Birthdays May 1 - May 7

May 1
1992 Upper Deck #205 Jose LindChico was born in 1964 in Toabaja, PR. He's my best choice for players born on May 1st. Known more for his defense he had a career .981 fielding percentage as a second baseman. He won a Gold Glove in 1992, breaking Ryne Sandberg's string of 9 consecutive Gold Gloves at 2nd base.

May 2
2008 Topps Opening Day #173 Jarrod SaltalamacchiaSalty was born in 1985 in West Palm Beach FL. He was was the Braves 1st round draft pick in 2003. Some players hit home runs, some are great defensive players and others can throw 95 mph fastballs. Then there is the guy who has the longest name in baseball history.

May 3
1987 Topps #4 Davey LopesDavey was born in 1945 in East Providence, RI. He was the Dodgers #2 draft pick in 1968. Along with Steve Garvey, Bill Russel, and Ron Cey he formed the longest running infield in baseball history, which stayed together for 8 and a half years. Too bad I don't own any cards with Lopes as a Dodger. This card commemorates Davey's record breaking stolen bases for a 40-year-old in 1986. He had 25 that year of 557 in his career. The gcrl blog celebrates Lope's birthday here.

May 4
2010 Topps 206 Bronze #54 Kevin SloweyKevin was born in 1984 in Conroe TX. He's about 3 weeks younger than my oldest son. How is that possible? He was the Twins #2 draft pick in 2005. He has compiled a 39-21 record with the Twins with an ERA of 4.40. He was having a pretty good season in 2009 with a 10-3 record when it was discovered he had a bone fragment in the wrist of his pitching hand. He had surgery which ended his season but he came back in 2010 with a 13-6 season.

May 5
1992 Bowman #566 Charles NagyCharles was born in 1967 in Bridgeport CT. He was the Indians #1 draft pick in 1988. He pitched 13 years for the Indians, but finished his 14-year career with the Padres. A 2-time All-Star he has a career record of 129 wins and 105 losses with an ERA of 4.51. Maybe not a Hall of Fame career but I respect any one who can pitch for 14 years and wind up with a winning record. He is currently the pitching coach for the Diamondbacks.

May 6
2003 Stadium Club Born in the USA Relics Willie MaysThe Say Hey Kid was born in 1931 in Westfield AL. He played for a remarkable 22 years with a career batting average of .302 with 660 home runs and 1,903 rbis. I consider this card to be one of the top relic cards that I own.

May 7
1983 Donruss #625 Dick WilliamsDick was born in 1929. He was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 and made is major league debut with the Dodgers in 1951. He had a 13 year career as a player, finishing up with the Red Sox in 1964. He returned to major league baseball in 1967 as the manager of the Red Sox. He would go on to have a 21-year career as manager. In addition to the Red Sox (1967-1969) he also managed the A's (1971-1973), The Angels (1974-1976), the Expos (1977-1981), the Padres (1982-1985) and the Mariners (1986-1988). His career totals are 1571 wins vs 1451 losses. He managed the A's to two World Series champions. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2008.