History of baseball outside the United States

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 39 World Cups held to date:

Caribbean Series

The first Caribbean Baseball World Series was held in 1949, involving teams from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Panama, and Venezuela. Cuban teams dominated the tournament, winning seven out of twelve titles. The first incarnation of the Caribbean Series was cancelled after the Cuban government abolished professional baseball in 1961. The Caribbean Series was revived in 1970, with teams from the Dominican Winter League, Mexican Pacific League, Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League and Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. The most successful franchise is Santo Domingo's Tigres del Licey, which has won ten Caribbean Series titles. Puerto Rico's Cangrejeros de Santurce (Santucre Crabbers) and the Dominican Republic's Águilas Cibaeñas have both won the title five times.

World Baseball Classic

In 2006, the first World Baseball Classic took place from March 3–20. 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 at Petco Park in San Diego to win the 2006 World Baseball Classic. In the 2009 World Baseball Classic, Japan defeated Korea 5–3 in 10 innings in the final at Dodger Stadium on March 23, 2009 in Los Angeles, to win their second consecutive championship.

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:

1. Cuba
2. Chinese Taipei (Taiwan)
3. Japan
4. United States
5. Puerto Rico
6. Dominican Republic
7. Italy
8. 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:

1. Cuba
2. Japan
3. United States
4. Nicaragua
5. Netherlands
6. Italy
7. Australia
8. South Korea

Sydney 2000

For the 2000 Summer 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:

1. United States
2. Cuba
3. South Korea
4. Japan
5. Netherlands
6. Italy
7. Australia
8. South Africa

Athens 2004

Professional players were 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 9–4 in the preliminary round and again 1–0 in the semi-finals) knocked Japan out of the race for the gold. Cuba ended up winning the gold, defeating Australia 6–2, while Japan took bronze, beating Canada 11–2. Final ranking:

1. Cuba
2. Australia
3. Japan
4. Canada
5. Chinese Taipei (Taiwan)
6. Netherlands
7. Greece
8. Italy

(full results)

Beijing 2008

South Korea dominated the sport by playing nine games and having nine wins. South Korea played Japan in the semifinals and won the game with a result of 6–2, while Cuba defeated the United States and went on to play against South Korea in the finals with South Korea winning 3–2. In the bronze medal match, the United States defeated Japan with a final score of 8–4 leaving the United States to win the bronze. South Korea's win in the sport made it Asia's first nation in winning a golden medal in baseball in the Olympics. Final ranking:

1. South Korea
2. Cuba
3. United States
4. Japan
5. Chinese Taipei (Taiwan)
6. Canada
7. Netherlands
8. China

(full results)

Israel

Israel's baseball program was started by American immigrants in the 1970s. Over the years, baseball in Israel has grown and today players come from all population groups throughout the country. There are about 1,000 active players of all ages playing in 5 leagues and in about 80 teams, in 16 centers in Israel including Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Ra’anana, Modiin, Bet Shmesh, Kfar Saba, Hashmonaim, Tel Mond, Ginot Shomron, Even Yehuda, Beer Sheba, and Yuvalim.

In 2007, the Israel Baseball League played its one and only season.^[5] The six league teams were the Tel Aviv Lightning, Netanya Tigers, Bet Shemesh Blue Sox, Petach Tikva Pioneers, Modi'in Miracle, and Ra'anana Express.^[6] All the leagues games were played at three ballparks. The Yarkon Sports Complex, Gezer Field, and Sportek Baseball Field.^[7]

Israel national baseball team play at major international baseball tournaments. An Israel team played in the Qualifying Round of the 2013 World Baseball Classic, which was held in September 2012. Israel narrowly missed qualifying for the WBC after being defeated by Spain. In April 2013, Israel was the runner up at the PONY European baseball championships in Prague, Czech Republic for the 16 and under age bracket.

