Encyclopedia
Part of the History of baseball series.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.
The International Baseball Federation
The
International Baseball Federation was founded in 1938, after the inaugural World Cup of Baseball held in London. Only six years later, the name of the federation was changed to Federacion Internacional de Beisbol Amateur .
In 1973, struggles in the FIBA led to a dissident organisation, the Federacion Mundial de Beisbol Amateur , which organised its own World Championships. The two organisations were reconciled in 1976, forming the International Baseball Association .
In 1984, the name of the federation was once again changed, this time to International Baseball Association . In 2000, the original name was assumed again, International Baseball Federation, now abbreviated to IBAF.
World Cup Baseball
main article: World Cup of BaseballThe first World Cup 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 . World Cups have been played at irregular intervals ever since; the 36th took place in the
Netherlands in September 2005. Professional players usually do not participate in the World Cups, due to the tournaments coinciding with regular competition games.
In 2006, the inaugural
World Baseball Classic took place from March 3 to 20. The tournament, sanctioned by the
International Baseball Federation , 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.
Below are listed the 36 World Cups held to date:
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 , 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.
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:
- Cuba
- Taiwan
- Japan
- United States
- Puerto Rico
- Dominican Republic
- Italy
- Spain
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:
- Cuba
- Japan
- United States
- Nicaragua
- Netherlands
- Italy
- Australia
- South Korea
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:
- United States
- Cuba
- South Korea
- Japan
- Netherlands
- Italy
- Australia
- South Africa
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 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:
- Cuba
- Australia
- Japan
- Canada
- Chinese Taipei
- Netherlands
- Greece
Greece lies at the juncture of Europe [i], Asia [i], and Africa [i]. ...
- Italy
Baseball Worldwide
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.
Americas
Canada
The first baseball game recorded in
Canada was played in Beachville, Ontario on June 14, 1838 . 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 . 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.
Cuba
The Early years
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.
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. 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 . 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.
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.
Cuban baseball is organized
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 , but gradually professionalism took hold as teams bid away players from rivals.
Cuban baseball becomes international
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.
Asia
Japan
Baseball was introduced in
Japan in the 1820s and is currently among the country's most popular sports. The first professional competitions emerged in the late 1800s. The current league consists of two leagues of 6 teams each. The country's national team has also been successful, having won two Olympic medals , 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 and most recently Kenji Johjima. Most recently, Japan defeated Cuba to become champion of the first
World Baseball Classic on March 20, 2006 in
San Diego.
Korea
A missionary, P. Gillett, introduced baseball in 1838. 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.
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 was formed, bringing professional baseball to the country for the first time. In 1997, however, a
gambling 
