History of baseball outside the United States

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Part of the History of baseball series.

Before the birth of British Baseball there was a game played in medieval Romania called Oina.

Perhaps the first recorded instances of baseball played outside North America came in 1874, when a party comprising members of the Boston and Philadelphia clubs toured England both playing cricket and demonstrating baseball. A further tour, by the Chicago club with the addition of various All-Stars in the winter of 1888–1889, took the game to Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand and the south Pacific Islands. Returning via Europe and North Africa they played more demonstration games, including one in front of the Sphinx in Egypt.

[edit] The International Baseball Federation (IBAF)

The International Baseball Federation (IBF) was founded in 1938, after the inaugural Baseball World Cup held in London. Only six years later, the name of the federation was changed to Federacion Internacional de Beisbol Amateur (FIBA).

In 1973, struggles in the FIBA led to a dissident organisation, the Federacion Mundial de Beisbol Amateur (FEMBA), which organised its own World Championships. The two organisations were reconciled in 1976, forming the International Baseball Association (AINBA).

In 1984, the name of the federation was once again changed, this time to International Baseball Association (IBA). In 2000, the original name was assumed again, International Baseball Federation, now abbreviated to IBAF.

[edit] Baseball World Cup

main article: Baseball World Cup

The first World Cup (or World Championships) in baseball were held in 1938, as teams from the United States and United Kingdom played a series of five games. Britain won four and became the first baseball World Champion. After this championship, the IBF was founded (see above). World Cups have been played at irregular intervals ever since; the 36th took place in the Netherlands in September 2005. Until 1996 professional players were not allowed to participate in the World Cups; since then major league players generally have not participated because the tournaments have conflicted with regular season games.

Below are listed the 36 World Cups held to date:

Year	Host Nation	Number of Teams	Winner
1938	United Kingdom	2	United Kingdom
1939	Cuba	3	Cuba
1940	Cuba	7	Cuba
1941	Cuba	9	Venezuela
1942	Cuba	5	Cuba
1943	Cuba	4	Cuba
1944	Venezuela	8	Venezuela
1945	Venezuela	6	Venezuela
1947	Colombia	9	Colombia
1948	Nicaragua	8	Dominican Republic
1950	Nicaragua	12	Cuba
1951	Mexico	11	Puerto Rico
1952	Cuba	13	Cuba
1953	Venezuela	11	Cuba
1961	Costa Rica	10	Cuba
1965	Colombia	9	Colombia
1969	Dominican Republic	11	Cuba
1970	Colombia	12	Cuba
1971	Cuba	10	Cuba
1972	Nicaragua	16	Cuba
1973	Cuba	8	Cuba
1973	Nicaragua	11	United States
1974	United States	9	United States
1976	Colombia	11	Cuba
1978	Italy	11	Cuba
1980	Japan	12	Cuba
1982	Korea	10	Korea
1984	Cuba	13	Cuba
1986	Netherlands	12	Cuba
1988	Italy	12	Cuba
1990	Canada	12	Cuba
1994	Nicaragua	16	Cuba
1998	Italy	16	Cuba
2001	Taiwan	16	Cuba
2003	Cuba	15	Cuba
2005	Netherlands	16	Cuba

[edit] World Baseball Classic

In 2006, the inaugural World Baseball Classic took place from March 3 to 20. The tournament, sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF), was organized by Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association in cooperation with other professional leagues and player associations from around the world. The tournament was held before the start of domestic league play for many nations, allowing professional players from domestic leagues to participate. On March 20, Japan defeated Cuba 10-6 in the final held in San Diego, California to win the 2006 World Baseball Classic. The next WBC will take place in 2009, and every four years thereafter.

[edit] Olympic Baseball

Sometimes, baseball matches played during the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis in 1904 are listed as demonstrations at the Olympic Games held in the same year. However, most historians do not regard them like this; actually any sports competition held in St. Louis has received a predicate 'Olympic'.

The first real Olympic appearance of baseball is in 1912, as a team from Västerås played against competitors from the U.S. track and field team at the Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. The United States beat the Swedish team, which played with some Americans borrowed from the opponent, 13-3. A second game was played later, which included decathlon star Jim Thorpe as a right fielder. USA won again, 6-3.

For the 1936 Olympics, the German hosts had invited the United States to play a demonstration match against Japan. As Japan withdrew, the US sent two 'all-star' teams, named the 'World Champions' and the 'U.S. Olympics'. For a layman crowd of 90,000 (sometimes reported as 125,000), the World Champions won 6-5.