In 1986, the Israel Association of Baseball (IAB) was formed as a non-profit organization for the development and promotion of baseball throughout Israel and in all sections of the population. The IAB is recognized by all the official Israeli sports bodies and by official international sports bodies such as the Confederation of European Baseball (CEB), the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and Major League Baseball International (MLBI), as the governing body of baseball in Israel. The IAB is active in all areas of baseball in Israel including running the leagues and summer camp programs; training coaches and umpires; introducing baseball to schools and community centers; working to strengthen ties with communities worldwide; working with municipalities to improve the infrastructure for baseball; and more.^[8]

In January 2017, Israel qualified for the first time for the World Baseball Classic, and in February defeated former runner-up South Korea in the opening round. ^[9]

Japan

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, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Yu Darvish, and Masahiro Tanaka. Japan defeated Korea to become champions of the second World Baseball Classic on March 23, 2009 in Los Angeles.

Philippines

Baseball was introduced in the Philippines shortly after the start of American rule in 1898. In 1954, the Philippines won the first Asian Baseball Championship, its only ever victory. Since the 1960s, it struggled to keep up with Japanese, South Korean, and Taiwanese teams. While the Philippines remained high for an Asian country in the World Baseball Classic rankings, it is still trying to regain the glory days it once had. In 2005, the Philippines national baseball team won gold in the Southeast Asian Games, and again in 2011.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates

While Saudi Arabia has seen some minor success in the many entries they have sent to the Little League World Series their participants are almost exclusively American expatriates and children of the multi-national oil companies like Aramco. Adult baseball on a competitive level is virtually non-existent.

Until 2013, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia both sent teams to compete in the Trans-Atlantic division of the Little League World Series European playoffs. The teams in this division were required to be majority foreign passport holders and, as in Europe, were the children of U.S. Military personnel who play in Leagues on U.S. military bases in Europe.

South Korea

American missionaries introduced baseball to Korea in the 19th century.^[10]

South Korea played baseball under Japanese colonial rule under the Joseon name. Lee Young-min hit South Korea's first ever home run in 1921. Every year since 1958, The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO)^[11] awards the Lee Young-min Batting Award to the high school baseball player with the highest batting average.^[12]

Baseball in South Korea started gaining popularity in the 1960s–70s, with high school baseball leagues becoming popular on a national scale. Korea Professional Baseball (KBO League) was founded in 1982 with six teams: MBC Chungyong, Lotte Giants, Samsung Lions, OB Bears, Haitai Tigers, Sammi Superstars. Binggrae Eagles was established and added to the league in 1986, while Ssangbangwool Raiders was added in 1991. A ninth team, NC Dinos, was added in 2013, with KT Wiz following after in 2015 as the tenth.

The South Korean national baseball team's first international appearance was in 1954 at the Asian Baseball Championship. Popularity of the sport rose to a high in the 2000s: the South Korean team was awarded bronze at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia and won gold at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. In 2009, South Korea won silver at the World Baseball Classic.

Several South Korean players now play in foreign countries. The first South Korean player to play overseas was Baek In-cheon, who signed with the Toei Flyers under Nippon Professional Baseball in 1962. The first player to play in U.S. Major League Baseball was Park Chan-Ho, who was scouted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1994. Notable players overseas include Sun Dong-Yeol, Choo Shin-Soo, Kim Byung-Hyun, Park Chan-Ho, and Ryu Hyun-jin.

Taiwan

See: Category:Baseball in Taiwan.

Baseball has been played in Taiwan for more than 100 years. It was introduced by the Japanese who ruled the island from 1895 to 1945.

In the days of Japanese colonial rule, baseball was known as yakyu, the Japanese word for baseball. The game was initially played only by Japanese. But they later promoted the sport around the island to improve the people's physical and mental health.

The first official game played on the island was in March 1906 in Taipei City. Two local schools, precursors of today's Jianguo High School and the Taipei Municipal University of Education drew a 5–5 tie, opening the first page in the history of Taiwan baseball. Soon, other schools and business all over the island started to form teams.

