“Take me out to the ballgame.” It’s an American classic as iconic as the game itself. Baseball. An American pastime. But what’s the story behind “American baseball?”
Baseball is a sport that (roughly) dates back to 1871 (according to Baseball-Reference, our primary baseball stats source for this piece), and coincides with the nation’s development. As places turned from farmland into cities and everything in between, people have played baseball just about everywhere across the United States.
With such a national legacy, you probably know where we’re going with this: throughout all its history, which places in the U.S. have birthed the most Major League Baseball players?
We didn’t just leave it at that either! Below, we explore where the most active players hail from, which locations have produced the best hitting and pitching stats, and where the most Hall of Famers are from — sorted all by area code.
- All Time
- Currently Playing
- Most Productive
- Home Runs
- RBIs
- Stolen Bases
- Batting Average
- Batting WAR
- Pitches
- Complete Games
- Pitching Saves
- Pitching Strikeout
- Pitching WAR
- All-Stars
- Major Awards
- Hall of Famers
All Time
Starting right from the top, here is the sheer tally of anyone who has ever stepped foot on the diamond of an official MLB game, regardless whether it was for one inning, or a 20+ year career.
| Area Code | Number of Players |
|---|---|
| 215 | 409 |
| 312 | 387 |
| 718 | 355 |
| 314 | 338 |
| 213 | 315 |
| 212 | 266 |
| 283 | 257 |
| 410 | 238 |
| 415 | 200 |
| 272 | 199 |
Believe it or not, the number one contributor to the sport by volume is the 215 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area, with 409 total players to ever grace the diamond; that’s 22 more players than the next closest: Chicago’s 312 area code, followed by the famous 718 New York City area code.
Among the most notable Philly-area born players are Mike Piazza, Roy Campanella, Reggie Jackson, and Bucky Walters (how’s that for a time spread?). If you’re looking for a standout who is also known for playing for the Philadelphia Phillies, well, locals will tell you that you can’t do much better than Jamie Moyer.
Currently Playing
Of those currently playing in the major leagues (as of the end of the 2024 season), one place stands out above all the rest: the 281 Houston, Texas area.
| Area Code | Number of Players |
|---|---|
| 281 | 30 |
| 470 | 27 |
| 657 | 22 |
| 619 | 21 |
| 214 | 21 |
| 949 | 18 |
| 480 | 18 |
| 404 | 18 |
| 562 | 17 |
| 305 | 17 |
Currently, Houston is fielding almost an entire baseball field all on its own with 30 players in the major leagues! Right on its heels, however, is the 470 metropolitan Atlanta area with 27 active players, then the 657 Anaheim area, with 22 active players as of the 2024 season.
Most Productive
But that’s just the beginning; it’s certainly a rare accomplishment to even make a professional baseball team, but which area codes are the birthplaces of the best hitters and pitchers of all time?
Hitters
| Area Code | Hits (as of completion of 2024 season) |
|---|---|
| 213 | 90,604 |
| 718 | 75,700 |
| 312 | 73,658 |
| 215 | 71,470 |
| 314 | 68,903 |
| 415 | 64,523 |
| 212 | 59,868 |
| 283 | 58,880 |
| 205 | 44,995 |
| 410 | 43,459 |
Los Angeles is no stranger to making hits, from hit movies to hit music, so it shouldn’t be surprising that it’s the source of the most major league hits of all time too, with a whopping 90,604 — that’s almost 15,000 more than the next closest!
Which LA natives have done the most mashing? Some choice names on the list include Duke Snider, Eddie Murray, and (very) arguably the greatest hitter of all time, the late, great Tony Gwynn. (Sorry San Diegans, though “Mr. Padre” played his entire twenty-season MLB career for the San Diego Padres, he was in fact born a couple hours north in the city of Los Angeles.)