There were plans for including baseball at the 1940 Olympics originally scheduled for Japan, but these plans were abandoned after Japan had to withdraw its bid because of its war in Manchuria.

After World War II, a Finnish game akin to baseball, pesäpallo, was demonstrated at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. Four years later, another demonstration of baseball took place at the Olympic in Melbourne, Australia. A team made up of servicemen from the U.S. Far East Command played Australia. Although initially with few spectators, during the match the crowd for the other athletic events entered the stadium, adding up to 114,000 spectators, which is reportedly still the biggest crowd to any baseball game ever. The match was won by the USA, 11-5.

In 1964, the Olympic Games took place in Tokyo, Japan, where baseball was quite popular. A team of American college players — with eight future major league players — was fielded against a Japanese amateur all-star team. The Americans continued their Olympic winning streak, as they triumphed 6-2.

In 1981, baseball was granted the status of a demonstration sport for Los Angeles 1984, and rather than a single match, a full tournament would be organised. With the strong Cuban team absent due to the Soviet-led boycott the field consisted of: United States, Japan, South Korea, Dominican Republic, Canada, Taiwan, Italy and Nicaragua. The final was contested between Japan and the US, and the guests won 6-3, ending the American Olympic victory row.

Another demonstration tournament was held in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. Again, Cuba, the team that won all major international championships since 1984, boycotted the Games. In a field consisting of United States, Japan, South Korea, Puerto Rico, Canada, Taiwan, Netherlands and Australia, Japan and the US again reached the final. Helped by 4 RBIs and 2 homers from Tino Martinez, the United States won 5-3.

At the 1986 IOC congress, it had been decided that the first official Olympic baseball tournament would be held in Barcelona, Spain in 1992.

At the 117th IOC Session, each of 28 existing sports in the Summer Olympics are voted for removal in 2012 Summer Olympics and they decided to remove two of them, baseball and softball, for the Games of the XXX Olympiad in London. While both sports' lack of major appeal in a significant portion of the world was a factor, a more important factor was the unwillingness of Major League Baseball to have a break during the Games so that its players could participate, something that the National Hockey League now does during the Winter Olympic Games. Women's softball was particularly hit hard by this ruling as there are few other venues where female softball players have a chance to show their talents in front of such a large audience.

[edit] Barcelona 1992

This time, the strong Cuban team was present and it won all of its games, beating the US in the semi-finals 4-1, and routing Taiwan in the final 11-1. The United States was upset by Japan in the bronze medal match, losing 8-3. Final ranking:

[edit] Atlanta 1996

In 1996, in Atlanta, Cuba and the United States were set to meet in the final. While the Cubans won their semi-final match against Nicaragua, the United States once again stumbled over Japan and lost 11-2. In the final, Cuba retained its Olympic unbeaten status, winning the gold 13-9, while USA beat Nicaragua 10-3 for the bronze medal. Final ranking:

[edit] Sydney 2000

For the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, professional players were allowed for the first time, although no Major Leaguers played for the US. Once again, Cuba was the hot favourite, but they were shocked in the round-robin phase by the Netherlands, who beat them 4-2 but failed to make the semi-finals. In the semi-finals, the United States narrowly beat South Korea, while Cuba edged Japan 3-0 for a third straight Olympic final. In that final, the United States upset the Cubans, beating them 4-0. Final ranking:

[edit] Athens 2004

Professional players are again allowed in the 2004 Olympics. Most notably, the United States baseball team did not participate after losing a qualifying game to Mexico. A number of Americans of Greek descent played for the host nation, however. Japan and Cuba went into the games as the favorites for the gold medal match, but a strong showing by Australia against Japan (Australia beat Japan 4-9 in the preliminary round and again 0-1 in the semi-finals) knocked Japan out of the race for the gold. Cuba ended up winning the gold, defeating Australia 2-6, while Japan took bronze, beating Canada 11-2. Final ranking:

(full results)

[edit] Baseball Worldwide

[edit] Africa

Only a small number of African countries are members of the IBAF, the members mostly concentrated in southern Africa and on the west coast of the continent. The only country so far to have competed in international events is South Africa, which took part in three World Championships, and finished 8th in the 2000 Olympics.

[edit] Americas

[edit] Canada

The first baseball game recorded in Canada was played in Beachville, Ontario on June 14, 1838 (before the purported codification of the game by Abner Doubleday). Many Canadians, including the staff of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in St. Marys, Ontario, claim that this was the first documented game of modern baseball, although there appears to be no evidence that the rules used in this game were codified and adopted in other regions.

The London Tecumsehs of London, Ontario were charter members of the International Association and won its first championship in 1877, beating the Pittsburgh, Alleghenies.

