Baseball's exact origins might be disputed, and although the English game of rounders clearly had a big influence, baseball's popularity never took off in Western Europe. Asian countries such as Japan, Korea and Taiwan ignored this apathy and embraced baseball, organizing professional leagues in the same way the Latin American countries of Cuba and the Dominican Republic did. The World Baseball Classic--created in 2006--brings together international baseball teams to compete for the title of best in the world.
Early History
One of the first attempts to popularize baseball on the international scene came when Henry Wright and Albert Spalding, a young American pitcher, traveled to England in 1874 with two teams from Boston and Philadelphia. Joel Zoss wrote in "Diamonds in the Rough: The Untold History of Baseball" that "crowds were small and financially the trip was a disaster." In 1888, Spalding organized another trip, this time a world tour. He traveled with the Chicago White Stockings and an All-Star team, made up mainly of players from other National League teams, to "introduce the world to baseball." Spalding and his team believed "it was generally a successful tour," opening up new markets for baseball merchandise.
Latin American and Asian Baseball
Cuba played its first official baseball game in 1874, and introduced baseball to Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela in the 1890s. Japan had the same influence over Taiwan. According to the Society for American Baseball Research Asian Baseball Committee, Horace Wilson, a teacher at Kaisei Gakko in Tokyo, brought baseball to Japan in the early 1870s. Japan then introduced Taiwan to baseball in the 19th century. Even so, Taiwan didn't form a professional league until 1990.
Olympic Baseball
Throughout its history, the Olympic Games have treated baseball with caution. When baseball was played at the Olympics, all the matches were played under "demonstration" status. This included the 1912 Games in Stockholm; an exhibition in front of a world-record crowd of 125,000 at the 1936 Games in Berlin and other single-game formats in 1952, 1956 and 1964. There was also an eight-team tournament in 1984, and the gold-medal victory for the U.S. in Seoul in 1988. Again, the medals didn't count toward the official medal table because the sport was only an exhibition. The first official baseball tournament was played in Barcelona at the 1992 Games. Cuba, which was unbeaten throughout the tournament, won the gold medal, beating Chinese Taipei in the final. Japan, which had its own professional league like Cuba, the U.S. and Chinese Taipei, beat America for the bronze medal. The International Olympic Committee removed baseball from the sporting roster in 2005, meaning there would be no baseball at the 2012 Olympics in London.
World Baseball Classic
The World Baseball Classic began in 2006. The International Baseball Federation claims "the World Baseball Classic is the first international baseball tournament to feature players currently playing in the major leagues." At San Diego in 2006, Japan beat Cuba to win the first World Baseball Classic. Then in Los Angeles in 2009, Japan defeated Korea 5-3 in 10 innings to win the tournament. The WBC was scheduled to be played every four years after 2009.
References
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: The History of Baseball
- "Diamonds in the Rough: The Untold History of Baseball"; Zoel Joss, John Bowman; 2004
- Asian Baseball Committee: Taiwanese Baseball Timeline
- Asian Baseball Committee: Japanese Baseball Timeline
- World Baseball Classic: Ichiro Leads Japan to Glory; Barry M. Bloom
- Washington Post: Olympic Baseball History
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