Here’s a subjective ranking of the top five for Jan. 6:
1) Early Wynn (1920)
Wynn is the only Hall of Fame player born on January 6. The intimidating righty compiled exactly 300 career wins and won a Cy Young Award with the White Sox in 1959. A nine-time All-Star, Wynn racked up 2,334 career strikeouts over his 23 seasons in the Majors with the Washington Senators, Cleveland and Chicago. He led the Majors in wins in 1959 and finished tied for the Major League lead in wins in ’54. Wynn also led the AL in strikeouts two times (1957, ’58) and was inducted to Cooperstown in 1972.
2) Don Gullett (1951)
The left-hander helped The Big Red Machine to a pair of World Series titles in 1975 and ’76 before joining the Yankees and pitching for the World Series champs in ’77 and ’78 with New York. Gullet compiled a 109-50 career record with a 3.11 ERA over his nine seasons in the Majors with Cincinnati and New York from 1970-78. After retiring as a player, Gullet was the Reds’ pitching coach from 1993-2005. He was inducted into the Reds’ Hall of Fame in 2002
3) Kevin Gausman (1991)
Gausman saw the best results in his career in 2021 as he made his first All-Star team, going 14-6 with a 2.81 ERA to finish sixth in National League Cy Young Award voting for the Giants. After becoming one of the most-coveted pitchers on the free-agent market, the right-hander inked a five-year, $110 million contract to join the Blue Jays and anchor Toronto’s starting rotation.
4) Ralph Branca (1926)
Branca, who surrendered “The Shot Heard ‘Round The World” to Bobby Thompson in 1951, was an All-Star in three consecutive seasons from 1947-49 for the Brooklyn Dodgers and pitched a total of 12 seasons in the Majors with the Dodgers, Tigers and Yankees. The right-hander, who had a total of 16 brothers and sisters while growing up in New York, had his best season in 1947 when he went 21-12 with a 2.67 ERA.
5) Norm Charlton (1963)
Charlton was one of the “Nasty Boys” out of the Reds’ bullpen along with teammates Randy Myers and Rob Dibble and the fiery trio helped Cincinnati capture the 1990 World Series. The left-hander was an All-Star for the Reds in 1992, and he went on to play until 2001 when he made 44 appearances for the 116-win Mariners in his final Major League season.
Phil Masi (1916)
The catcher was a four-time All-Star who represented the Boston Braves in four consecutive Midsummer Classics from 1945-48. Masi had his best season at the plate in 1947 when he hit .304 and he helped lead the Braves to the NL pennant in ’48.
Marlon Anderson (1974)
Anderson spent five seasons with the Phillies and was the team’s regular second baseman in 1999, 2001 and ’02. He played for five more teams in the big leagues up until 2009. Since retiring as a player, he spent some time as a Phillies broadcaster and also as a Minor League hitting coach in the Nationals’ and Mets’ organizations.