Ballpark pedigree, pennant history and sheer fan devotion all count here. Old brick parks, new downtown stadiums, and one or two towns where the whole city plans around first pitch.
1St. LouisOne team, 11 World Series titles for the Cardinals, and a famously knowledgeable crowd at Busch Stadium.1000pts
2ClevelandA loyal Guardians following with a long history, from Bob Feller to the 1948 title and the near-miss 2016 Series.944pts
3San FranciscoGiants baseball on the bay at Oracle Park, from Willie Mays to three titles in the 2010s.881pts
4BostonRed Sox country, where Fenway Park has stood since 1912 and the 2004 curse-breaking title is civic scripture.852pts
5Kansas CityRoyals fans backed back-to-back pennants in 2014 and 2015 and a 1985 title in a small, passionate market.809pts
6BaltimoreCamden Yards launched the retro ballpark era, and the Orioles gave the city Cal Ripken Jr. and the Iron Man streak.787pts
7SeattleThe Mariners drew huge crowds at T-Mobile Park, with Ken Griffey Jr. and Ichiro as city icons.713pts
8CincinnatiThe home of the first professional team, the 1869 Red Stockings, and the Big Red Machine of the 1970s.629pts
9PhiladelphiaPhillies fans fill Citizens Bank Park with some of the loudest, hardest-to-please crowds in the sport.533pts
10AtlantaThe Braves' 14 straight division titles in the 1990s and 2021 World Series win built a Southern baseball town.533pts
11ChicagoTwo teams, the Cubs at Wrigley Field and the White Sox on the South Side, and a ballpark culture older than most leagues.533pts
12New YorkHome of the Yankees and Mets, with 27 Yankees titles and a century of subway series.532pts
13HoustonThe Astros turned a hot, football-first city into a pennant-winning baseball market.532pts
14DetroitTigers baseball since 1901, from Ty Cobb to Al Kaline, played at Comerica Park downtown.420pts
15MilwaukeeBrewers fans tailgate harder than anyone at American Family Field, and the city has loved baseball since the Braves arrived in 1953.286pts
16San DiegoPadres baseball under the sun at Petco Park, with Tony Gwynn as the city's enduring hero.286pts
17PittsburghThe Pirates, PNC Park's skyline view and Roberto Clemente's legacy keep a rust belt town devoted to baseball.286pts
18Los AngelesDodger Stadium, Vin Scully and Fernando-mania make the Dodgers the West Coast's biggest baseball draw.0pts
Photo credits
- St. Louis — Buphoff, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Cleveland — Erik Drost, CC BY 4.0
- San Francisco — Insightwm, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Boston — Beyond My Ken, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Kansas City — Lasse Fuss, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Baltimore — Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0
- Seattle — Buiobuione, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Philadelphia — Chris Hunkeler from Carlsbad, California, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Atlanta — AtlChampion, CC BY-SA 4.0
- New York — Oleg Yunakov, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Houston — Jason Villanueva, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Milwaukee — Yk Yk Yk, CC BY-SA 3.0
- San Diego — Erin Asadourian, CC BY 4.0
- Los Angeles — Adoramassey, CC BY-SA 4.0
