Best birthday performances in MLB postseason

Birthdays are important. Friday is Juan Soto’s 26th.

It’s also Game 1 of the World Series between Soto’s Yankees and the Dodgers.

Soto is no stranger to a Fall Classic birthday — he celebrated his 21st with World Series Game 3 in 2019, becoming the youngest to play on his birthday in postseason history. He’ll be the fourth player to play on his birthday in the World Series multiple times, the youngest to do so and the first with multiple teams. He joins Rafael Belliard (three World Series birthday games), Maury Wills and Frankie Crosetti.

But the real icing on the cake is making an impact in that birthday game.

Here’s a look at eight notable postseason birthday performances. Will Soto join the list?

2024 NLDS Game 2 Bryson Stott (27th birthday)
Stott put together a multihit performance, including a go-ahead two-run triple in the bottom of the eighth inning. Stott became the second player in postseason history to hit a triple on his birthday, joining Robinson Canó in 2009 ALCS Game 5. Stott was the first player with a go-ahead hit in the eighth inning or later of a postseason game on his birthday, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

2023 NLCS Game 1 Bryce Harper (31st)
Harper got on the board early with a first-inning birthday homer. He added on with an RBI single in the third. Four players have homered on their birthday in the postseason — Harper is both the most recent and the oldest to do so. His two RBIs proved key, as the Phillies went on to win the game, 5-3.

2015 NLDS Game 2 Kolten Wong (25th)
Wong hit a first-pitch, two-out home run in the fifth inning to join the exclusive list of players with a postseason birthday homer. At 25 years old, he’s the youngest on the list. Just five players have recorded a postseason hit of any kind on their birthday at a younger age.

2013 ALDS Game 3 Evan Longoria (28th)
Longoria celebrated his 28th in style, with a two-out, game-tying three-run homer in the fifth inning in an eventual Rays win. The home run took Tampa Bay starter Alex Cobb, also playing on his birthday, off the hook. They were the fourth duo of teammates to play in a postseason game on a shared birthday.

2000 ALCS Game 2 Orlando Hernández (35th)
El Duque is one of two pitchers to go at least eight innings in a postseason game on his birthday. He threw eight innings, allowing one run and striking out seven in a 7-1 Yankees win. The seven strikeouts tied Tim Belcher in 1988 World Series Game 4 for most by a pitcher in a postseason outing on his birthday.

1982 World Series Game 7 Keith Hernandez (29th)
How about winning the World Series for a birthday present? That’s exactly what Hernandez got in ’82, and in a Game 7, no less. He had two hits, including a game-tying two-run single in the sixth. Hernandez is one of four players to appear in a World Series clincher on his birthday, with Roy Smalley (1987), Al Leiter (1993) and Paulo Orlando (2015).

1980 World Series Game 1 Willie Aikens (26th)
Aikens set the bar high for postseason birthdays. He was the first to homer on his birthday in the playoffs. And he didn’t just hit one, he went yard twice. He’s the only player with multiple extra-base hits in a postseason game on his birthday and the only one with a World Series birthday home run.

1955 World Series Game 3 Johnny Podres (23rd)
Podres is the only pitcher in postseason history with a complete game on his birthday. He did so at just 23 years old, setting the mark for the youngest postseason birthday start by any pitcher, later tied by Gary Gentry in 1969 NLCS Game 3. Podres got a hit in the game, too — only one player has a postseason birthday hit at a younger age.