Baseball's September Birthday Dream Teams
Lots of great players have September birthdays. But who would make an all-star team amongst active players? And who would make an all-time September Birthdays dream team?
Issues #26
Continuing my series of active and all-time dream teams for players born during each month—how about September? Demographic oddities aside, on average you'd expect such rosters to be composed of about 1/12th of the top players during whatever period is under consideration.
I'll start with an active players September Birthday dream team, choosing players based on their entire careers to-date both in terms of credentials and what positions they could play at. Here is the depth chart:
The top three active players in career WAR all play 1B: Joey Votto (64.3) , Paul Goldschmidt (58.2) , and Freddie Freeman (48.2). You could debate how to rank them, but their numbers are in some ways remarkably similar. Votto has played the longest, and clearly is past his prime at this point. Goldschmidt has the highest WAR results on a per-game basis. Here are some of their key career numbers:
Votto: 1,991 G, 342 HR, 80 SB, .297/.412/.513, 145 OPS+
Goldschmidt: 1,601 G, 315 HR, 146 SB, .296/.391/.529, 146 OPS+
Freeman: 1,702 G, 289 HR, 64 SB, .298/.385/.509, 139 OPS+
On the flip-side, the OF candidates, aside from George Springer, aren’t particularly impressive relative to what one might expect. And for some reason there are almost no active catchers who were born in September. Very strange!
Starting lineups for this might look like this:
Against RHP:
George Springer RF (R)
Jose Ramirez 3B (S)
Joey Votto DH (L)
Freddie Freeman 1B (L)
Carlos Correa SS (R)
Marcus Semien 2B (R)
Eddie Rosario LF (L)
Christian Bethancourt C (R)
Billy Hamilton CF (S)
Against LHP:
George Springer RF (R)
Carlos Correa SS (R)
Jose Ramirez 3B (S)
Paul Goldschmidt 1B (R)
Joey Votto / Freddie Freeman DH (L)
Marcus Semien 2B (R)
Adam Duvall LF (R)
Manuel Margot CF (R)
Christian Bethancourt C (R)
The starting pitching begins strong with Gerrit Cole at the top, followed by young Miami ace Sandy Alcantara. But then the candidates for filling out a starting five are far less impressive. I included 25-year old Dodgers’ hurler Dustin May at the bottom of the list, even though he only has 23 career starts. If he can stay healthy, he could quickly rise and become the #3 here. And I included Jeffrey Springs on the list as well, even though he only became a starter in 2022. He has done well for the Rays this year, and he is the only lefty in this group.
Here are the players above listed in order by birthday:
Hitters:
September 2: SS Willy Adames (R)
September 2: C Christian Bethancourt (R)
September 4: SS Andrelton Simmons (R)
September 4: LF Adam Duvall (R)
September 4: 2B/SS Andrés Giménez (L)
September 9: CF Billy Hamilton (S)
September 10: 1B Joey Votto (L)
September 10: 1B Paul Goldschmidt (R)
September 11: 3B Mike Moustakas (L)
September 12: 1B Freddie Freeman (L)
September 15: C Tres Barrera (R)
September 16: LF/RF Robbie Grossman (S)
September 17: 3B Jose Ramirez (S)
September 17: 2B/SS Marcus Semien (R)
September 19: RF/CF George Springer (R)
September 22: SS Carlos Correa (R)
September 28: CF/RF Manuel Margot (R)
September 28: LF Eddie Rosario (L)
SP:
September 6: Dustin May (R)
September 7: Sandy Alcantara (R)
September 8: Gerrit Cole (R)
September 10: Chad Kuhl (R)
September 15: Dakota Hudson (R)
September 16: Jakob Junis (R)
September 20: Jeffrey Springs (L)
September 26: Chris Archer (R)
September 29: Tyler Mahle (R)
RP
September 6: Jordan Hicks (R)
September 20: Ken Giles (R)
September 21: Devin Williams (R)
September 22: James Karinchak (R)
September 24: Hunter Strickland (R)
September 26: Sean Doolittle (L)
September 30: Kenley Jansen (R)
All-Time September Birthdays Dream Team
What about an all-time September birthdays dream team? Do the three great active 1B make the roster? What about Gerrit Cole, Kenley Jansen, George Springer, Jose Ramirez, or Carlos Correa?
As with every month’s all-time dream team, this roster is loaded. In August, it was the outfield that was loaded with Williams, Trout, Clemente, F. Robinson, and Yastrzemski. In September, it is clearly the infield that leads the way in superstar power. Particularly crowded is 2B, where you could make a case for either Joe Morgan or Nap Lajoie as the starter (with Ryne Sandberg a strong third).
