One good thing about nationalism is that in sports it gives you an emotional reason to root for a
team. It makes the World Cup in soccer as fun as it is. That nationalist excitement hasn’t yet
extended nearly as much to baseball, perhaps because the U.S. is so dominant in the sport.
Japan and Mexico are the only other very large countries where baseball is hugely popular.
However, both of those countries have exorbitant fees on signing their players to play out of
their country. South Korea is a semi-large country - about twice the size of Venezuela, but has
far fewer players in the Major Leagues. They do extremely well in international tournaments,
but, perhaps, what keeps their players from joining the ranks of Major Leaguers is their 18
month required military duty. Japanese and South Korea might be further discouraged from
playing in North America due to the language differences and geographical distance.
The biggest non U.S. contributors to the Major Leagues currently are the Dominican Republic
13.7% and Venezuela 8.4%. They are followed by Cuba 2.6%, Puerto Rico 2.2%, Mexico 2.0%,
Canada 1.2%, Colombia 1.0%, Panama 0.7%, Japan 0.6 %, Curaçao and Aruba combined for
0.6%, South Korea 0.5%, all other countries other than the U.S. combined 1.4%. That leaves
65.1% for U.S. born players.
In terms of percentage of their populations, the Dutch Caribbean (which includes Curaçao and
Aruba) is the most productive country at producing Major Leaguers - even more than the U.S..
Below, I’ve ranked countries by MLB players per population, except for the U.S., which is broken
down by region. Then within each U.S. region, the state or groups of neighboring small states
are ranked by player/population. Canada’s provinces are ranked within Canada. (No more
players from New Brunswick? Just a few years ago, they had Matt Stairs and Rheal Cormier.)
The one clear conclusion regarding the American players is that there is a strong correlation
between warm winters and quantity of major league players. Even in similar regions: Florida
provided more talent per population than Georgia, which produced more than South Carolina,
which produced more than North Carolina, which produced more than Virginia, which produced
more than the Maryland, D.C. and Delaware region, which produced more than New Jersey &
New York combined, which produced more than southern New England, which produced more
than northern New England. Keep going across the country: Alabama & Mississippi combined to
produced a higher percentage of the population in the Majors than Tennessee and Kentucky
combined, which produced more than Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois which provided more than
Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan; etc. Of course, if you compare all the U.S./Canadian
border states & provinces, the states have far more players per population.
The biggest surprise to me was finding that Washington and Oregon have a slightly higher
proportion of their population in the Majors than Virginia and North Carolina. These states have
the most similar mild climates of any west coast and east coast states. My impression of those
northern southern east coast states as having a rich baseball history. My impression of the
northwest is of snowboarders and frisbee players. I checked back forty years. While, there were
far fewer foreign born players in Majors back then, Washington and Oregon combined for
almost 4.8 percent of their 1960 pre-boom population. Meanwhile, North Carolina and Virginia
had just a mere 2.1 players per their 1960 million persons born - relatively even fewer than they
have now! Thus, those Atlantic states are actually just catching up with their Pacific
counterparts.
Just for fun, I’ve included the brightest stars from each place.