While baseball is widely played in Canada, the American major leagues did not include a Canadian team until 1969, when the Montreal Expos joined the National League (the London Tecumsehs were refused admission to the National League in 1877 because they refused to stop playing exhibition games against local teams). In 2004, MLB decided to move the Expos to Washington, DC.

In 1977, the Toronto Blue Jays joined the American League. They won the World Series in 1992 and 1993.

In 2003 an attempt to create the Canadian Baseball League was launched, but the league folded halfway through its first season.

[edit] Cuba

[edit] The Early years (1864 - 1874)

Esteban Bellan

Baseball was introduced to Cuba in the 1860s by Cubans who studied in the United States and American sailors who ported in the country. The sport quickly spread across the island nation. Nemisio Guillo is credited with bringing a bat and baseball to Cuba in 1864 after being schooled in Mobile, Alabama. Two more Cubans were sent to Mobile, one being his brother Ernesto. The Guillo brothers and their contemporaries formed a Baseball team in 1868 - the Habana Baseball Club. The club won one major match - against the crew of an American schooner anchored at the Matanzas harbour. [1]

Soon after this, the first Cuban War of Independence against its Spanish rulers spurred Spanish authorities in 1869 to ban playing the sport in Cuba. [2] The reasons were because Cubans began to prefer baseball to viewing bullfights, which Cubans were expected dutifully attend as homage to their Spanish rulers in an informal cultural mandate. As such, baseball became symbolic of freedom and egalitarianism to the Cuban people. The ban also prompted Esteban Bellán to join the semipro Troy Haymakers. He became the first Latin American player to play in a Major League in the United States. Bellan started playing baseball for the Fordham Rose Hill Baseball Club, while attending Fordham University (1863 - 1868). After that he played for the Unions of Morrisania, a New York City team. Bellan played for the Haymakers until 1862; in 1861 it joined the National Association. [3]

The first official match in Cuba took place in Pueblo Nuevo, Matanaz, at the Palmar del Junco, December 27, 1874. It was between Club Matanzas and Club Habana, the latter winning 51 to 9, in nine innings.

[edit] Cuban baseball is organized (1878 - 1898)

In late 1878 the Cuban League was organized, consisting of three teams—Almendares, Habana, and Mantanzas—and playing four games per team. The first game was played on December 29, 1878, with Habana defeating Almendares 21 to 20. Habana, under team captain Bellán, was undefeated in winning the first championship. The teams were amateurs (and all whites), but gradually professionalism took hold as teams bid away players from rivals.

[edit] Cuban baseball becomes international (1898 - 1933)

The Spanish-American War brought increased opportunities to play against top teams from the United States. Also, the Cuban League admitted black players beginning in 1900. Soon many of the best players from the Northern American Negro Leagues were playing on integrated teams in Cuba. Beginnng in 1908, Cuban teams scored a number of successes in competition against major league baseball teams, behind outstanding players such as pitcher José Méndez and outfielder Cristóbal Torriente. By the 1920s, the level of play in the Cuban League was superb, as Negro League stars like Oscar Charleston and John Henry Lloyd spent their winters playing in Cuba.

[edit] Asia

[edit] Japan

Main article: Japanese baseball

Baseball was introduced in Japan in 1872 and is currently among the country's most popular sports. The first professional competitions emerged in the 1920s. The current league, Nippon Professional Baseball, consists of two leagues of 6 teams each. The country's national team has also been successful, having won two Olympic medals (bronze and silver), while the World Championships team never placed worse than 5th in its 13 appearances, winning second place once and third place three times. Recently, several Japanese players have also entered the U.S. major leagues, such as Hideo Nomo, Kazuhiro Sasaki, Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui, Kazuo Matsui, Tadahito Iguchi, Kenji Johjima, and most recently Daisuke Matsuzaka, who made headlines for the $51m transfer fee he incurred in his move from the Seibu Lions to the Boston Red Sox. Most recently, Japan defeated Cuba to become champion of the first World Baseball Classic on March 20, 2006 in San Diego.

[edit] Korea

A missionary, P. Gillett, introduced baseball in the late nineteenth century. The Korean Baseball Organization started in 1982 with six teams, and now has eight teams in it. Several Korean players now play in the U.S. major leagues, mostly pitchers. The most famous among them are Park Chan Ho, Kim Byung Hyun, and Choi Hee Seop.

[edit] Taiwan

Baseball was introduced to Taiwan by Japan after China ceded control of the island to Japan in 1895. Initially played only by Japanese colonial administrators, by the 1920s interest in the sport spread across the island with games between Taiwanese natives and Japanese immigrants becoming common. In 1931, the Chiayi School of Agriculture and Forestry took second place in the Pan-Japanese High School Yakyu Tournament.

