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.