Why May 27, 1968, is THE best birth date in baseball history
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Birthdays are important. We＊ve established this. That＊s why we have a story here at MLB.com for every day on the calendar, with the best players born on each day.
How about those particularly productive birthdays, by Hall of Fame talent?
The National Baseball Hall of Fame has more than 300 inductees, including those who have gone in as players, managers, pioneers/executives and umpires. Of those individuals, six were born on May 14 -- the most common birthday among baseball＊s Hall of Famers.
Of all days on the calendar, 86 have at least two Hall of Famers, 19 of those have at least three and five have at least four 每 with just the one date having more than four, at six.
But that＊s all just about month and day. How about actual birthday twins, that share the birth month, day and year?
There＊s just one pair of Hall of Famers born on the exact same day: Jeff Bagwell and Frank Thomas, born on May 27, 1968.
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Perhaps it shouldn＊t be surprising that it＊s a date in 1968. More than 180 MLB players were born in 1968. The birth year produced the third-most WAR, total. There are five players in the Hall of Fame born in ＆68 每 only three birth years have more players inducted, and the latest of those three is 1903.
But for it to be the only exact day 每 in the history of the world 每 to produce multiple baseball Hall of Famers? That＊s something.
They reached Cooperstown via different paths, of course, as everyone does.
Thomas was born on May 27, 1968, in Columbus, Ga. He was the seventh overall pick in the 1989 MLB Draft out of Auburn, taken by the White Sox. In 2014, 521 home runs and two MVP Awards later, he was a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
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Bagwell was born that same day in Boston. He was the 110th overall pick in that same Draft, a fourth-rounder to the Red Sox out of the University of Hartford. After 449 home runs, a Rookie of the Year and an MVP Award for the Astros, Bagwell was voted in in his seventh year of eligibility in ＆17.
One exact day in history 每 two Hall of Famers. It makes you wonder which day may be next, and if that day has even happened yet.