It ’s America ’s pastime , Latin America ’s obsession and … Croatia ’s pursuit ? Indeed , when you think ofbaseball , there are only a few country that instantly leap to take care as esurient participants in the plot .
But it call on out that baseball is actually quite the prospering enterprise around the world . In the next few pages , we ’ll tell you about some baseball game leagues ( or at least organized baseball game tie ) that have popped up across the globe .
Some leagues are n’t so unexpected ( Japan ) , but they have rabid followers and an approach to the game that takes into chronicle their own cultivation . Other leagues are passably shocking – not just for existing , but for being tangible contenders on an international point . We ’ll also ascertain out how baseball came to some unlikely places .
So tighten your batting glove and knock the poop off your cleats as we travel the world to recover some of the most interesting – and surprising – spherical baseball game leagues .
5: Japanese Baseball League
It ’s pretty well - known that Japan make out itsbaseball . But how the heck did Japan become a baseball mecca ?
A professor at what is now the University of Tokyo , Horace Wallace ( a well baseball name , in itself ) is loosely consider to have learn his bookman the formula of the game sometime between 1867 and 1912 . The Japanese called it " yakyu , " or field of battle chunk . By 1936 , the initial Japanese Baseball League was established , but it disbanded during World War II . In the ' L , large corporations decided to affirm teams as a show of enthusiasm after the war . Soon after , two leagues were constitute . Each conference had six teams ( and still does ) . The Central League follows fairly traditional linguistic rule . And just like the U.S. , the Pacific League has that designated batsman attitude that ’s so heatedly debated in Major League Baseball and employed in the American League .
The biz is different in a yoke way . Umps might call a bigger or humble strike zone . The game cease after 12 innings , so ties are allow . Umpires may huddle together to discuss a call and reverse it – even if it take aim a half minute – as the idea of one individual take in the final say does n’t sit correctly with a Japanese audience . And unlike the U.S. , umps have to wear jawing and harassment from the players without an automatic " yer outta here . "
4: Amateur Baseball Federation of India
Perhaps it ’s not a powerhouse or even a professional league , but India ’s cricket - dotty culture has n’t dampened some earnest enthusiasm for America ’s pastime . The Amateur Baseball Federation of India may not be highly visible or passing lucrative , but its members do take theirbaseballseriously .
The Federation was formed in 1983 by some baseball lover around the Carry Amelia Moore Nation . They hold their first National Championship in 1985 and even had the idea ( more reformist than the MLB ) to include women ’s team . The ABFI is also a member of the Baseball Federation of Asia and the International Baseball Federation . That means they can play in each confederacy ’s workforce ’s and women ’s World Cups and Championships .
The Indian conference follow the National League and American League rules of the MLB quite strictly , and at least 27 region have a team playing in the Federation . Baseball has even been introduced in the National School Games of India , popularizing it among unseasoned Indians .
3: Australian Baseball League
This one may not be as surprising ; several well - fuck MLB musician have come out of Australia , including the Oakland Athletics ' ewer Travis Blackley and Grant Balfour . Baseballwas – surprisal , surprise – introduced to Australia by Americans . The founding myth take it was American miners hungry for gold in Victoria in the 1850s who played the biz on fracture with their Aussie colleagues . ( Although that story is often - repeated , scholars are n’t so certain about its validness ) . In any case , the first baseball game plot in Australian recorded chronicle took place between teams from Collingwood and Richmond . The slews enter seem a lilliputian bit on the high side – 350 - 230 – which imply this " baseball game " game was believably borrowing more from cricket than the American pastime .
The conference prosper now . They ’ve trifle in the World Baseball Classic and even won the bronze medal at the Olympics in 2004 . They ’re prepare quite a name for themselves in the U.S. , as well . Over 80 Australian baseball players are in the underage league of Major League Baseball , and 28 Aussies have played in the MLB . The league itself is owned by both Major League Baseball and the Australian Baseball Federation , the governing physical structure . The squad is placed 11th in the International Baseball Federation rankings .
2: Croatian Baseball League
Croatia ’s Baseball League is n’t messing around . They ’ve play several time in the Baseball World Cup , and the city of Zagreb was a hosting venue for the Cup in 2009 . By all accounts , U.S. military men insert the secret plan to Croatia . ( Some say around 1918 during the first World War , while others claim it came during World War II . )
In 1975 , a group of teacher decided to organise a real club . In 1978 , the first game was run in the Ithiel Town of Split , between the Split thespian and a squad from the nearby town of Ljubljana in Slovenia . Split won , 20 - 1 . And Split embracedbaseball ; there ’s even a book , " Nima Baluna do Baseball Baluna " that details the story of the fun in the city . ( The statute title translate to " There ’s No Ball Like Baseball . " ) Now , the Croatian conference has a regular time of year , and the National Team is ranked an impressive 25th in international ranking .
All the big cities have teams that play against one another ; there are 13 teams tout ensemble . There are also youth and plebe leagues ( boy and girl ages 8 to 16 ) , while only boys 16 and over can play in Junior and Senior leagues . unluckily , there are only two baseball game stadiums in Croatia ( in Zagreb and Karlovac ) , accord to the Croatian Baseball Association ’s Web site . In other cities , a stadium is fit out with bases and apitcher ’s hummock to give the players a makeshift field .
1: Chinese Baseball League
You might be surprised to learn that China has a thrivingbaseballleague . Well , it certainly was n’t always that way .
A baseball club was first formed in Shanghai in 1863 , and baseball begin booming in China . They even placed secondly in the Greater Asia Baseball Tournament in 1915 . All that changed under Mao ; Western culture and influence were forbidden , and baseball game was no different . After Mao ’s death , there was another undulation of interest in Formosan baseball game . A sports stadium was construct in Tianjin in 1986 . In 2002 , an official conference , the China Baseball League , was created . Four teams trifle a calendar month - long season . The league now has six clubs and a growing schedule .
Their national team is also outrank 16th in the world – pretty near for a squad drawing from a league that ’s only existed for ten year .
Lots More Information
My only ruefulness is that we could n’t discourse 20 more spheric baseball game leagues . rural area like Nepal , Cambodia , Georgia and many more all have national squad that are surprising , and a chronicle of baseball game that can sometimes be traced back to one lone individual try out to start a game . For more information , chew the fat the International Baseball Federation’sWeb siteto learn more about global leagues and teams .
