The best baseball players born on June 18

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 June 18.

1) Lou Brock (1939)
The only Hall of Famer born on June 18, Brock is best remembered as a master thief on the basepaths. He retired in 1979 as the all-time leader with 938 stolen bases, a record that stood until Rickey Henderson broke it in 1991. Brock, who passed away in 2020, was an icon in left field in St. Louis over his stellar 16-year tenure (out of 19 total MLB seasons) that included two World Series titles, six All-Star selections and eight National League stolen-base crowns. He topped out at 118 steals in 1974, when he batted .306/.368/.381 and finished second in NL MVP voting.

2) Andrés Galarraga (1961)
Known as Big Cat, Galarraga was one of the most feared hitters in baseball in the 1990s. He debuted with the Expos in 1985 and quickly established himself as a star at first base, earning two Gold Gloves and an All-Star nod, but he didn't truly break out until he joined the expansion Rockies in 1993 as one of the first free-agent signings in club history. His first year in Colorado, Galarraga hit an eye-popping .370 with a 1.005 OPS over 120 games, then followed that up by socking at least 31 homers in each of the following five seasons, punctuated by a massive 47-homer, 150-RBI campaign in 1996. He finished his career in 2004 as one of the greatest Venezuelan-born hitters in history, with 399 homers, 2,333 hits and 1,425 RBIs.

3) Sandy Alomar Jr. (1966)
A member of the Alomar baseball dynasty, Sandy Jr. was a key part of Cleveland's powerhouse clubs of the 1990s. He won AL Rookie of the Year and a Gold Glove along with the first of six career All-Star selections in 1990, the start of a 10-year peak in which he was one of the best all-around catchers in the game. He became a journeyman backstop after his 11-year tenure in Cleveland ended in 2000, but returned to the franchise as a first-base coach in 2010, where he has remained since, including stints as interim manager (2012), acting manager (2020) and bench coach.

4) Steve Cishek (1986)
Cishek is one the most well-traveled relievers in the game, having played on eight teams over a 13-year span through 2022. His longest stay was with his first club, the Marlins, with whom he pitched to a 2.86 ERA in 284 appearances over six seasons from 2010-15. He also had stops with St. Louis, Seattle, Tampa Bay, both Chicago clubs and the Angels. Through 2022, he had a 2.98 career ERA with 743 strikeouts in 710 2/3 innings.

5) Roy Partlow (1912)
A left-handed pitcher and outfielder, Partlow was an ace as a starter and reliever for the Homestead Grays dynasty in the second Negro National League in the 1930s and '40s. He won two league ERA titles and the 1943 World Series during his five-year run with the Grays before pitching well in four more seasons with the Philadelphia Stars.

Others of note
Jason Castro (1987)
Drafted by the Astros 10th overall in 2008, Castro was Houston's starting catcher in the nadir of its rebuild in the early 2010s, earning his only All-Star nod in 2013. Castro departed for Minnesota via free agency the offseason before Houston's World Series title run in 2017, but he returned in a backup role in 2021, when the club won the AL pennant.

Matt Moore (1989)
Moore's career began with tons of promise, including a breakout All-Star season in 2013, his third in the Majors, when he went 17-4 with a 3.29 ERA and finished ninth in AL Cy Young voting. But injuries took their toll shortly thereafter; he posted a 5.26 ERA in 142 games from 2015-21.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for June 18? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.