During its budding stage, however, most of the stronger baseball teams were from northern Taiwan, especially Taipei, the birthplace of the sport and home to several prominent schools and companies.

The turning point came in 1931 when a team of students from southern Taiwan's Chiayi School of Agriculture and Forestry beat a team from northern Taiwan. The Chiayi team was made up of Japanese and Taiwanese students. Their victory meant that baseball had become a sport of the entire island. They also made Taiwan qualify for a national high school tournament at the Koshien Stadium in Japan where they won Second place over 600 high schools around Japan.

The groundbreaking victory not only earned the Taiwanese baseball players greater respect from their Japanese counterparts, but also encouraged more people in Taiwan to play baseball, eventually making it Taiwan's national sport.

See also

• Professional baseball in Taiwan
• Chinese Professional Baseball League
• Taiwan Major League
• Taiwan Series
• Konami Cup Asia Series
• Chinese Taipei baseball team
• Professional baseball in Japan

Italy

See: Category:Baseball in Italy.

Italian Baseball 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 most notable of which is catcher Mike Piazza. The Italian national team have competed at all three Olympics, finished 6th twice. Best World Championships showing was a fourth place, in 1998.

Spain

Baseball began relatively early in Spain thanks to the descendants of returnee immigrants from Cuba. They brought the sport along with them when Cuba ceased to be a Spanish Colony. The heyday of baseball in Spain was in the 1950s and early 1960s when public interest was high and many teams were created, like Pops CB, a team that included junior teams.^[16] But because of the growing mass-interest in football, most baseball clubs didn't survive into the 1970s. The Spanish public's massive shift in focus was triggered fundamentally by the introduction of multiple TV channels that focused mainly on the soccer matches of "La Liga", the professional First Division Spanish League.

One of the few survivors of that fateful decade for Spanish Baseball was the Club Beisbol Viladecans. Its field was officially used during the 1992 Summer Olympics. Presently the Spanish baseball league is divided into divisions. The top teams play in the División de Honor de Béisbol.

Netherlands

See: Category:Baseball in the Netherlands.

One of the two major European baseball nations, the Netherlands saw baseball for the first time shortly after 1900. A baseball federation (the KNBSB) was founded in 1912, and the Holland Series was established in 1922, the first winner being A.H.C. 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, one world title, and participated in the Olympics twice, finishing fifth in Summer Olympics after upsetting the Cuban team. Some of the players in the Dutch team are actually from the Netherlands Antilles. Four Dutch players have played in the Major Leagues. Andruw Jones, Jurickson Profar and Jonathan Schoop are 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.

United Kingdom

American Baseball was introduced to the UK in 1874 by Albert Spalding, an American Baseball entrepreneur, although this tour did not live long in the memory. The 1889 Tour was seen as more of a success. From here him and Francis Ley were instrumental in setting up the National Baseball League of Great Britain. Ley would later run Derby Baseball Club. Baseball's peak popularity in Britain was in the years immediately preceding World War II. Baseball teams shared grounds with football clubs (hence Derby County's home ground was named the Baseball Ground), and the game was run at a professional standard with up to 10,000 spectators per game.

One milestone of baseball in the United Kingdom was the 1938 victory of Great Britain over the United States to win the inaugural World Cup of Baseball. There is currently no professional baseball in the United Kingdom.

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. There is also rounders, a baseball-like game played mostly at schools and amongst friends.

Great Britain competed in the qualifying rounds of the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

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.

Babe Ruth hit his first professional home run on Canadian soil on September 5, 1914 at the former ballpark at Hanlans Point on Centre Island in Toronto. Ruth was playing for the Providence Grays against the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team of the International League. In 1985, the City of Toronto erected a small plaque to denote the location, but it is difficult to locate, given the parklike setting and remote nature of the Toronto Islands.

