Today in sports history -- Denis Boucher and Jeff Kent

Happy 40th birthday to former Indians pitcher Denis Boucher and former Indians second baseman Jeff Kent. They were born on the same day and they're both baseball players, but the similarity ends there.

Boucher is a French Canadian, and his name is therefore pronounced de-NEE boo-SHAY, though Tribe announcers called him "Denny," apparently with his blessing. He pitched for three teams in a four-year major-league career, debuting with Toronto in 1991 before coming to Cleveland in a midseason trade, along with Glenallen Hill and Hard-Hittin' Mark Whiten, in exchange for Tom Candiotti and Turner Ward. He is apparently a very nice man, but was spectacularly bad in Cleveland, going 3-6 in 12 starts and one relief appearance -- with a 7.07 ERA. Keep in mind, those were the days before the home run explosion of the late '90s. He finished his career with his hometown Expos in '93 and '94, and wound up with six career wins.

Kent is best-known for his years feuding with Barry Bonds in San Francisco (1997 to 2002), and he's played for six major-league teams. He was only in Cleveland for less than half a season, 39 games in 1996, hitting .265 with three home runs and 16 RBIs in 102 at-bats, after coming over in the Carlos Baerga trade. His career outside of Cleveland, however, has been very successful. The Tribe traded him to the Giants with Julian Tavarez, Jose Vizcaino and Joe Roa for Matt Williams and Trenidad Hubbard. It turned out to be a bad trade, but based on what we knew then, I'd have made it too. The 2000 National League MVP, who now plays for the Dodgers, is a borderline Hall of Fame candidate, with 2,338 career hits and 365 home runs. Those are pretty strong numbers for a second baseman.