Back in August, I began a series here at Pinstripe Alley, where I was going to put together an All-Star Yankee team of players who were born in a given month. Since then, we as a staff have started doing
daily posts for the year 2026, highlighting a Yankee from history whose birthday happens to land on that day. I thought, what better way to put a cap on a month’s worth of birthday posts then by using the all-month teams as a way to look back on who we covered — and maybe some we didn’t cover who shared a birthday with someone else.
With that in mind, here are my choices for the All-January Birthday Yankee Team.
Pitcher: David Cone (January 2nd Birthday Article)
There was only one real choice I could make for the January team’s pitcher. Cone helped the Yankees to four World Series titles, threw a memorable perfect game, and is still around as part of the YES Network’s broadcast crew. Coney rules!
Catcher: Les Nunamaker (January 25th Birthday Post)
On the other hand, there’s not an obviously great option to be Cone’s battery mate, so we’ll go with Nunamaker, who we highlighted back on January 25th.
First Base: Jason Giambi (January 8th Birthday Post)
The signing of Giambi was one of the Yankees’ acquisitions that truly did make them feel like an “Evil Empire” back in the 2000s, and he ended up being a very solid presence in the lineup over his tenure in the Bronx.
Second Base: Alfonso Soriano (January 7th Birthday Post)
Considering that Soriano played outfield for much of his career in between his Yankees’ stints, we could’ve maybe finagled him into a spot out there, and rotated some others around to make the overall team stronger. However, his home for most of his Bronx life was at second base. We can’t really put him anywhere else.
Shortstop: Luis Sojo (January 3rd Birthday Post)
Sojo was the utility infield on the Yankees’ dynasty teams of the 90s and early 00s. While he was hardly an all-star at the plate, he helped keep that dynasty going with a big hit in the clinching Game 5 of the 2000 World Series.
Third Base: Brian Doyle (January 26th Birthday Post)
There are probably better players we could’ve maneuvered into this spot, but I couldn’t not include the 1978 World Series hero. He had a career OPS of just .392, however in the six-game triumph over the Dodgers, he posted a .938 OPS with a couple big hits.
Left Field: Stan Javier
This is probably the weakest spot in this team. Not because of the player himself, as Javier was a pretty good major leaguer over the course of a 17-year career. However, only seven games of it came with the Yankees (and he was overshadowed on January 9th by 1962 World Series MVP arm Ralph Terry). After he played a couple games with the 1984 Yankees, they traded him to the Athletics that offseason as part of the Rickey Henderson deal.
Center Field: Tim Hendryx
Hendryx is another player that we didn’t get to in our birthday series, but who still makes the team. He played on the Yankees from 1915-17. The last of those was the only one where he got a good amount of playing time, and he was pretty good, but the Yankees traded him that offseason. We ended up going with pitcher Duke Maas for January 31st, Hendryx’s birthday.
Right Field: George Selkirk (January 4th Birthday Post)
Selkirk was the man tasked with replacing literally Babe Ruth in the Yankees’ lineup after the Babe left in 1935. No one would ever confuse him with Ruth, but Selkirk did an absolutely admirable job, and had a very nice nine-year career with the Yankees.
Designated Hitter: Chili Davis (January 17th Birthday Post)
Hall of Famer Johnny Mize would be a decent choice here, as he spent a couple seasons at the end of his career as a pinch-hitting/bench option for the Yankees. However, the DH didn’t exist in his career, and when you look up the dictionary definition of “designated hitter,” Chili Davis might be one of the pictures you’ll find.
