The "March 12 Birthday" All-Star Team!!!

Of the 17, 736 athletes who made an appearance in Major League Baseball, only 60 were born on March 12. Of these 60, eight became All-Stars.

The split between pitchers and position players is even at 30. Combined, the hitters have a batting average of .261, hit 2107 home runs, driven in 8231, and stolen 1714 bases. The pitchers have a combined record of 529-508 with 90 saves, an ERA of 3.75 and a WHIP of 1.361.

The youngest (as of the beginning of the 2012 season) was born in 1985 (also the only active player on the list). The oldest was born all the way in 1857.

So without further ado, enclosed is the "I Was Born on March 12" All-Star Team.

Manager: Larry Rothschild - (1954): 1998-2001.  205-294 career record.  Can double as team's pitching coach.

Pitchers:

• Vern Law (1930): 1950-1967. 162-147, 3.77 ERA, 364 Games Started, 1092 K's, 1.284 WHIP, 13 Saves. Two All-Star Games.

• Reb Russell (1889): 1913-1923. 80-59, 2.33 ERA, 148 GS, 495 K's, 1.080 WHIP, 13 Saves.
• Phil Knell (1865): 1888-1895. 79-90, 4.05 ERA, 163 GS, 575 K's, 1.503 WHIP.
• Bill James (1892): 1913-1919. 37-21, 2.28 ERA, 60 GS, 253 K's, 1.233 WHIP, 3 Saves.
• Bud Tinning (1906): 1932-1935. 22-15, 3.19 ERA, 35 GS, 135 K's, 1.331 WHIP, 4 Saves.
• Joe Engel (1893): 1912-1920. 17-23, 3.38 ERA, 53 GS, 151 K's, 1.439 WHIP, 4 Saves.
• Mike Ignasiak (1966): 1991-1995. 10-4, 4.80 ERA, 88 K's, 1.504 WHIP.

• Horacio Pina (1945): 1968-1978. 23-23, 3.25 ERA, 278 K's, 38 Saves.

• P.J. Walters (1985): 2009-2011. 2-0, 7.24 ERA, 40 K's, 1.529 WHIP.

Position Players:

• 1B Ray Barker (1936): 1960-1967.  10 HR, 44 RBI, .214, .642 OPS.

• 2B Otto Huber (1914):  1939.  0 HR, 3 RBI, .273, .591 OPS.
• 3B Denny Lyons (1866):  1885-1897.  62 HR, 756 RBI, .310, .850 OPS, 224 SB.
• 3B George Arias (1972): 1996-1999.  14 HR, 55 RBI, .238, .649 OPS.

• SS Felix Escalona (1979):  2002-2005.  0 HR, 13 RBI, .209, .543 OPS.
• OF Darryl Strawberry (1962):  1983-1999.  335 HR, 1000 RBI, .259, .862 OPS, 221 SB.  Eight All-Star Games.

• OF Steve Finley (1965):  1989-2007.  304 HR, 1167 RBI, .271, .775 OPS, 320 SB.  Two All-Star Games.

• OF Johnny Callison (1939):  1958-1973.  226 HR, 840 RBI, .264, .773 OPS.  Four All-Star Games.

• OF Jim Wynn (1942):  1963-1977.  291 HR, 964 RBI, .250, .802 OPS, 225 SB.  Three All-Star Games.

• OF Raul Mondesi (1971):  1993-2005.  271 HR, 860 RBI, .273, .815 OPS, 229 SB.  One All-Star Game.

• OF Ruppert Jones (1955):  1976-1987.  147 HR, 579 RBI, .250, .746 OPS.  Two All-Star Games.

• C-OF Dale Murphy (1956): 1976-1993. 398 HR, 1266 RBI, .265, .815 OPS.  Seven All-Star Games.

• C Alex Gaston (1893):  1920-1929.  3 HR, 40 RBI, .218, .550 OPS.

After reviewing the roster, I realize that I while finding outfielders and catchers for this team was relatively easy (how can you go wrong with an outfield corp that appeared in a combined 27 ASG rosters???), I was really scraping to find players for the infield.

To be honest, I started writing this post a year ago today.  I just never had the time to finish it.  So let's wish the above players, as well as the other 38 major leaguers a big

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

P.S.  Special birthday greetings to Bryan Hebson (1976).  He turns 36 today.  And, oh yeah...Happy Birthday to me!!!.  jba