There are many strong 1B candidates too, including Votto and Goldschmidt from the active roster above (sorry Freddie!), and then Orlando Cepeda and Rafael Palmeiro who I am listing at DH here as well.
The outfield has Hall-of-Famers in CF Duke Snider and LF Tim Raines, with RF being the weakest. I’ve included old-timer Jim O’Rourke as a utility player as he played all over the diamond, including LF, CF, C, 1B, and more.
Starting lineups, against righties and lefties, might look like this:
Against RHP:
Tim Raines LF (S)
Joe Morgan 2B (L)
Joey Votto 1B (L)
Mike Schmidt 3B (R)
Duke Snider CF (L)
Rafael Palmerio DH (L)
Mike Piazza C (R)
Robin Yount SS (R)
Dixie Walker RF (L)
Against LHP:
Tim Raines LF (S)
Nap Lajoie 2B (R)
Paul Goldschmidt 1B (R)
Mike Schmidt 3B (R)
Orlando Cepeda DH (R)
Mike Piazza C (R)
Bernie Williams CF (S)
Robin Yount SS (R)
Ellis Burks RF (R)
Pretty scary lineups here. A lot of good lefty bats up against RHP, starting with three strong OBP guys in front of Schmidt and Snider. Against lefties, I platooned Williams in CF because although a switch-hitter he hit lefties a little better than righties, and Snider definitely didn’t hit lefties as well. I found a few other platoon options with Morgan/Lajoie at 2B, Votto/Goldschmidt at 1B, Palmeiro/Cepeda at DH, and Walker/Burks in RF.
Here are the position players in the depth chart above listed in order by birthday, with a few career stat highlights for each:
September 1: LF/CF/C/1B Jim O’Rourke (R) 52.1 WAR, .310/.352/.422, 134 OPS+
September 3: LF Luis Gonzalez (L) 51.6 WAR, 354 HR, .283/.367/.479, 119 OPS+
September 4: C Mike Piazza (R) 59.5 WAR, 427 HR, .308/.377/.545, 143 OPS+
September 5: 2B Nap Lajoie (R) 106.9 WAR, 3243 Hits, 380 SB, 653 Doubles, 163 Triples, .338/.380/.466, 150 OPS+
September 9: 2B/3B Frankie Frisch (S) 71.8 WAR, 419 SB, .316/.369/.432, 110 OPS+
* September 10: 1B Joey Votto (L) 64.3 WAR, 342 HR, .297/.412/.513, 145 OPS+
* September 10: 1b Paul Goldschmidt (R) 58.0 WAR, 315 HR, .296/.391/.529, 146 OPS+
September 11: CF/RF/LF Ellis Burks (R) 49.8 WAR, 352 HR, .291/.363/.510, 126 OPS+
September 13: CF Bernie Williams (S) 49.6 WAR, 287 HR, .297/.381/.477, 125 OPS+
September 16: SS/CF Robin Yount (R) 77.4 WAR, 3,142 Hits, 251 HR, 271 SB, .285/.342/.430, 115 OPS+
September 16: LF Tim Raines (S) 69.4 WAR, 808 SB, .294/.385/.425, 123 OPS+
September 16: C/DH Mickey Tettleton (S) 29.3 WAR, 245 HR, .241/.369/.449, 122 OPS+
September 17: 1B/LF/DH Orlando Cepeda (R) 50.1 WAR, 379 HR, .297/.350/.499, 133 OPS+
September 18: 2B Ryne Sandberg (R) 68.0 WAR, 282 HR, 344 SB, .284/.344/.452, 114 OPS+
September 19: 2B Joe Morgan (L) 100.4 WAR, 268 HR, 689 SB, 1,865 Walks, .271/.392/.427, 132 OPS+
September 19: CF Duke Snider (L) 65.9 WAR, 407 HR, .295/.380/.540, 140 OPS+
September 24: 1B/DH Rafael Palmeiro (L) 71.9 WAR, 3,020 Hits, 569 HR, .288/.371/.515, 132 OPS+
September 24: RF/CF/LF Dixie Walker (L) 44.9 WAR, .306/.383/.437, 121 OPS+
September 25: SS Phil Rizzuto (R) 42.2 WAR, .273/.351/.355, 93 OPS+
September 27: 3B Mike Schmidt (R) 106.8 WAR, 548 HR, .267/.380/.527, 148 OPS+
* = Active
The depth of September Birthdays is truly remarkable, and it will only get tougher as you could obviously already make the case that 1B Freddie Freeman deserves a spot. Interestingly, Carlos Correa (38.6) already has almost as much career WAR as Phil Rizzuto (42.2). And if Springer stays productive, he could easily crack this roster’s relatively weak RF position.
