Today marks Munenori Kawasaki’s 45th birthday.
Kawasaki spent two full seasons and part of a third with the Blue Jays, appearing in 201 games and posting a .242/.326/.301 slash line with a 1.6 bWAR.
He also spent time with the Mariners and Cubs, and, of course, enjoyed 12 seasons in Japan’s Pacific League.
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But what truly made him a fan favourite wasn’t his play—it was his infectious personality.
Happy birthday, Munenori.
Today, Jose Molina celebrates his 51st birthday.
Molina was the quintessential good-glove, light-hitting catcher.
Over 15 big league seasons with five teams, Molina spent 2010 and 2011 with the Jays, appearing in 112 games and hitting .263/.323/.396 with 9 home runs—his best offensive numbers with any club (94 OPS+ compared to his career mark of 64). Maybe Cito’s coaching helped.
Across 947 MLB games, Molina hit .233/.282/.327 with 39 home runs, playing for the Cubs, Angels, Yankees, Jays, and Rays. His defensive prowess kept him in the majors—he threw out 37% of base stealers and was highly regarded by pitchers. His brothers, Yadier and Bengie, were also major league catchers. (Bengie, who arguably drew the short straw with names, also had a brief stint with the Jays.)
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Happy birthday, Jose.
Nelson Liriano turns 62 today.
Liriano played for the Blue Jays from 1987 until midway through the 1990 season.
In his rookie year, he appeared in 37 games, hitting .241/.310/.342, and somehow even received a Rookie of the Year vote—perhaps for rescuing a writer’s cat from a tree.
In 1988, he played 99 games, hitting .264/.297/.333. The following year, he appeared in 132 games and played 3 more in the ALCS loss to the A’s. In 1990, after 50 games with the Jays, he was traded to the Twins for John Candelaria at the end of July.
Overall, Liriano appeared in 318 games for Toronto, batting .251/.311/.345 with 11 home runs, 44 stolen bases, and a 2.2 bWAR.
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After leaving Toronto, he played for the Twins, Royals, Rockies, Pirates, and Dodgers. Over 11 seasons, he hit .260/.324/.366 with 25 home runs and 26 triples—an unusual feat to have more triples than homers over such a long career.
Liriano was essentially a replacement-level player: average defensively, a bit below average with the bat, but his reliability earned him 823 major league games.
That stretch of light-hitting second basemen—Garth Iorg, Manny Lee, and Liriano—helped explain why the Jays eventually traded for Roberto Alomar.
Happy birthday, Nelson.
It’s also Eric Lauer’s 31st birthday.
Lauer had a very good 2025 season but a terrible start to 2026, which led to his DFAed. The Dodgers picked him up, and he’s had two good starts for them. I see that he had a couple of his fastballs up to 94 mph, but was normally in the 92 range.
Happy birthday, Eric.
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