A decade-by-decade breakdown of the league with the most home runs in each state
It’s Election Day, so what better time than now to put even more red and blue maps in front of your eyeballs.
These maps break down the ledgers hit in each state by the league of the players that hit them. If American League players have hit more ledgers in the state, it will be red and more National League players will display blue. Each map will include all the seasons from 1901 through the year in the map legend.
1910 – The ledgers hit in Wisconsin are thanks to players hitting for or against the original Brewers in Milwaukee. The Brewers only played in 1901 before moving to St. Louis and becoming the Browns and baseball wouldn’t return to Wisconsin until the 1950s. Maryland’s total will also remain static until the 1950s when the Browns move there and become the Orioles. The 37 ledgers there were thanks to players for or against the original Baltimore Orioles who folded after the 1902 season.
Washington DC and their two iterations of the Seantors would be an exclusive stronghold for American League hitters until the 1990s.
Otherwise, all other states had contested races for the first ten years, but generally the National League far outperformed the American League.
1920 – There was only one change to the map over the next decade. The National League took over Massachusetts as players for or against the Braves in Boston outperformed those for the Red Sox in Boston.
1930 – The map remains unchanged for the next decade, but the races in Missouri and Ohio draw closer.
1940 – Players for or against the Browns in St. Louis pull ahead of their Cardinals breathern.
1950 – The final decade before the relocation boom was relatively quiet.
1960 – The Dodgers and Giants, both of the National League, moved to California in 1958. The state will remain blue for through present day.
Wisconsin flips to blue as the Braves move in from Boston.
Maryland’s count finally starts clicking up as the Orioles move to town, but remains red.
Missouri remains in the red too while losing the American League Browns but gaining the American League Athletics in a move from Philadelphia.
New Jersey joins the foray with a single ledger hit by a Phillie against the Dodgers who played some home games at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City during 1956-57 as a MLB “marketing move.”
Massachusetts flips to red with the loss of the Braves as players for or against the Red Sox in Boston are now exclusive in the state.
1970 – Ohio is the only state to flip as players for or against the Indians in Cleveland really take off during the 1960s pushing the American League into the lead.
Washington joins the results with a single season of players for or against the expansion Pilots in Seattle in 1969.
Texas joins the results as the the expansion Astros joined in 1962.
Georgia joins too as the Braves moved from Wisconsin to Atlanta.
Minnesota is the fourth to join when the original Senators move from Washington. Washington wouldn’t skip a beat when they gained the “new” Senators as an expansion team in 1961.
Canada also sees their first ledgers as the expansion Expos join.
1980 – Wisconsin flips to red with the Brewers arriving from Seattle in 1970 and having lost the Braves the previous decade.
1990 – Texas flips to red during the 1980s as the Rangers moved to town from Washington in 1972 and overtook the counts in Houston (but it’s a close race).
2000 – Two sets of expansions put Arizona, Colorado, and Florida all on the map, and they’re all blue. Players in Miami had a four year head start over those playing in Tampa.
Nevada also joins the map when the Athletics need to relocate for a week while the Coliseum was under renovation.
Interleague Play also gets underway. Of course the leads were insurmountable, but we saw the first National League players hitting home runs in Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, and Washington. American League players hit their first home runs in Georgia.
The first ledger is hit in Japan by a National Leaguer as are four ledgers in Mexico.
2010 – Players for and against the Blue Jays in Toronto tip the entirely of Canada to red in conjunction with the Expos departing for Washington DC. This also gives DC its first National League ledgers.
Adjacent to the above moves, the first ledgers hit in Puerto Rico are added with National League players taking the share.
American League players get five ledgers in Japan over the course of the decade.
2020 – Wisconsin flips back to blue during the decade as the Brewers, who had been re-aligned to the National in 1998, finally tip the scale.
Nebraska is added with a single American League ledger while North Carolina gathers a single National League ledger.
The United Kingdom sees its first ledger.
2024 – Over the last four seasons, we haven’t seen any flips, but two more states have been added. Iowa gained an American League ledger while Alabama gained two National League ledgers