Region MLB Players/Pop. MLBP/million Top Players
Region MLB Players/Pop. MLBP/million Top Players
Dutch Caribbean: 7 / 0.28m 24.7 p/m
Curacao 5 / 0.134m 37.3 p/m A.Simmons, Jansen, Schoop, Albies, Profar
Aruba: 2 / 0.089m 22.2 p/m Bogaerts
Dominican Republic: 172 / 8.5+m 20.2 p/m* Pujols, Cano, J.Ramirez, J.Soto, Alacantara
U.S. V.I. 1 / 0.11m 9.1 p/m Cotton
Puerto Rico: 28 / 3.8m 7.4 p/m Y.Molina, Correa, Lindor, J.Baez, Berrios, E.Diaz
Florida: 114 /16.0m 7.1 p/m* Greinke, Machado, McCutchen, deGrom, Sale
California: 235 /33.9m 6.9+p/m* Judge, Freeman, Arenado, Longoria, Semien
Guam: 1 / 0.16m 6.25 p/m Reid-Foley
Bahamas: 2 / 0.325m 6.2- p/m J.Chisholm
Hawaii: 7 / 1.2m 5.8 p/m K.Wong, Kiner-Falefa
Texas: 98 /20.9m 4.7 p/m* Kershaw, Rendon, M.Carpenter, Syndergaard
Deep South: 109 /24.0m 4.5+ p/m
Georgia: 51 / 8.2m 6.2 Wainwright, Cease, M.Harris, Swanson, Olson
Alabama: 21 / 4.5m 4.7- Ti.Anderson, Kluber, Kimbrel, D.Robertson, K.Wright
So. Carolina: 15 / 4.0m 3.75 Merrifield, C.Green, Montgomery, Lyles
Mississippi: 11 / 2.8 3.9 Woodruff, Renfroe, Dickerson, B.Hamilton
Louisiana: 11 / 4.5 2.4+ T.Walker, Loup
Venezuela: 105 /24.4m 4.3 p/m* Mi.Cabrera, Altuve, Acuna, S.Perez, Andrus
Southwest: 61 /15.5m 3.9+ p/m
Nevada: 15 / 2.0 7.5 Harper, Pham, Stott, Sewald, Ty.Anderson
Arizona: 25 / 5.1 4.9 C.Bellinger, A.Verdugo
Colorado: 13 / 4.3 3.0 K.Gausman, K.Freeman, M.Gonzales
New Mexico: 5 / 1.8 2.8 Bregman, Garver, K.Giles, T.Rogers
Utah: 3 / 2.3 1.3 T.Brooks
Northwest Coast: 33 /10.0m 3.3 p/m
Washington 23 / 5.9 3.9 Brantley, Snell, Davies, J.Lamb, Rasmussen
Oregon: 10 / 3.4 2.9+ J.Lowrie, Rutschman, Cinder, Drury
Alaska: 0 / 0.6 0
N.C. & Virginia: 48 /15.1m 3.2 p/m
North Carolina: 27 / 8.0 3.4 Bumgarner, C.Seager, A.Wood, Holland, Mullins
Virginia: 21 / 7.1 3.0- Verlander, B.Lowe, C.Taylor, J.Bradley, N.Lowe
Midwest South: 82 /26m 3.15 p/m
Tennessee: 26 / 5.7 4.6- Betts, Price, Gray, Ray, D.Hudson
Missouri: 21 / 5.6 3.75 Scherzer, D.Williams, D.Phelps, Stanek
Oklahoma: 17 / 3.5 4.9- Realmuto, Keuchel, Helsley, Gray, Bundy
Kansas: 7 / 2.7 2.6 Wentz
Kentucky: 10 / 4.0 2.5 W.Smith
Arkansas: 6 / 2.7 2.2 Smyly
West Virginia: 1 / 1.8 0.6- Grove
Panama: 9 / 3.0 3.0 p/m Barria, E.Sosa, Camargo, Espino
Cuba: 33 /11.1 3.0- p/m J.Abreu, Y.Alvarez, Grandal, A.Chapman, Cortes
Midwest North: 120 /47.6m 2.5 p/m
Ohio: 33 /11.4 2.9 Schwarber, Ward, Bassitt, Benintendi, J.Harrison
