The best baseball players born on May 8
Scott Merkin
@scottmerkinCHICAGO ¨C 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 May 8.
He was born Norman Thomas Stearnes in 1901 but earned his nickname from the unique way he ran, according to various reports about the Hall of Famer. In an article from baseballhall.org, fellow Negro Leagues legend Satchel Paige called Stearnes ¡°one of the greatest hitters we ever had. He was as good as Josh [Gibson]. He was as good as anybody who ever played ball."
Stearnes played from 1923-31 with the Detroit Stars in the Negro National League, holding the overall lead in triples in four separate seasons, the home run lead four times and the RBIs lead twice. He also played for the Chicago American Giants in the Negro Southern League and the Negro National League 2 and for the Philadelphia Stars in that same league. He finished his career in the Negro American League by playing three seasons for the Kansas City Monarchs. Stearnes slashed .349/.417/.617 for his 18-year career, with 186 homers, 112 triples, 997 RBIs and 129 stolen bases. The five-time All-Star had a .417 postseason average with seven homers and 26 RBIs and was inducted into the Hall of Fame via the Veterans Committee in 2000.
Gonz¨¢lez knocked out 317 home runs, drove in 1,202 runs and scored 997 over the course of 15 seasons for five teams. The left-handed-slugging first baseman had seven seasons with at least 25 homers and seven seasons with at least 100 RBIs. He also had at least 30 doubles in 11 different years.
During 34 postseason games, with all but four coming for the Dodgers, Gonz¨¢lez hit .266 with seven homers and 21 RBIs. His Baseball-Reference.com home run log showed great power to the opposite field, with 105 of his homers going to left field or left-center. His 43.5 bWAR ranks him fourth among players with May 8 birthdays, and he added five All-Star appearances.
He was traded by five different teams, starting with the Marlins, who selected him No. 1 overall in the 2000 Draft, moving him to the Rangers for closer Ugueth Urbina on July 11, 2003. The Padres sent him to the Red Sox for a four-player return including Anthony Rizzo on Dec. 6, 2010, and the Red Sox traded Gonz¨¢lez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, Nick Punto, and cash to the Dodgers for five players on Aug. 25, 2012. On Dec. 16, 2017, he moved from the Dodgers to the Braves with Charlie Culberson, Scott Kazmir, Brandon McCarthy and cash for Matt Kemp.
Cuellar¡¯s most dominant years came with the Orioles, where he put together a 143-88 record and 3.18 ERA from 1969-76. The southpaw won 20 games in 1971, joining Dave McNally (21), Jim Palmer (20) and Pat Dobson (20) as a four-man Baltimore rotation who each won 20 games and combined for 142 starts. The best season for Cuellar came in 1969, when he posted a 23-11 record, 2.38 ERA, five shutouts and 18 complete games over 39 starts and 290 2/3 innings on his way to sharing the AL Cy Young with Detroit¡¯s Denny McClain. Cuellar finished with a 4-4 record and 2.85 ERA over 12 postseason starts, punctuated by a complete-game victory over the Reds in the deciding Game 5 of Baltimore¡¯s World Series title in 1970.
And Cuellar could swing the bat a little bit as well. The four-time All-Star, who finished with a 26.9 bWAR, knocked seven homers, eight doubles and four triples in his career.
The left-handed-hitting, left-handed-throwing first baseman was nicknamed ¡°Big Dan¡± during his playing days, although his 6-foot-2, 207-pound frame would not be considered supersized in modern day competition. He was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Old Timers committee in 1945 after producing a slash line of .342/.423/.520 over 19 seasons with 10 teams.
Brouthers finished with 107 career home runs, leading the National League with eight in 65 games in 1881 and with 11 in 121 games in 1886. He had six seasons with at least 100 RBIs, ending up with 1,301 RBIs over 1,676 games. He also had eight seasons above 100 runs scored, topping out at 153 in 123 games in 1887, and amassed 1,529 overall. His 78.7 bWAR is No. 1 by quite a margin among players born on May 8.
Roush was voted into Baseball¡¯s Hall of Fame via the Veterans Committee in 1962 after the center fielder slashed .323/.369/.446 over 18 seasons with four different teams. Roush won a National League batting title in 1917 by hitting .341 with the Reds and then again by hitting .321 with the Reds in 1919. Roush posted a 45.6 bWAR, sitting third among all players who were born on May 8, and knocked out 68 home runs with 981 RBIs, 1,099 runs scored and 268 stolen bases. He had six hits, seven RBIs and six runs scored in eight games for the Reds in their 1919 World Series victory.
Others of Note
As the definition of a workhorse, Leonard also dominated at numerous times over the course of his 12-year career spent with the Royals. The right-hander had three seasons with at least 280 innings pitched and 37 starts, topping out in 1978 with 40 starts and 294 2/3 innings pitched. He finished 144-106 with a 3.70 ERA over 312 games with 302 starts among them. Leonard fanned 1,323, including 244 during a 1977 season marking one of his three with 20 wins or more. His highest Cy Young finish came in ¡¯77, where he was fourth behind Sparky Lyle, Palmer and Nolan Ryan, and he posted a 3-5 postseason mark with 4.32 ERA over nine starts (10 games) and two complete games. Leonard hurled 103 complete games and 23 shutouts during the regular season.
The infielder put up lofty numbers for the Boston Red Stockings in the National Association, and the Chicago White Stockings, Cincinnati Reds and Boston Red Stockings when they were part of the National League. He topped .400 four different times, albeit in shortened seasons, batting .431 with 125 runs scored in 1873 and .429 with 126 runs scored in 1876. His 27.7 bWAR sits fifth best for birthdays on May 8.
The left-handed hitter played 1,425 games and had 4,295 plate appearances over 15 seasons with the Twins, Cardinals, Royals, Mariners and Blue Jays. His 17.4 bWAR ranks him eighth among players born on this day, and his best season came in 1975 with the Twins, when he slashed .302/.389/.428 with 11 homers, 18 doubles, 45 RBIs and 70 runs scored. Braun, who was an outfielder but played all over the diamond, drove in 71 and scored 73 in that ensuing season for the Twins.
Peralta had solid seasons as a Brewers starter in 2013 and 2014, posting a 17-11 record, 3.53 ERA and 154 strikeouts over 32 starts in ¡¯14. The right-hander became an effective reliever for the Royals in 2018 and turned in quality starting work for the Tigers in ¡¯21 with a 3.07 ERA over 93 2/3 innings and 19 games of which 18 were starts.
Maine pitched for the Mets, Orioles and Marlins, finishing with a 41-36 record and 4.45 ERA over 112 appearances and 105 starts. He was 1-0 with a 2.63 ERA over three playoff starts for the Mets, striking out 13 and walking 11 over 13 2/3 innings. Maine¡¯s top season probably came in 2007 with a 15-10 record, 3.91 ERA and 180 strikeouts over 191 innings and 32 starts.
Want to see more baseball birthdays for May 8? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.