Kentucky

• Capital: Frankfort, KY
• Largest City: Louisville, KY
• Area: 40,444 sq mi
  • Rank: 37
• Population (2010): 4,339,367
  • Rank: 26
• Admission to Union: June 1, 1792
• Time Zone: half Eastern, half Central

Kentucky is a state in the eastern United States. Its largest city, Louisville, KY, has a long baseball tradition, having been an original member of the National League in 1876 with the Louisville Grays. However, after the Louisville Colonels were one of four teams contracted from the NL after the 1899 season, the only major league teams based in the state were members of various Negro Leagues. Louisville is also known for the "Louisville Slugger" bat that is manufactured locally.

A number of minor leagues have been centered around the state, including the Kentucky-Illinois-Tennessee League (better known by its nickname, the "Kitty League"), the Kentucky-Indiana League and the Blue Grass League (named after the state's nickname). Until the 2021 Minor League Reorganization, the Appalachian League also included a number of teams based in the state, as did one of its predecessors, the Mountain States League.

Further Reading

• Katya Cengel: Bluegrass Baseball: A Year in the Minor League Life, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE, 2012. ISBN 0803235356
• L.M. Sutter: Ball, Bat and Bitumen: A History of Coalfield Baseball in the Appalachian South, McFarland, Jefferson, NC, 2009. ISBN 978-0-7864-3594-4