Baseball Hotbeds: Where Do Pro Baseball Players Come From?

Image credit: ??State Hotbed

A Heat Map For All 50 States

Using high school locations for nearly 12,000 players active in the majors or minors from 2011 to 2017, we found each state’s rate of pro players per 100,000 residents.          

0-0.9	1-1.9	2-2.9	3-3.9	4-4.9	5-5.9	6.0+

	State	State Players	2017 State Population	Players Per 100,000
	Florida	1,311	21,312,211	6.15
	California	2,268	39,776,830	5.70
	Georgia	539	10,545,138	5.11
	Mississippi	149	2,982,785	5.00
	Arizona	339	7,123,898	4.76
	Louisiana	211	4,682,509	4.51
	Alabama	219	4,888,949	4.48
	Oklahoma	175	3,940,521	4.44
	Hawaii	60	1,426,393	4.21
	Texas	1187	28,704,330	4.14
	Connecticut	148	3,588,683	4.12
	Washington	289	7,530,552	3.84
	Nevada	114	3,056,824	3.73
	South Carolina	183	5,088,916	3.60
	Tennessee	237	6,782,564	3.49
	Kansas	99	2,918,515	3.39
	North Carolina	351	10,390,149	3.38
	Missouri	204	6,135,888	3.32
	Delaware	23	703,608	3.27
	Illinois	403	1,2768,320	3.16
	Virginia	259	8,525,660	3.04
	New Jersey	267	9,032,872	2.96
	Kentucky	127	4,472,265	2.84
	Rhode Island	30	1,061,712	2.83
	Nebraska	54	1932549	2.79
	Colorado	152	5,684,203	2.67
	Indiana	176	6,699,629	2.63
	Massachusetts	172	6,895,917	2.49
	Arkansas	75	3,020,327	2.48
	Iowa	74	3,160,553	2.34
	Pennsylvania	294	12,823,989	2.29
	Ohio	266	11,694,664	2.27
	Oregon	94	4,199,563	2.24
	Idaho	37	1,753,860	2.11
	New Hampshire	27	1,350,575	2.00
	Minnesota	112	5,628,162	1.99
	Utah	62	3,159,345	1.96
	Maryland	110	6,079,602	1.81
	New Mexico	37	2,090,708	1.77
	D.C.	17	971,180	1.75
	New York	345	19,862,512	1.74
	North Dakota	13	755,238	1.72
	Michigan	154	9,991,177	1.54
	Wisconsin	84	5,818,049	1.44
	West Virginia	22	1,803,077	1.22
	Wyoming	6	573,720	1.05
	Montana	10	1,062,330	0.94
	South Dakota	8	877,790	0.91
	Maine	12	1,341,582	0.89
	Alaska	6	738,068	0.81
	Vermont	2	623,960	0.32

SEE THE COMPLETE DATA SET

Methodology 

To answer the question, “Where do pro baseball players come from?”, Baseball America crunched the numbers. We took a snapshot of all players in the majors and affiliated minors from 2011 to 2017 and determined how many come from each state. To control for variances in state populations, we ranked the states by determining the number of pro players per 100,000 state residents, according to 2017 population estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau. Players are assigned to the city and state where they attended high school. We give a nod to each state’s hotbed city – the one that produced the most players, which is denoted by a flame on the map. 

California, Florida and Texas have long been known as the volume dealers for professional baseball. Year-round warm weather plus strong baseball tradition plus pockets of wealth equal perfect conditions to hatch baseball players.

Yet those states also have three of the four largest populations in the United States—New York slightly outranks Florida for No. 3—giving them strength in numbers. That’s why Baseball America approached the topic of baseball hotbeds from a slightly different perspective. To control for variances in state populations, we ranked the states by determining the number of pro players per 100,000 sate residents, according to 2017 population estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau.

When viewed this way, Florida emerges as the pound-for-pound champion of baseball hotbeds. The Sunshine State produced 1,311 players who were active in affiliated baseball from 2011 to 2017—our sample period—against a state population of roughly 21 million. That’s more than six players per 100,000 people, the highest rate for any state.

We categorize players not by birthplace but by the city and state in which they attended high school—regardless of whether they were subsequently drafted out of college in a different state.