Here’s a subjective ranking of the top five for March 3:
1) Willie Keeler (1872)
Despite being only 5-foot-4 and 140 pounds, “Wee Willie” was known for using a heavy 46-ounce bat — and he used it effectively. Over his 19-year career, Keeler batted .341/.388/.415 and hit over .300 in 13 consecutive seasons from 1894-1906. During that span, he twice won the National League batting title while playing for the Baltimore Orioles — in 1897 (.424) and ’98 (.385). Keeler also had a 45-game hitting streak that spanned 1896-97, the second longest in MLB history behind only Joe DiMaggio (56 games in 1941). Keeler, who finished his career with 2,932 hits, was inducted posthumously into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939. His plaque in Cooperstown reads, “Baseball’s greatest place-hitter; best bunter.”
2) John Ward (1860)
John Montgomery Ward did a bit of everything during his Hall of Fame career. He spent seven seasons as a pitcher/outfielder, posting a 2.10 ERA from 1878-84. He played another 10 seasons as a middle infielder after experiencing arm trouble. And he even managed 751 games during his playing career, going 412-320-19 while at the helm of various teams. Ward finished his career with 2,107 hits and a .275/.314/.341 slash line. He was only 34 when he retired in 1894, in order to pursue a legal career (he had attended law school during the offseasons, earning a law degree in 1885). Ward was inducted posthumously into the Hall of Fame in 1964.
3) Neal Heaton (1960)
Heaton had a solid 12-year big league career in which he played for seven teams from 1982-93. The left-hander pitched in 382 games and made 202 starts, with his most successful season coming in 1990. He earned his lone All-Star selection that year, during which he went 12-9 with a 3.45 ERA in 30 games (24 starts) for Pittsburgh. He spent his first five MLB seasons with Cleveland, which selected him in the second round of the 1981 Draft. Heaton finished his career with 80 wins and a 4.37 ERA in 1,507 innings pitched.
4) Paul Schaal (1943)
Schaal played 11 big league seasons, splitting his career nearly evenly between the Angels (522 games) and the Royals (606). He spent his first five years with the Halos, before he was taken by Kansas City in the 1968 expansion draft. Schaal played his best seasons with the Royals in the early ’70s, which included batting .274/.387/.412 with 11 homers, 31 doubles, six triples and 63 RBIs in 161 games in 1971. He was also known as a great defensive third baseman. But he never won a Gold Glove Award, because Brooks Robinson received the American League honor at the hot corner every year from 1960-75. Schaal died on Sept. 1, 2017, following a battle with cancer.
5) Scott Radinsky (1968)
Radinsky is a former big league pitcher, a coach and a punk rock vocalist. While playing 11 MLB seasons that spanned 1990-2001, Radinsky was also performing as the lead singer of bands. When he reached the big leagues, he was part of a band named Ten Foot Pole. Radinsky later left that band, and in 1994 helped form Pulley, which was still active as of 2021. On the baseball diamond, Radinsky was a solid left-handed reliever who posted a 3.44 ERA in 557 career appearances. He missed all of the ’94 season after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Radinsky was Cleveland’s pitching coach in 2012, then later served as the Angels’ bullpen coach from 2016-18.
Others of note:
Matt Diaz (1978)
Diaz played 11 years in the big leagues, spending seven seasons with the Braves. A right-handed-hitting outfielder, he batted .316/.363/.466 with 34 homers and 149 RBIs in 427 games over his best four-year stretch with Atlanta from 2006-09.
Jorge Julio (1979)
Julio had a nine-year MLB career, spending his first five seasons with the Orioles. He finished third in AL Rookie of the Year Award voting in 2002, posting a 1.99 ERA and recording 25 saves in 67 appearances. Julio had 83 saves for Baltimore, all of which came from 2002-04.