3/18/21 : The International Mix

Baseball has long been an international sport, it’s played and enjoyed globally and has multiple professional and amateur leagues throughout the world. It makes sense that Major League Baseball organizations are representative of that mix as the big leagues are a showcase of the best players in the game.

I recently reviewed the 322 players that I have listed as Phillies current employees. The list incorporates the 74 players registered for this year’s major league spring training and mini camp plus another 248 players in the minor league system. I’ve separated the list by the current residence of each player as it’s shown on the player profiles. Here are my findings ...

Countries : The Phillies have players from eighteen different countries and one territory ( Puerto Rico ).

United States - 134

Venezuela - 92

Dominican Republic - 60

Mexico - 7

Australia - 6

Panama - 4

Puerto Rico - 3

Curacao, Colombia,Taiwan & Canada - 2 each

China, Cuba, France, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia & South Korea - 1 each

Many of the foreign born players have also established dual residency within the U.S. and often remain stateside throughout the year. Florida is a popular state in which to do so. Below is a breakdown of the 32 states where the 134 U.S. born players currently reside.

Florida - 20

California - 17

Georgia - 11

Pennsylvania - 10

Texas - 9

Arizona & New York - 7 each

Missouri - 6

New Jersey - 5

Nevada, Oklahoma & Virginia - 4 each

Colorado, Tennessee & Washington - 3 each

Connecticut, Indiana, Minnesota, North Carolina - 2 each

Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina and Wisconsin - 1 each

The Phillies truly have an international mix of talent in their player pool. Baseball may have began as “America’s pastime” but has long since evolved into an international game. It’s great that the game continues to have a global impact and I applaud teams like the Phillies for seeking talent throughout the world. Just one more way to bring us all together as one. Pretty cool.

Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️