Top Five States

The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers have been around since 1995. Lots and lots of players have put on the uniform over the last 19 seasons. But, where are they all from? 

This week's Top Five Tuesday looks at the states* with the most Timber Rattlers. Next week, we'll look at other countries.

Before getting started with the top five states, there are eight states that have not had any Timber Rattlers players: Alaska, Delaware, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming. There are three states (Hawaii, Maine, and New Hampshire) and the District of Columbia (Joe Kantakevich rocks!) that have produced just one Timber Rattler.

Eight players born in Wisconsin have played for the Timber Rattlers, but that doesn't make the top ten.

Just missing the Top Five were Ohio (19), Michigan (16), and Georgia (14). There was a three-way tie between Alabama, Illinois, & Virginia at #8 with eleven future Timber Rattlers being born in each state.

Here are the five states that have produced the most Timber Rattlers:

5.) Washington (20). This shouldn't be a surprise. The Seattle Mariners were pretty good at drafting players from Washington…except for Tim Lincecum.

4.) New York (23). From Michael Lanza in 1995 to Ryan Fasano in 2013, there's a pretty good chance that at one point during a season there would be at least one player born in New York on the Timber Rattlers roster.

3.) Texas (35). In 1995, Shawn Buhner and Roy Smith were the Texans on the team. In 2013, Mike Garza, Damien Magnifico, Chris McFarland, Michael Reed, and Taylor Wall all listed a birthplace in the Lone Star State. By 2031, the entire Timber Rattlers roster will be Texans.

2.) Florida (47). Keep in mind, this number is for players just born in Florida and doesn't include guys who played college ball in the Sunshine State.   Like D'Vontrey Richardson, who is from Georgia, but played college baseball at Florida State; or Ben McMahan, who was born in Ohio, but played at Florida; or…face it, I could do this all day. Looks like one of these lists should be the Top Five Colleges that produced Timber Rattlers.

1.) California (84). This may be the least surprising #1 in the history of #1s. It also shouldn't be a shock that two of the players in the 20^th Anniversary Bobblehead Team - Khris Davis and Adam Jones - are from California.

*-Home states were based on the birthplace of the player. For example, Cameron Garfield would be listed for Germany - where he was born instead of California.