The best baseball players born on March 15

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 March 15:

1) Harold Baines (1959)
Drafted first overall by the White Sox in 1977, the future Hall of Famer earned six All-Star selections and a Silver Slugger Award, won in 1989 when Chicago famously traded him to Texas in a deal that included future Cubs star Sammy Sosa heading to the South Side. One of Baines' 10 career walk-off homers ended the longest game in AL/NL history, a 25-inning affair that took eight hours and six minutes spread over two nights. His No. 3 is retired by the White Sox, who also unveiled a bronze statue of the slugger outside their stadium in 2008, and the Orioles selected him to their Hall of Fame in 2009.

2) Bobby Bonds (1946)
Bonds and his son Barry combined for 1,094 homers, the most by a father-son duo in MLB history, and the elder Bonds fell one homer shy of being baseball's first 40-homer, 40-steals player in 1973 (a feat his son would accomplish in 1996). Bonds, who topped 40 steals seven times, starred with the Giants for seven seasons and capped his career by playing for eight teams in eight years. The three-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner cracked 35 career leadoff homers, including a then-record 11 in 1973, but he was also known for racking up strikeouts; he led the Majors in K's three times, twice setting the AL/NL record.

3) Kevin Youkilis (1979)
"The Greek God of Walks" actually never finished higher than seventh in the AL in free passes, but he became beloved in Boston after the Red Sox drafted him in the eighth round in 2001, and not just for his super-weird batting stance. Originally a third baseman, he moved to first base in 2006 (his first full season in the Majors) and the next year won a Gold Glove at the position, then in 2008, he broke the AL/NL records for most consecutive games without an error and most errorless fielding chances by a first baseman.

4) Jim Kern (1949)
Kern not only shares a birthday with Bobby Bonds, he was traded to the Rangers in a deal that included Bonds going to Cleveland, where Kern had been a two-time All-Star as the team's closer. His first season in Texas was one of the greatest seasons for a reliever in baseball history, as he worked 143 innings while striking out 136 and earning 29 saves with a 1.57 ERA. His ERA+ that season was 264; even if you don't understand ERA+, know that 100 is league average, 150 is 50% better than the league average and 264 is … insane.

5) Arlie Latham (1860)
Latham racked up 742 stolen bases in his 17-year career, though that's not quite as impressive as it seems because the definition of a stolen base back then was far more generous. What is impressive is Latham's nickname: "The Freshest Man on Earth," which he earned for his love of pranks (think "don't get fresh with me"). Latham also holds the record for most career errors by a third baseman (822). As a coach, he was responsible for the invention of the coaching box thanks to his habit of running up and down the third-base line and yelling at the pitcher during his windup.

Others of note:

Jon Jay (1985)
At the end of the 2021 season, Jay had committed just nine errors in his career, spanning 1,067 games in the outfield -- and one inning pitching. He also was part of a contingent of MLB players who visited Cuba on a goodwill tour in 2015.

Mike Pagliarulo (1960)
He hit 105 homers in 703 games with the Yankees, then won a World Series championship with the Twins in 1991, batting .308 with two homers and five RBIs in the postseason.

Bob Locker (1938)
A workhorse reliever who tallied 879 innings in 576 career games, Locker served as Rollie Fingers' setup man during the A's 1972 World Series championship season, then was traded to the Cubs. Though he put up strong numbers in Chicago, including 18 saves, he was traded back to Oakland after the 1973 season (reportedly at his own request), then sat out 1974 following elbow surgery and was sent back to the Cubs for his final season.

Want to see more baseball birthdays for March 15? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.