Indiana: 17 / 6.1 2.8 Kiermaier, Manaea, Barnhart
Illinois: 34 /12.4 2.7+ Jansen, Detmars
Minnesota: 12 / 4.9 2.45 Hand, Thielber, Hentges, Puk
Michigan: 19 / 9.9 1.9 Cronenworth, Edman, Haase, Akin, Schreiber
Iowa: 5 / 2.9+ 1.7 Wacha, M.Keller
Wisconsin 9 / 5.4- 1.7 Varsho, Lux, Feyereisen, Fairbanks, Walsh
Mid Atlantic: 107 /46.4m 2.3 p/m
New York: 45 /19.0 2.4- Stroman, S.Murphy, Winkler, Corbin, McKenzie
Pennsylvania: 27 /12.3 2.2 I.Happ, Bednar, Stripling, McCarthy
New Jersey: 18 / 8.4 2.1+ Trout, Heyward, C.Morton, Gallen, LaStella
Maryland, Del.,D.C. 11+6+1 /7.4 2.4+ B.Reynolds, McClanahan | Goldshmidt | Shorz
Prairie & Rockies North:13 / 5.8m 2.2+ p/m
Neb. & Dakotas: 7+2+1 / 3.1 3.2 Bohm, Adam | Strahm, Swanson | Doolittle
Idaho, Mont. & Wyo,:2+0+1 / 2.7 1.1 p/m Stefanic | | Nimmo
New England: 25 /11.9m 2.1 p/m
Conn. & R.I.: 9+1 / 4.5 2.2 G.Springer, Barlow | T.Kelley
Massachusetts:12 / 6.3 2.3- A.Cobb, R.Hill, M.Yastrzemski, Brebbia
Maine, N.H. & Ver.: 0+1+0 / 3.1 0.3p/m | I.Hamilton |
Canada: 15 /30.1m 0.5 p/m
Ontario: 7 /11.7 0.6 Votto, Romano, Quantrill, Naylor brothers
British Columbia:4 / 4.1 1.0 Pivetta, T.O’Neill
Quebec: 3 / 7.4 0.4 V.Guerrero Jr.
Alberta: 1 / 3.0 0.3 Zastryzny
rest of Canada 0 / 3.9 0
Nicaragua 2 / 5.1m 0.39 p/m E.Ramirez, Loaisiga
Colombia: 13 /39.2m 0.33 p/m Quintana, Urshela, Alfaro, Solano, Crismatt
Mexico: 25 /97.9 m 0.26- p/m J.Urias, Kirk, Urias bro, Urquidy, O.Perez
Australia 3 /19.0m 0.16 p/m Hendricks
Honduras 1 / 6.7m 0.15 p/m Dubon
So. Korea: 6 /47.1m 0.13 p/m Ryu, Kim, Bae, Choi, Refsnyder
Germany: 3 /82.2m 0.07 p/m Donovan, Kepler, P.Sanders
Netherlands: 1 /15.9m 0.06+ p/m Gregorius
Japan: 7/126.8m 0.06- p/m Ohtani, Darvish, S.Suzuki, Sawamura
Taiwan: 1 /22.2m 0.045 p/m Chang
Peru: 1 /26.7m 0.04 p/m Luzardo
South Africa: 1 /46.8m 0.02 p/m T.Scott
Brazil: 1 /175.9m 0.006p/m Y.Gomes
Some states and countries have huge stars or oncoming stars whom I didn’t have room to list
above. Thus, I’ve listed them below along with any other player I found with significant
significance. It was an exercise looking to see if Americans or Hispanics received preferential
treatment, but if there is, this doesn’t show it.
You may notice that all the players are listed in approximate order of stardom. I did not take the
time to carefully rank them - consider it ordered very roughly in star brightness.
