[joefromchicago]

For all of you wanting to start a fictional league in the 1870s but who are wondering where to place your teams, this is a method for randomizing cities based on US Census data that weighs location by population.

To use:

1. Download and open the attached text files;
2. Open random.org in your web browser;
3. You can use the files in either of the following ways:

• 1870 Random Cities 1 lists cities and numbers. The number to the right of a city's name is the uppermost limit for that city in terms of random numbers. So, for instance, "New York 94" means that if random numbers 1-94 are drawn, then the result will be New York. The next line - "Philadelphia 161" - means that if random numbers 95-161 are drawn, then the result will be Philadelphia.
• Go to the Numbers --> Integers page on random.org. Choose how many numbers you want to select and set the limit on integer values to "1 to 570."
• Generate the random numbers and compare them to the city values to determine which cities are chosen.

OR

• 1870 Random Cities 2 lists all of the cities, with one entry on the list for each number that corresponds to that city. Thus, for instance, New York is listed 94 times, Philadelphia is listed 67 times, etc.
• Go to the Lists and More --> List Randomizer page on random.org. Copy and paste the entire city list to the box and then press "randomize."
• A random list will be generated for all cities.

So, for example, using the first method, I drew the following 20 numbers at random:

519 65 41 291 308 85 548 107 1 496 333 429 454 19 336 48 459 75 153 384

That yields the following list of cities:

519-Manchester NH
65-New York
41-New York
291-Boston
308-Boston
85-New York
548-Erie
107-Philadelphia
1-New York
496-Wilmington
333-Cincinnati
429-Rochester
454-Troy
19-New York
336-Buffalo
48-New York
459-Worcester
75-New York
153-Philadelphia
384-Pittsburgh

Some large cities, of course, will appear multiple times. The user can best decide on how to handle duplicates

Using the second method, I produced the following list (top twenty results):

1. Baltimore MD
2. Cambridge MA
3. Allegheny PA
4. Toledo OH
5. Allegheny PA
6. Boston MA
7. Boston MA
8. Manchester NH
9. Philadelphia PA
10. Buffalo NY
11. Philadelphia PA
12. Baltimore MD
13. Philadelphia PA
14. Dayton OH
15. New York NY
16. Utica NY
17. Hartford CT
18. Washington DC
19. Baltimore MD
20. Brooklyn NY

SOME NOTES ON USING THE LISTS:

• Values for cities are based on one integer for approximately every 10,000 population;
• Top 95 cities selected;
• To reflect the historical spread of professional baseball in the 1870s, no cities south of Norfolk VA or west of Omaha NE are included in the list. Users who wish to include southern and/or western cities can easily modify the lists using the census information linked in this post;
• Some cities in the list may no longer exist as separate municipalities, such as Allegheny PA.

1870 Random Cities 1.txt
1870 Random Cities 2.txt