Incredible That Only One Current MLB Player Was Born In Wyoming

Being a pro athlete and born in Wyoming (unless rodeo) isn't an easy task. Over the years there have been only 39 NFL players born in Wyoming and the last couple years Casper's Logan Wilson has been front and center since he's been playing for the Bengals in the National Football League.

Getting to the pro level at any sport is rough, but being from Wyoming and making it to pro baseball is almost as rare as a Jackalope sighting. Currently there is only ONE Major League Baseball player that is on an active MLB roster, his name is Brandon Nimmo from Cheyenne, WY.

Brandon played his high school baseball at Cheyenne East High School and has been on the New York Mets roster since 2016, when he played in 32 games.

Brandon was drafted out of high school in 2011 by the Mets and worked his way through the farm system, eventually making his way onto the Major League roster June 26, 2016.

With the combination of cold weather and so few players, baseball has never been a sanctioned sport in Wyoming. Of the 50 U.S. states, Wyoming is one of two states that doesn't offer sanctioned high school baseball and the University of Wyoming hasn't had a team since 1996.

Luckily for Nimmo and other baseball loving Wyomingites, the American Legion program is strong in the Cowboy State. Nimmo showed off enough talent in his legion career to be drafted 13th overall by the Mets in 2011.

In February of this year, Fox Sports ranked every state in the US on it's baseball background and Wyoming was dead last at #50.

Other than Nimmo, there have been just a few others from Wyoming have played in MLB.

• Tom Browning - Casper
• Mike Devereux - Casper
• Dan Spillner - Casper
• Dick Ellsworth - Lusk
• Mike Lansing - Rawlins
• John Buck - Kemmerer
• Dennis DeBarr - Cheyenne
• Jan Dukes - Cheyenne
• Jeremy Horst - Cheyenne
• Rick Sofield - Cheyenne
• Zach Walter - Cheyenne
• Bob Harris - Gillette
• Bill Wilkinson - Greybull
• Bucky Jacobsen - Riverton

Take a look at this Brandon Nimmo story from the Fox Sports story where he's shares a bit about growing up in Wyoming.