LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – AUGUST 13: Mookie Betts #50 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates his two run homerun with Chris Taylor #3, his third of the evening, to take an 11-2 lead over the San Diego Padres, during the fifth inning at Dodger Stadium on August 13, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Southern California is officially the baseball capital of the world.
We all know there are hotbeds of baseball talent spread all over the United States but it’s been a hot minute since some of the best baseball players were located on three separate teams all within just a short distance from each other.
That’s exactly what’s happening in this ever-evolving shortened 2020 season.
Some of the most talented players on all of baseball are nestled along the coast of beautiful Southern California in three cities … Los Angeles, Anaheim and San Diego.
The entire Los Angles Dodgers team
We couldn’t pick just one player to highlight on The Los Angeles Dodgers but names like Mookie Betts and Clayton Kershaw come to mind first. This is Betts’ first season with the team and his presence sure has been known. The Dodgers currently have the best record in baseball sitting pretty at 28-10 a whole five games ahead of another team on this list. That’s saying something. In August, the Dodgers broke a record for hitting the most home runs in a single month for the National League and they are the only team this season to have not lost a single series. They are a show-in for the World Series and dare we say they might just win it this year.
Fernando Tatis Jr. with the San Diego Padres
I mean, could Fernando Tatis Jr. be any better this season? It seems like he shot out of nowhere and is now the player every pitcher is terrified to go up against. Not only is he hitting controversial grand slams but he’s making diving catches and huge plays in the outfield too. It’s thanks to him the Padres are in second place, just behind the Dodgers.
Mike Trout with the Los Angeles Angels (in Anaheim)
The Los Angeles Angels (who actually reside in Orange County, CA, not Los Angeles) are absolutely terrible save for one man … Mike Trout. Time after time he’s proving he’s stuck on a losing team but continues to show what an absolute beast he is. Just this week he tied the Angels home run record, and will probably slay it (and then some) by the time the season is over.
The craziest part of all this is you could feasibly visit each of these ballparks (pre-COVID) in one day and still have a lot of the day left. Dodgers Stadium, which is the farthest north of the three stadiums is about 125 miles from Petco Park, the Southernmost stadium. Angels Stadium is almost perfectly between the two and all three of them are located off the 5 Freeway.