In 1946, Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey assigned new signing Jackie Robinson to the Montreal Royals of the International League, Brooklyn's Triple-A farm team. Robinson would famously go on to break Major League Baseball's color barrier the following year in 1947, but during his season in Montreal Robinson led the Royals to the Governors' Cup, the IL championship, and became a beloved figure in the city. In Ken Burns' documentary film Baseball, the narrator quotes Sam Maltin, a stringer for the Pittsburgh Courier: "It was probably the only day in history that a black man ran from a white mob with love instead of lynching on its mind."

In 1957, former Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Glen Gorbous, a native of Drumheller, Alberta set the current world record for longest throw of a baseball at 445 feet, 10 inches (135.89m) in Omaha, Nebraska.

The lone Canadian in the National Baseball Hall of Fame is Ferguson Jenkins, a right-handed pitcher who compiled a 284–226 record, 3.34 ERA and 3,192 strikeouts in 19 seasons from 1965 to 1983 with the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers, and Boston Red Sox. Jenkins is considered an anchor of the Black Aces, a group of African American pitchers with at least twenty wins in one season (although Jenkins is actually a Black Canadian, not African American).

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). The team enjoyed a widespread following until about 1994 (when the Expos were in first place in the NL East); after the strike shortened year a series of poor management decisions, disputes with the city, and neglect by the ownership caused the Expos to be routinely last in MLB attendance. In 2004, the Expos, then owned by MLB itself, moved to Washington, D.C. and became the Washington Nationals. Gary Carter, a popular player in Montreal along with Andre Dawson are members of the Hall of Fame whose plaques have an Expos cap on.

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.

A few Canada-based teams play in low-tier American circuits. Some of these teams such as the Winnipeg Goldeyes draw crowds of 7,000 on a regular basis, making them one of the highest attended low-tier baseball teams in all of North America. See List of baseball teams in Canada.

Cuba

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 Guillo. 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 because Cubans began to prefer baseball to viewing bullfights, which Cubans were expected to attend dutifully 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 St. John's College (1863–1868, now Fordham University) in the Bronx, New York. After that he played for the Union of Morrisania, a team from what is now part of New York City. Bellan played for the Haymakers until 1862; in 1861 it joined the National Association.^[17]

The first official match in Cuba took place in Pueblo Nuevo, Matanzas, 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.

Dominican Republic

Baseball was first brought to the Dominican Republic by Cuban sugar planters who arrived in the country in the 1870s, fleeing the Ten Years' War on their home island, and built the nation's first mechanized sugar mills. Cuban sugar planters began providing baseball equipment to their workers as a diversion to keep up morale. Much of the labor force of the sugar industry was made up of migrants from the British West Indies, and were familiar with cricket. Several semi-professional baseball clubs were founded in the early 20th century, most notably Santo Domingo's storied Tigres del Licey. The U.S. occupation from 1916 to 1924 resulted in further inroads, as military administrators provided money to form and purchase equipment for amateur clubs, while organizing games between Dominican clubs and U.S. Marines. Towards the end of the occupation, professional baseball took on the shape and structure it retains today, with two teams in Santo Domingo—Tigres del Licey and Leones del Escogido—and one each in San Pedro de Macorís, La Romana and Santiago. Generalissimo Rafael Trujillo came to power in 1930 and quickly sought to consolidate control over the national economy. While not a baseball fan himself, his family were avid baseball fans, and, seeking to bolster his regime, he acquired Licey.

In 1936, the Estrellas Orientales of San Pedro de Macorís defeated Licey in the national championship. Afterwards, Trujillo merged Licey and Escogido into one team, the Ciudad Trujillo Dragones. To counter this, San Pedro signed the three top players from the Negro League powerhouse Pittsburgh Crawfords-pitcher Satchel Paige, catcher Josh Gibson and centre fielder Cool Papa Bell—but, upon arriving in the country, they were detained by Trujillo and forced to suit up for the Dragones. Santiago's Águilas Cibaeñas later signed several Cuban Negro League players, including pitcher Luis Tiant, Sr. (father of the Red Sox pitcher of the same name) and pitcher/outfielder Martín Dihigo. The Dragones defeated Santiago and San Pedro to win the 1937 championship, but the vast amounts of money used to finance the season bankrupted the other owners, and ended professional baseball in the Dominican Republic for ten years. Attention shifted to the amateur national teams the country assembled, using a unit of the Dominican army as Trujillo's personal farm club. The first wave of Dominican ballplayers to play professionally in the Major Leagues, including Ozzie Virgil, Sr., the Alou brothers—Felipe, Matty and Jesus—and Hall-of-Fame pitcher Juan Marichal emerged from Trujillo's amateur teams.

