An August explanation

Slate recently uncovered a strange truth about major-league baseball players. A disproportionate number of them were born in August.

Among the game's all-time greats, Roberto Clemente, Roger Clemens, Cal Ripken, Ted Williams and Frank Robinson are among those who were born in August. And Slate did some research and found out that as of 2005, 594 big-league players had August birthdays. The next closest is October with 534.

Is it in the stars? That's what a writer named John Holway argued in a book called “The Baseball Astrologer” in 2000. But there's a much more logical explanation than a proclivity toward Leos and Virgos toward baseball.

If you separate foreign-born players from the equation, the difference between the birth months for American-born players is even more pronounced for August (503) than the lowest month, which is July (313). And there's no discernible trend among the foreign-born players. Those of you who had children playing Little League might have the explanation in your mind now – August 1 was typically the birthday cutoff for youth baseball around the country.

Those with an August birthday were among the oldest players on their teams, with an advantage in coordination and skill level. July birthdays were the youngest on their teams. While everybody would catch up at some point, how many children with talent and a July birthday felt overmatched in baseball and tried something else instead?

So baseball players with an August birthday, according to Slate, have a 60 percent better chance to make the majors.

But don't look for that trend continued: USA Baseball instituted a new age cutoff at May 1 this year, which has been adopted by most youth baseball organizations. So if you want your kid to be a big-leaguer, go for a May birthday.