*other Dominicans: W.Franco, Ju.Rodriguez, Cueto, N.Cruz, C.Santana, L.Castillo, Segura,
Ozuna, F.Valdez, T.Hernandez, S.Marte, K.Marte, Devers, Polanco, Adames, G.Sanchez,
D.Castillo, Sano, Severino, C.Javier, Familia, Villar, A.Rosario, J.Pena, O.Cruz, Laureano,
E.Jimenez, F.Reyes, J.Mateo, Lagares, DeLaCruz, Clase, Montas, Margot, J.Sanchez,
E.Cabrera, Doval, Vizcaíno, V.Robles, H.Robles, Espinal, Morel, R.Lopez, Neris, W.Peralta,
F.Peralta, B.Abreu, D.German, M.Andujar, Dominguez, Urena, Jh.Duran, Cisnero, F.Bautista,
Payamps, Moronta, Lamet, R.Contreras, G.Soto, A.Abreu, D.Acevedo, Estevez, Leclerc,
Leury.Garcia, Lu.Garcia, Y.Garcia, L.Taveras, W.Peralta, F.Mejia, R.Castro, R.Montero,
E.Duran, M.Castro, Minaya
*other Floridians: T.Turner, Donaldson, JD.Martinez, P.Alonso, Bichette, Rizzo, O’Day, K.Tucker,
Hosmer, Clevinger, Rodon, McCullers, Mancini, J.DeJong, N.Castellanos, Strange-Gordon,
Monoah, Mikolas, Taillon, L.Gilbert, V.Grissom, Singer, Bleier, Givens, Ma.Moore, B.Miller,
MA.Taylor, India, B.Rodgers, Mountcastle, Hays, Zunino, R.Greene, Slater, Arroyo, N.Martinez,
Elfin, Melendez, Hergot, Woodford, Kinley, Almora, B.Phillips, Vogelbach, N.Gordon, E.Morgan,
K.Carpenter, Casas, Dunning, Lange, Baker, Y.Almonte, Ragans, Castano, Vespi
*other Californians: Strasburg, J.Turner, Stanton, Yelich, Cole, Bieber, Burnes, B.Crawford,
Fried, LeMahieu, K.Hendricks, Chapman, McNeil, Moustakas, Britton, I.Kennedy, McNeil,
Giolito, Musgrave, Lodolo, L.Webb, H.Greene, R.Lewis, Flexen, Pillar, Hicks, Gonsolin,
R.Hoskins, Canha, Cron, France, Richards, J.McCann, Pederson, Mondesi, JP.Crawford,
Boxberger, B.Shaw, J.Wilson, Floro, J.Ryan, A.Sanchez, Mahle, Kremer, Pallante, Piscotty,
Vesia, Sandoval, Okert, D.Lee, B.Shaw, Bender, McGee, McMahon, Carlson, Wisdom, Hoerner,
Kwan, G.Mitchell, Grossman, Nootbar, Irvin, Straw, Tate, Outman, Haniger, Skubal, A.Barnes,
G.Cooper, Joe, Pratto, M.Duffy, D.Peterson, Brogdon, T.Williams, Lorenzen, Kaprielian,
d’Arnaud, Fletcher, Sulser, Wittgren, Barraclough, Bellatti, Bush, T.Thompson, Newman, Hiura,
J.Castro, D.Moore, T.Taylor, JD.Davis, Marisnik, J.Kelly, Casali, Higashioka, Vogt, N.Allen,
Madrigal, Dickerson, Stubbs, Bickford, C.DeJong, Garneau, Stassi, Hedges, Wolters, Bouchard,
Mathias, Hensley, Falter, V.Valasquez, G.Hill, N.Ramirez, T.Hill, Chavez,
* other Texans: Story, Blackmon, Muncy, Belt, Eovaldi, Grichuck, Bard, J.Bell, B.Witt, M.Kelly,
Minter, Pressly, H.Dozier, C.Biggio, T.Duffey, Knebel, Stephan
*other Cubans: L.Robert, Gurriel bro., Moncado, R.Iglesias, J.Iglesias, Arozarena, Y.Diaz, Soler,
A.Garcia, C.Perez, A.Diaz, G,Heredia, Vargas
*other Venezuelans: E.Suarez, Contreras, Carrasco, M’wn Gonzalez, A.Sanchez, O.Herrera,
C.Torres, R.Suarez, E.Escobar, Chirinos, C.Hernandez, P.Lopez, M.Perez, G.Marquez,
A.Gimenez, L.Garcia, A.Garcia, A.Escobar, E.Rodriguez, D.Peralta, J.Aguilar, M.Rojas, Arraez,
Tovar, Santander, Flores, Narvaez, Inciarte, Alvarado, J.Alvarez, Odor, Estrada, Rengrifo,
K.Ruiz, Daza, El.Diaz, Guillorme, Arcia, Y.Sanchez, Chacin, Leon, M.Pina, M.Garcia, J.Suarez,
Senzatela, R.Suarez, Chirinos, Alzolay, Zerpa
Thanks to Baseball-Reference, Wikipedia, & netstate.com for the data, New York Times , and
azcentral.com - the latter two for explanations as to why so few South Koreans and Mexicans
are in MLB compared to other large baseball playing countries.