Professional baseball resumed in 1951 as a winter league of the U.S. Major Leagues, with the old alignment still in place. In 1955, construction was completed on Santo Domingo's Estadio Quisqueya, shared home to rivals Tigres del Licey and Leones del Escogido. This alignment has largely remained intact, although an expansion team in San Francisco de Macorís was founded in 1996. Licey and Aguilas have been the most successful teams in the Dominican Winter League, both winning nineteen titles. Their fierce rivalry reflects the competition between the countries two main cities, the capital of Santo Domingo and Santiago, the largest city and unofficial capital of the northern part of the country. Leones del Escogido have won thirteen titles and are reigning Dominican Republic champions in 2010.

On an international level, the Dominican Republic is currently the world's largest exporter of baseball players. In every season since 1999, Dominicans have comprised at least 9% of active MLB rosters, more than any other nationality except Americans. More recently, many Dominicans have also begun to play in the Nippon Professional Baseball leagues in Japan and the Mexican League, the largest summer leagues outside of the United States and Canada.

Nevertheless, the success of the Dominican Republic national baseball team has never matched the promise held by the island country's production of baseball talent. The team experienced its most embarrassing moment in recent history when it was upset twice by the Netherlands in theIR 2009 World Baseball Classic. These losses eliminated the Dominicans, regarded as tournament favorites, in the first round. However, in 2013 they made up for the 2009 loss by eliminating the Netherlands at the semifinals and becoming the first undefeated champion of the event with a score of 8–0.^[24][25]

Puerto Rico

See: Category:Baseball in Puerto Rico.

Baseball began in Puerto Rico in 1896. A Puerto Rican that was born in Brooklyn, Amos Iglesias Van-Pelt, started practicing a group of men, some of them Cuban students who already knew the game from back home. Two years later, January 9, 1898, the first official game was held at the Velodromo, Stop 15, Santurce. The Cubans formed a team known as Almendares and the Puerto Rican ball club was named Borinquen with Amos Iglesias Van-Pelt on the mound. After three innings, the game was postponed by rain. Games kept going until March of that year because of the advent of the Spanish–American War, stopping all baseball activities until November 1899.

Australia

The first noted baseball game in Australia was played in 1869.^[26] This game, played at The Old Lonsdale Cricket Ground, near the Botanical Gardens is the first reference in Melbourne newspapers:

The first match of the Baseball Club will be played on the old Lonsdale Cricket ground, near the Botanieal-gardens-bridge, at half-past two o'clock this afternoon. This game is as popular in America as cricket is here, and as to-day will witness its first trial in the colonies it will no doubt prove attractive to lovers of out-door sports.

However, there are suggestions of earlier games on the Victorian goldfields (possibly amongst American miners chasing wealth on Victorian fields) and a passing reference in the Tasmanian Colonial Times and Tasmanian of 22 September 1855. On this occasion, complaint was made of the intrusion on the sabbath of players of sports including baseball.

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 moved on to play in the major leagues in the United States and Japan. The revived Australian Baseball League began again in 2010–11 season.

New Zealand

Albert Spalding's team of All-Stars in 1888 is the first known baseball game played in New Zealand. Since that time, various local competitions have existed, but it wasn't until 1989 that the New Zealand Baseball Association was formed, consisting of teams in the Auckland area. It would be 14 more years before baseball would venture out of Auckland with the creation of the Canterbury Baseball Club in 2003. 2006 saw the Northland Baseball Club and the Manawatu Baseball Club form.

