Comments on: World Series Starters from the Same State

By: JohnnyTwisto

JohnnyTwisto — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:58:11 +0000

Yeah...while I think random variation is likely a big part of it, the institution of the draft probably had some effect.

By: nutbunnies

nutbunnies — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:43:28 +0000

"My question on this list is what happened in 1966 that made this become so rare?"

3 things.

1. Yankees stopped appearing in the World Series
2. Yankees' stranglehold on hoarding NY area talent ended
3. NY talent stopped being so elite

By: DoubleDiamond

DoubleDiamond — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:36:26 +0000

I had also noticed the Arkansas connection and also noted that both Lee and Burnett wear #34. In fact, if California natives Cole Hamels and CC Sabathia had faced each other, it would probably have not stood out in my mind, since California produces far more ballplayers than Arkansas. In fact, two Arkansas natives who were the first overall picks in the draft - Rick Monday in the very first one in 1965 and Pat Burrell in 1998 - were California residents by the time they were baseball prospects.

By: Djibouti

Djibouti — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:27:47 +0000

California has overwhelmingly produced the most pitchers (878, 275 more than Pennsylvania) yet only one set makes this list. Not surprisingly, Pennsylvania (2nd, 603), New York (3rd, 515), and Ohio (4th, 493) are well represented. My question on this list is what happened in 1966 that made this become so rare? Happened at least 3 times per decade from the aughts to the '60s. Then only once in the '70s, and none again until 2002. Has the influx of foreign-born players been large enough to explain this? I would expect the occurrences to drop as the number of probable places of birth rises, but only happening once in 35 years? Seems low especially considering the '00s are back on pace with 3 occurrences. By the way, I love how the 13 year gap from '66 to '79 is linked by Jim Palmer.