Home Runs
Of course, no stat breakdown would be complete without a home run tally!
| Area Code | Home Runs (as of completion of 2024 season) |
|---|---|
| 213 | 8,808 |
| 619 | 5,126 |
| 212 | 4,804 |
| 718 | 4,750 |
| 415 | 4,744 |
| 312 | 4,455 |
| 410 | 4,426 |
| 205 | 4,162 |
| 405 | 4,158 |
| 314 | 4,100 |
The difference here is absolutely staggering; there are over 3.6 thousand more home runs from LA versus anywhere else. This is largely due to the aforementioned Duke Snider and Eddie Murray, but don’t forget about Joe Gordon, Darryl Strawberry, and Ray Lankford, among others who’ve tacked on to that huge chasm!
San Diego’s 619 does get the spotlight for second place thanks to all-time great Ted Williams (though he in fact played his entire 19 season career for the Boston Red Sox). He might not have a stadium named after him, but he gets a hometown mention in San Diego with a major freeway (SR-56) in his name, the “Ted Williams Parkway.” (How’d we know that? Okay, okay… it’s not so far from NumberBarn’s headquarters!)
RBIs
A classic staple in baseball statistics, RBI’s (or “runs batted in”) are pretty much the name of the game.
| Area Code | RBI (as of completion of 2024 season) |
|---|---|
| 213 | 43,313 |
| 312 | 33,206 |
| 718 | 32,958 |
| 415 | 31,769 |
| 314 | 31,492 |
| 215 | 31,288 |
| 212 | 28,806 |
| 283 | 25,092 |
| 410 | 22,363 |
| 205 | 21,944 |
And once again, the LA area is widely in the lead. But rather than take another opportunity to talk about Tony Gwynn (trust us, we could talk about just him for the whole article), we’ll highlight a few players from the extremely impressive second place 312 Chicago area: Rickey Hendrson, Herman Long, and Kirby Puckett.
Stolen Bases
Speaking of Rickey Henderson, here’s an example of how a single player can elevate an area code to the top of the stack; Chicago slides into first place as the all-time base stealing champion, thanks largely to Henderson.
| Area Code | Stolen Bases (as of completion of 2024 season) |
|---|---|
| 312 | 7,578 |
| 215 | 7,325 |
| 213 | 6,695 |
| 283 | 5,685 |
| 314 | 5,360 |
| 415 | 4,656 |
| 718 | 4,649 |
| 212 | 4,104 |
| 518 | 3,787 |
| 220 | 3,643 |
But besides the MLB’s all-time greatest base stealer, other Chicago-born stolen base greats include the vintage Lonnie Smith, as well as the (very) vintage Charlie Comiskey, who does get a stadium. Among other things, he’s the namesake of the Chicago White Sox’s Comiskey Park.
Batting Average
While batting is a stat that’s risen and fallen in popularity as new stats have emerged over the decades, it’s still perhaps the most classic baseball stat of all time. We wondered which area code was batting the highest and producing the greatest concentration of not-so-average batters. So we took a swing at those stats here:
| Area Code | Batting Average (as of completion of 2024 season) |
|---|---|
| 478 | .255 |
| 941 | .242 |
| 325 | .237 |
| 307 | .237 |
| 385 | .233 |
| 470 | .231 |
| 253 | .227 |
| 615 | .226 |
| 901 | .226 |
| 206 | .225 |
Here’s our first shocker of the study: the 478 area code which services the central Georgia area (Milledgeville, Warner Robins, Macon, etc.) is the all-time batting average champion, batting a collective .255 (not bad!). Which hometown heroes does the 478 have to thank?
Batting WAR
Though if you want to consider baseball greatness by a more modern statistical standard, that would likely be “WAR” (or, “wins above replacement”). We won’t get into how WAR is fully calculated because we don’t have a week of your time, but the broad idea is that each full number represents an additional victory you could ascribe to that player’s contributions. (So the higher the number, the more wins you could expect over a league average player!)
| Area Code | Batting WAR (as of completion of 2024 season) |
|---|---|
| 718 | 1607.52 |
| 213 | 1580.95 |
| 410 | 1279.48 |
| 212 | 1268.55 |
| 314 | 1238.82 |
| 312 | 1237.64 |
| 215 | 1186.42 |
| 415 | 1106.52 |
| 283 | 1036.76 |
| 205 | 1013.6 |
It was about time New York (718) topped one of these lists! (And spoilers: it won’t be the last.) The Bronx/Queens/Brooklyn/Staten Island area has a massive baseball heritage to thank for winning the batting WAR title, thanks to all-time 718 greats like Whitey Ford, Lou Gehrig, Alex Rodriguez, and Eddie Collins helping take the title. (But shout out to third place 410 – Baltimore, whose legacy we’ll expand on later.)
