Baseball Toaster: Humbug Journal : MLB Mean Geographic Centers

MLB Mean Geographic Centers

2006-01-19 12:50

by Score Bard

Some follow-up data on yesterday's Humbugardy bonus question, where it was revealed that the mean geographic center of the 30 major league ballparks is by Pea Ridge Road in Tuscumbia, Missouri.

The mean geographic center (calculated by averaging the latitudes and longitudes of ballpark locations) of the American League is near Monroe City, Missouri. The mean geographic center of the National League is on Logan Ridge Road, near Highlandville, Missouri.

Nearest towns to the mean geographic centers, by division:
AL West: Caliente, NV.
AL Central: Addison, IL.
AL East: Upper Marlboro, MD.
NL West: Boulder City, NV.
NL Central: Birds, IL.
NL East: Bailey, NC.

Mean geographic centers for popular rivalries:
Red Sox/Yankees: at the end of North Maple Street, East Hampton, CT.
Dodgers/Giants: in the hills south of Coalinga, CA.
Cards/Cubs: two miles east of Heyworth, IL.

Same metro area:
Cubs/White Sox: N Union Ave at W Kinzie St, Chicago.
Dodgers/Angels: Emmons Way, Santa Fe Springs.
Giants/A's: In San Francisco Bay, near Encinal High School, Alameda.
Mets/Yankees: On Rikers Island.

Yes, really, it's true...if you meet the Mets and Yankees halfway, you end up in prison.

Comments

2006-01-19 14:18:53

1. Daniel Zappala

You mean, gasp!, the mean between the Dodgers and Angels lies in Los Angeles County?! Expect to be testifying in court within the next few days.

2006-01-19 14:42:17

2. Bob Timmermann

Ahh, Santa Fe Springs, the city that's nearly impossible to drive through accidentally. It's just one of those places that's around there somewhere.

2006-01-19 14:47:14

3. Bob Timmermann

What would have been the geographic center of the NL West from 1969 through 1992?

2006-01-19 15:17:39

4. Score Bard

Going on the assumption that their current stadia aren't too far off of their old ones, the center would be somewhere near Melrose, NM.

The old NL East would be near Springfield, OH.

The 1997-92 AL East would be near Warren, PA.

The corresponding AL West, oddly enough, would be right smack-dab in the middle of Denver.

2006-01-21 17:47:52

5. Jose Habib

I would love to see a map of the US divided into 30 regions for the 30 MLB teams. Each point on the map would belong to the region for the closest team. I guess because of Alaska the Mariners would get the largest area. Whose would be smallest? The Marlins?

2006-01-21 18:01:45

6. T J

I drive through Bailey, NC on US-264 every April on my way to my league's Roto draft.

2006-01-21 18:04:48

7. T J

I want to know how in the world Turnstiles figured it out, though. I'm starting to suspect he or she is your own personal Tyler Durden.

2006-01-23 14:37:59

8. Nebraska

Check out this map at commoncensus.org

http://www.commoncensus.org/maps/mlb_1280.gif

2006-01-25 19:06:22

9. rageon

8 Very interesting map, although as a north dakota native, I'd say that you might as well just color in ND with the color for the Twins, except maybe Jamestown, which is a fan of Erstad. Those poor people living in Jamestown...

2006-01-26 08:27:31

10. wbunchpike

Jose Habib, go to the link below and you can find the answer. It's a few years old and includes Montreal. I imagine the O's would lose some and Boston, Toronto and the Yanks would gain some with the move to DC, but the Mets would still have the smallest area.

http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/astrodirt/discussion/594/

2006-01-26 09:51:48

11. dianagramr

Related question:
Does anybody know where I can find a chart (crosstable) showing the distances between any two major league ballpark (in miles)?

Thanks!

2006-01-27 00:13:40

12. Jose Habib

wbunchpike,

Thank you!!! That is awesome! Looks like the Mets have the smallest area.

2006-01-31 10:14:36

13. Brent is a Dodger Fan

This, and the fact that I read it with more than passing interest, is futher evidence that it is still far, far too long before pitchers and catchers report.