New Zealand competes in Baseball Confederation of Oceania (BCO) events, most recently the AA Oceania championships. New Zealand also sends a senior team each year to Australia to compete in the Australian Provincial Championship.

A number of New Zealanders are playing professionally in the United States. Scott Campbell was the first New Zealander drafted in the MLB draft, when he was selected in the 10th round by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2006.^[27]

In 2011 New Zealand will be hosting the Baseball Oceania AA IBAF Qualifying Round, in which Australia and Guam will compete against New Zealand for the right to participate in the 2011 IBAF AA World Cup in Mexico. Another addition to the tournament is Curtis Granderson, centre-fielder to the New York Yankees, will make an appearance to promote Baseball around the minor-code nation.

Brazil

See: Category:Baseball in Brazil.

In the early 20th century, American immigrants working on the implementation of electricity and phone lines in Brazil introduced baseball to the country. At the same time, the Japanese immigrants popularized the sport in the states of São Paulo and Paraná. In the 1910s, the country had an amateur league. Popularity waned during World War II, as the Brazilian government vetted public demonstrations of the culture of Axis powers countries, and the Japanese colony was still the biggest baseball market. Afterwards, a São Paulo confederation was founded in 1946, and in the 1960s and 1970s Japanese companies with Brazilian operations funded visits of the baseball national teams of traditional countries such as the United States, Japan and Panama. Baseball is still mostly restricted to Japanese Brazilians, some of whom wound up playing on Nippon Professional Baseball or the Japanese minor leagues.^[28] Yan Gomes, drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2009, became in 2012 the first Brazilian-born player in the MLB.^[29] The Blue Jays had previously signed two Brazilians on their minor league affiliates, José Pett and Jo Matumoto.^[30]

The Brazilian governing body of baseball is the Confederação Brasileira de Beisebol e Softbol, founded in 1990.

Venezuela

Baseball was introduced in Venezuela at the end of the 1910s and at the beginning of the 1920s by American immigrants and workers from the exploding oil industry. Baseball's definitive explosion in Venezuela was in 1941, following the worldwide championships in Havana when the national team beat Cuba in the finals. This team was consecrated by the press and the fans as "Los Héroes del '41" (The Heroes of '41).

The game was played in an amateur and disorganized form until December 27, 1945, when the owners of the Caracas Brewers (present day Caracas Lions or Leones del Caracas), Vargas, the Magallanes Navigators (Navegantes del Magallanes), and Venezuela created the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League.

On January 12, 1946, the first champion was crowned, Sabios del Vargas. In 1962, the La Guaira Sharks (Tiburones de La Guaira) are brought into the league to replace Pampero. In 1964, the league added two more teams, the Lara Cardinals (Cardenales de Lara) and the Aragua Tigers (Tigres de Aragua). In 1969, the Zulia Eagles (Águilas del Zulia) are brought into the league to replace the Valencia Industrymen (Industriales de Valencia); the original Venezuela team. In 1991, the league expanded to 8 teams from 6, with the additions of the Eastern Caribbeans (Caribes de Oriente) who are now the Anzoátegui Caribbeans or (Caribes de Anzoátegui); and the Cabimas Oil Tankers, who became the Llanos Shepherds (Pastora de los Llanos) and since the 2007/08 season are the Margarita Braves (Bravos de Margarita).

For the 2007–2008 seasons, the West Division (Division Occidental) and the East Division (Division Oriental) were merged in one single division of 8 teams. Each team plays 9 games against the other 7 teams, for a total of 63 games. In recent years, Tigres de Aragua has become the most dominant team of the league, winning the crown 4 times in 5 years. Leones del Caracas is the most successful Venezuelan team, champion of the league 19 times (3 times as "Cervecería Caracas") and champion of the Caribbean Series 2 times.