Pitches
Ah, finally, the pitchers! We have five main pitching statistics to break down, starting with the most classic pitching stat of all: wins!
Wins
| Area Code | Pitching Wins (as of completion of 2024 season) |
|---|---|
| 718 | 3,626 |
| 313 | 3,572 |
| 314 | 3,022 |
| 312 | 2,596 |
| 213 | 2,574 |
| 410 | 2,466 |
| 215 | 2,409 |
| 412 | 2,306 |
| 212 | 2,272 |
| 217 | 2,271 |
And wouldn’t you know it, no curveballs here…the 718 New York area also takes the pitching title for just plain winnin’. Among the all-timers that helped propel the New York area to the title are Warren Spahn, Orel Hershisher, Sandy Koufax, and undoubtedly the coolest name in this entire article, Old Hoss Radbourn.
Rounding out the top three winning cities are Detroit, MI, and St.Louis, MO (aka, “Baseball Heaven”).
Complete Games
“Complete Games” is a somewhat old-school stat, as considerably fewer pitchers throw an entire nine innings in the modern era, compared to the first half of baseball history. Maybe don’t expect this list to shift any time soon.
| Area Code | Pitching Complete Games (as of completion of 2024 season) |
|---|---|
| 718 | 3,209 |
| 215 | 3,064 |
| 314 | 2,868 |
| 312 | 2,293 |
| 410 | 2,244 |
| 412 | 2,206 |
| 212 | 2,072 |
| 272 | 2,024 |
| 313 | 1,948 |
| 217 | 1,915 |
A lot of the same names from the “wins” category give New York yet another statistical victory, with Philadelphia in second and St. Louis in third.
St. Louis has some seriously classic players to thank for the area’s top three finish: Pud Galvin, Clark Griffith, Silver King are all turn of the 20th century players with several hundred complete games between them. (Although modern great and St. Louis native Max Scherzer may be the last player for a long time to make a serious contribution to this stat.)
Pitching Saves
A stat to gain popularity in more recent baseball history, however, is the “Save” (denoted when a player finishes the last out(s) of a game within three runs of differential).
| Area Code | Pitching Saves (as of completion of 2024 season) |
|---|---|
| 718 | 1,335 |
| 626 | 1,188 |
| 281 | 1,139 |
| 313 | 997 |
| 220 | 990 |
| 341 | 959 |
| 318 | 955 |
| 283 | 946 |
| 562 | 925 |
| 657 | 874 |
Are you getting sick of New York by this point? The biggest single contributor (with 424 dang saves!) is New York Mets great John Franco, with others like Jim Johnson and Billy Koch tossing in a few of their own (get it?).
In second and third place for saves are the Los Angeles 626 area, followed by the 281 Houston area.
Pitching Strikeout
Okay, wins, complete games, and saves are cool and all… but what’s more fun than a classic strikeout?
| Area Code | Pitching Strikeout (as of completion of 2024 season) |
|---|---|
| 313 | 35,740 |
| 718 | 32,722 |
| 213 | 30,055 |
| 281 | 29,023 |
| 314 | 27,377 |
| 312 | 24,497 |
| 619 | 23,954 |
| 318 | 22,626 |
| 657 | 22,265 |
| 410 | 821,946 |
And going by strikeouts anyway, nobody has had more fun than pitchers from Detroit!
Obviously, once you know Atlanta Braves legend John Smoltz was born in Detroit, it all makes sense. Also helping cement Detroit as the king city of K’s are pitchers like Frank Tanana, Jim Kaat, and Derek Lowe.
