On This Day in Baseball

May 17

25 notable birthdays · 19 in memoriam

Born on May 17

Most accomplished baseball figures with this birthday, ranked by career impact.

01

Cool Papa Bell ⭐ HOF b. 1903

20-15, 4.64 ERA Starkville, USA
02

Carlos Peña b. 1978

.232 avg, 286 HR 2001–2014 Santo Domingo, D.R.
03

Billy Hoeft b. 1932

97-101, 3.94 ERA 1952–1966 Oshkosh, USA
04

Pascual Perez b. 1957

67-68, 3.44 ERA 1980–1991 San Cristobal, D.R.
05

Carlos May b. 1948

.274 avg, 90 HR 1968–1977 Birmingham, USA
06

Jose Guillen b. 1976

.270 avg, 214 HR 1997–2010 San Cristobal, D.R.
07

Hal Carlson b. 1892

114-120, 3.97 ERA 1917–1930 Rockford, USA
08

Rube Vickers b. 1879

22-27, 2.93 ERA 1902–1909 Hillsdale, USA
09

Brayan Bello b. 1999

45-43, 4.21 ERA 2022– Samana, D.R.
10

Elmer Steele b. 1884

18-24, 2.41 ERA 1907–1911 Muitzes Kill, USA
11

Nick Masset b. 1982

.000 avg, 0 HR 2006–2015 St. Petersburg, USA
12

TJ Rumfield b. 2000

.299 avg, 15 HR 2026– Richmond, USA
13

Ben Gamel b. 1992

.252 avg, 41 HR 2016– Neptune Beach, USA
14

Leo Jimenez b. 2001

.203 avg, 7 HR 2024– Chitre, Panama
15

Jim McDonald b. 1927

24-27, 4.27 ERA 1950–1958 Grants Pass, USA
16

Jack Voigt b. 1966

.235 avg, 20 HR 1992–1998 Sarasota, USA
17

Willie Gray b. 1896

0-5, 6.68 ERA Hampton, USA
18

Rob Nelson b. 1964

.178 avg, 4 HR 1986–1990 Pasadena, USA
19

Jordan Jankowski b. 1989

MLB player 2017–2017 McMurray, USA
20

Billy Reid b. 1857

.263 avg, 0 HR 1883–1884 London, CAN
21

Douglass Monroe b. 1905

.222 avg, 0 HR Baltimore, USA
22

John Cornely b. 1989

MLB player 2015–2015 Mount Pleasant, USA
23

Brian O'Grady b. 1992

.184 avg, 4 HR 2019–2021 Warminster, USA
24

Leo Norris b. 1908

.262 avg, 20 HR 1936–1937 Bay St. Louis, USA
25

Tom Newell b. 1963

MLB player 1987–1987 Monrovia, USA

Remembered on May 17

Baseball figures lost on this date.

01

Harmon Killebrew ⭐ HOF 1936–2011

.256 avg, 573 HR 1954–1975
02

Dixie Walker 1910–1982

.306 avg, 105 HR 1931–1949
03

Joe Black 1924–2002

49-36, 3.72 ERA 1952–1957
04

Bill Wight 1922–2007

77-99, 3.95 ERA 1946–1958
05

Spike Shannon 1875–1940

.259 avg, 3 HR 1904–1908
06

Otto Knabe 1884–1961

.247 avg, 8 HR 1905–1916
07

George Metkovich 1920–1995

.261 avg, 47 HR 1943–1954
08

Ike Brown 1942–2001

.256 avg, 20 HR 1969–1974
09

George Toporcer 1899–1989

.279 avg, 9 HR 1921–1928
10

Ken Retzer 1934–2020

.264 avg, 14 HR 1961–1964
11

Bill Deegan 1874–1957

.000 avg, 0 HR 1901–1901
12

John Abadie 1850–1905

.224 avg, 0 HR 1875–1875
13

Sig Broskie 1911–1975

.273 avg, 0 HR 1940–1940
14

Gerard Fitzgerald 1927–1972

.167 avg, 0 HR
15

Roy Parker 1896–1954

MLB player 1919–1919
16

Earl Tyree 1890–1954

.000 avg, 0 HR 1914–1914
17

Pants Rowland 1878–1969

MLB player
18

Charlie Ferguson 1875–1931

.000 avg, 0 HR 1901–1901
19

Harry Spence 1853–1908

MLB player