Others with September birthdays who deserve honorable mention include: 1B Frank Chance, RF Roger Maris, LF Charlie Keller, 3B/1B Ryan Zimmerman, 1B Ted Kluszewski, and three all-time great defensive stars in CF Garry Maddox, 2B Bill Mazeroski, and 2B Frank White. Again, there is a lot of depth here at 1B and 2B!
As for the starting pitchers, there are two guys at the top: Randy Johnson and old-timer Kid Nichols. To round out a five-man rotation you could argue who to choose or how to rank them, but I like Gaylord Perry in the third spot followed by Robin Roberts.
Here are the starters I chose in order by birthday:
September 6: Red Faber (R) 67.7 WAR, 254-213 W-L, 3.15 ERA, 119 ERA+
September 9: Waite Hoyt (R) 54.1 WAR, 237-182 W-L, 3.59 ERA, 112 ERA+
September 10: Randy Johnson (L) 103.5 WAR, 303-166 W-L, 3.29 ERA, 135 ERA+, 4,875 SO, 10.6 SO/9
September 14: Kid Nichols (R) 116.7 WAR, 362-208 W-L, 2.96 ERA, 139 ERA+
September 15: Gaylord Perry (R) 93.0 WAR, 314-265 W-L, 3.11 ERA, 117 ERA+
September 16: Orel Hershiser (R) 51.4 WAR, 204-150 W-L, 3.48 ERA, 112 ERA+
September 22: Urban Shocker (R) 54.7 WAR, 187-117 W-L, 3.17 ERA, 124 ERA+
September 22: Bob Lemon (R) 37.5 WAR, 207-128 W-L, 3.23 ERA, 119 ERA+
September 30: Robin Roberts (R) 83.0 WAR, 286-245 W-L, 3.41 ERA, 113 ERA+
I included nine starting pitchers here, but you could certainly make a strong case for several others. Mickey Lolich finished his career with only a 104 ERA+ (3.44 ERA), but was a three-time All-Star who came in second in the Cy Young vote in 1971 and third the following year. He was also outstanding in two postseasons, earning the World Series MVP in leading the Tigers with three complete game wins and a 1.67 ERA in 1968. You could also make a case for Lolich’s contemporary Sam McDowell, who was an All-Star six times, led the AL in strikeouts five times, and in ERA in 1965 with a 2.18 mark. Of course he also posted 100+ walks in eight consecutive seasons, leading the league five times.
Gerrit Cole is still in his prime, and so barring injury could one day force his way on to this all-time September Birthdays Dream Team. And I should also mention super old-timer Al Spaulding, born on September 2nd, 1850, who pitched six full seasons from 1871-76, leading his league in wins every year and ending his career with a 252-65 record (.795 winning percentage).
For relievers, this September Birthdays Dream Team is blessed with five modern closers and one earlier pitcher who had success as both a starter and a reliever. I rank Jansen first, though you could make a case for Franco based on longevity (his 1,119 games played ranks third all-time for pitchers). How you rank the other three could certainly be debated.
Bobby Shantz started his career with the Athletics and was an All-Star in 1951 before winning the AL MVP Award the following year after going 24-7 with a 2.48 ERA, completing 27 of his 33 starts. He was an All-Star again in 1957 in his first season with the Yankees, winning the first of eight consecutive Gold Glove Awards while pitching mostly in relief (and for five additional teams beyond the Yankees).
Again, here they are in order by birthday and with some numbers for each:
September 7: Jason Isringhausen (R) 300 SV, 3.64 ERA, 115 ERA+
September 17: John Franco (L) 424 SV, 2.89 ERA, 138 ERA+
September 19: Randy Myers (L) 347 SV, 3.19 ERA, 123 ERA+
September 26: Bobby Shantz (L) 119-99 W-L, 48 SV, 3.38 ERA, 119 ERA+
September 28: Todd Worrell (R) 256 SV, 3.09 ERA, 122 ERA+
September 30: Kenley Jansen (R) 383 SV, 2.46 ERA, 159 ERA+, 13 SO/9
It will be interesting to see how this roster stacks up with the other 11 months as we progress through the calendar! (See the July and August Dream Teams.)
All data is from Baseball-Reference.com, and also their subscription service Stathead.com. If you are a big sports fan, be sure to check out the latest features at Stathead and the Sports Reference family of sites.