Pitching WAR
Finally, just like with hitting WAR, pitching WAR measures the best pitchers compared to the league average.
| Area Code | Pitching WAR (as of completion of 2024 season) |
|---|---|
| 313 | 672.02 |
| 718 | 620.12 |
| 314 | 506.91 |
| 272 | 473.69 |
| 217 | 455.51 |
| 410 | 437.55 |
| 281 | 382.91 |
| 318 | 381.88 |
| 205 | 362.53 |
| 341 | 360.45 |
John Smoltz carries the lion’s share of pitching WAR once again, helping bring Detroit the crown, alongside Hall of Famer Hal Newhouser. To switch things up though, let’s go to the bottom of the ninth. Just kidding. We’re heading over to the bottom of the top 10, 341’s Oakland, CA, because we need a place to shout out Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley.
All-Stars
Want to know what location is the birthplace of the most all-stars? We did too!
Total All Star Selections
| Area Code | Total All-Star Selections |
|---|---|
| 205 | 135 |
| 213 | 122 |
| 251 | 97 |
| 410 | 88 |
| 212 | 88 |
| 718 | 85 |
| 405 | 84 |
| 318 | 81 |
| 314 | 79 |
| 619 | 78 |
Ranking for All-Star appearances, 205 and 251 Alabama (Birmingham, Tuscaloosa and Mobile areas) reign supreme, largely on the shoulders of some random guys named Ozzie Smith, Willie Mays, and Henry Aaron (aka the legendary Hank Aaron). (Los Angeles gets sandwiched between these two noteworthy Alabama area codes.)
| Area Code | # Players Selected to at Least One All-Star Team |
|---|---|
| 213 | 42 |
| 205 | 34 |
| 718 | 31 |
| 318 | 28 |
| 619 | 26 |
| 313 | 26 |
| 415 | 25 |
| 657 | 24 |
| 341 | 24 |
| 281 | 24 |
But if you take away the herculean efforts of those all-timers and only count each player once, it’s Los Angeles’ 213 that wins out over Alabama’s 205 and New York’s 718. Still, not bad company for Alabama!
Major Awards
Major awards in baseball range from the classic MVP award, Rookie of the Year, and of course, the highest pitching honor there is: the Cy Young. It’s one thing to make the major leagues, but which hometown is home of the most hardware?
| Area Code | Total major awards won |
|---|---|
| 213 | 57 |
| 305 | 39 |
| 562 | 36 |
| 410 | 36 |
| 657 | 35 |
| 619 | 35 |
| 405 | 35 |
| 951 | 34 |
| 283 | 34 |
| 415 | 32 |
| 402 | 32 |
| 312 | 32 |
| 212 | 32 |
A lot of the usual suspects make Los Angeles’ 213 area code the award winning capital of the United States, including. But finally, we get to talk about Florida! In second place, the Miami-area 305 has Cubs hero Andre Dawson to thank on the hitting side of things, and Hall of Famer Steve Carlton on the pitching end.
Hall of Famers
We’ve finally reached the end, and most prestigious part of the Area Code Legends Club: the Hall of Farmers! As we always say, to have even a single member of the Hall of Fame repping your area code is a massive honor. To have multiple? Well…
| 410 | 8 |
| 718 | 7 |
| 405 | 6 |
| 312 | 6 |
| 212 | 6 |
| 812 | 5 |
| 724 | 5 |
| 518 | 5 |
| 402 | 5 |
| 272 | 5 |
| 251 | 5 |
| 213 | 5 |
Coming from what may feel like left field since it didn’t top the ranks earlier, it’s 410’s Baltimore who can claim the best of the best for area code royalty. Why is that? Well, it’s the hometown of such icons as Cal Ripkin Jr., Al Kaline, Jimmie Foxx, and none other than Babe Ruth! Did you know that Baltimore was home to probably the most famous baseball player of all time?
That concludes our overview (from the nosebleeds) of birthplaces of MLB’s greatest. And it leaves us with the question, what teams and players will help make hometown history this coming 2025 season?