Following World War II and the reassertion of Chinese control over Taiwan, baseball became marginalized in popularity because of its association with Japan. But along with post-war stability during the 1950s and 1960s, interest in baseball rebounded with the spread of amateur and youth baseball teams. Between 1969 and 1982, Taiwan won 13 Little League World Series championships.

In 1984, Taiwan took the Bronze medal at the Los Angeles Olympics where baseball was played as an exhibition sport, and in 1992 Taiwan won Silver in Barcelona.

In 1990, the Chinese Professional Baseball League (中華職棒聯盟) was formed, bringing professional baseball to the country for the first time. In 1997, however, a gambling scandal sent the CPBL into disrepute. Following the scandal, the Taiwan Major League (臺灣大聯盟) was launched, splitting the audience for baseball. For the 2003 season, the two leagues agreed to merge under the CPBL name. As of 2004, the league consists of the Brother Elephants, Chinatrust Whales, La New Bears, Macoto Cobras, Sinon Bulls, and Uni-President Lions.

A handful of Taiwanese players are in the U.S. major and minor leagues, including Hong-Chih Kuo and Chien-Ming Wang.

Baseball has become so entrenched in Taiwanese culture that it is even depicted on the NT$ 500 note.[4] ,[5]

[edit] Europe

A European federation, the Confédération Européene de Baseball (CEB, European Baseball Confederation) was founded in 1953. The federation organises all international competitions within Europe. These are the European Championships for country teams, divided into two divisions, and a number of club competitions: the European Cup, the Club Winners' Cup and the CEB Cup.

All of the European competitions have been dominated by only two countries: Italy and the Netherlands. They share 25 of the 27 European titles between them, the other titles being won by Belgium and Spain, both times in absence of one or two of the two usual winners, but these countries have medalled regularly as well. Other countries that are among the top players in Europe are Russia, France and the Czech Republic. Most of the club titles have also been won by Dutch or Italian teams.

An unusual variation of the game, known as British Baseball is played in parts of England and Wales. It involves 11 players per team and shares some terminology with cricket.

[edit] Netherlands

One of the two major European baseball nations, the Netherlands saw baseball for the first time shortly after 1900. A baseball federation (the KNSNB) was founded in 1912, and the Holland Series was established in 1922, the first winner being Quick from Amsterdam. Today, an eight team professional league, the Honkbal Hoofdklasse (Major League Baseball) sends its teams to the Holland Series.

The Netherlands have won 15 European Championship titles, and participated in the Olympics twice, finishing fifth in Summer Olympics after upsetting the Cuban team. At the World Championships, a 4th position has been the best achievement so far. Some of the players in the Dutch team are actually from the Netherlands Antilles. Four Dutch players have played in the Major Leagues, the most notable of whom is 287 game winner Bert Blyleven. Atlanta Braves star Andruw Jones is from the Netherlands Antilles. The World Port Tournament and the Haarlemse Honkbalweek are biannual international tournaments for national and club teams, organised in the cities of Rotterdam and Haarlem, respectively.

[edit] Italy

Italian league competition did not start until after World War II, as Bologna won the first title in 1948. The Italian team has won 8 European titles, among which the very first title, and the team has fought out many finals with archrival the Netherlands. Because of the large number of Americans of Italian descent, there are always a few players in the national team with double nationality. The Italian national team have competed at all three Olympics, finished 6th twice. Best World Championships showing was a fourth place, in 1998.

[edit] Oceania

Besides Australia and New Zealand, some of the island nations in the Pacific have baseball federations, especially those with American or Japanese backgrounds, such as Guam or Saipan. The only country from the region which has participated in major international competitions is Australia.

[edit] Australia

The first baseball game in Australia was played in 1857. At the end of the 19th century, Americans also tried to set up baseball leagues and competitions in Australia, with some success. A national league was initiated in 1934, and the national team entered World Championship competition in the late 1970s. Prior to winning the silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Australia had finished 7th in the Olympics twice, which is also the highest position reached in World Championships.

A national-level competition still exists, as well as lower-level club competitions, but the game attracts comparatively little spectator or media interest. Several Australians, however, have attracted the attention of American scouts and have gone on to play in the major leagues in the United States and Japan.

Australian Baseball History

[edit] References

Peter C. Bjarkman, Diamonds around the Globe: The Encyclopedia of International Baseball (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005).

[edit] External links

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Categories: International baseball | History of baseball