Editing Baseball (section)

=== Around the world{{Anchor|Around-the-world}} ===
{{Main|History of baseball outside the United States}}
Despite having been called "America's national pastime", baseball is well-established in several other countries. As early as 1877, a professional league, the [[International Association for Professional Base Ball Players|International Association]], featured teams from both Canada and the United States.<ref>Bjarkman (2004), p. 73; Burk (2001), p. 58.</ref> While baseball is widely played in Canada and many minor league teams have been based in the country,<ref>{{cite web|title=Canada: Baseball participation, popularity rising across the nation|publisher=World Baseball Softball Confederation|date=October 12, 2016|url=http://www.wbsc.org/canada-baseball-participation-popularity-rising-across-the-nation/|access-date=April 2, 2018|archive-date=April 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180402231713/http://www.wbsc.org/canada-baseball-participation-popularity-rising-across-the-nation/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor1=Flaherty, David H.|editor2=Manning, Frank E.|title=The Beaver Bites Back?: American Popular Culture in Canada|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press|year=1993|pages=157–158|isbn=9780773511200}}</ref> the American major leagues did not include a Canadian club until 1969, when the [[Montreal Expos]] joined the National League as an expansion team. In 1977, the expansion [[Toronto Blue Jays]] joined the American League.<ref>{{cite book|last=Riess|first=Steven A.|title=Sports in America from Colonial Times to the Twenty-First Century: An Encyclopedia|publisher=Routledge|year=2015|pages=172, 656–657|isbn=9781317459477}}</ref>

[[File:WBC2006 Sadaharu Oh.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.75|[[Sadaharu Oh]] managing the [[Japan national baseball team|Japan national team]] in the [[2006 World Baseball Classic]]. Playing for the [[Central League]]'s [[Yomiuri Giants]] (1959–80), Oh set the professional world record for home runs.]]
In 1847, American soldiers played what may have been the first baseball game in Mexico at [[Parque Los Berros]] in [[Xalapa]], [[Veracruz]].<ref>Terry (1909), p. 506.</ref> The first formal baseball league outside of the United States and Canada was founded in 1878 in Cuba, which maintains a rich baseball tradition. The [[Baseball in Dominican Republic|Dominican Republic]] held its first islandwide championship tournament in 1912.<ref>Bjarkman (2004), pp. xxiv.</ref> Professional baseball tournaments and leagues began to form in other countries between the world wars, including the Netherlands (formed in 1922), Australia (1934), Japan (1936), Mexico (1937), and Puerto Rico (1938).<ref>Bjarkman (2004), pp. 356, 123, 137, xxiv, 11, 233; Gmelch (2006), p. 296.</ref> The [[Nippon Professional Baseball|Japanese major leagues]] have long been considered the highest quality professional circuits outside of the United States.<ref>McNeil (2000), p. 113.</ref>

[[File:Eino Kaakkolahti.jpg|right|thumb|upright=0.75|[[Pesäpallo]], a [[Finland|Finnish]] variation of baseball, was invented by [[Lauri Pihkala|Lauri "Tahko" Pihkala]] in the 1920s,<ref>
    {{cite web |url= http://www.pesis.fi/pesapalloliitto/international_site/introduction/ |title= Introduction to the game  |website= Pesis.fi |publisher= Pesäpalloliitto |access-date=October 16, 2015 }}</ref> and after that, it has changed with the times and grown in popularity. Picture of Pesäpallo match in 1958 in [[Jyväskylä]], Finland.]]

After World War II, professional leagues were founded in many Latin American countries, most prominently [[Baseball in Venezuela|Venezuela]] (1946) and the Dominican Republic (1955).<ref>Bjarkman (2004), pp. xxiv, xxv; Burgos (2007), p. 46.</ref> Since the early 1970s, the annual [[Caribbean Series]] has matched the championship clubs from the four leading Latin American winter leagues: the [[Dominican Professional Baseball League]], [[Mexican Pacific League]], [[Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League]], and [[Venezuelan Professional Baseball League]]. In Asia, South Korea (1982), Taiwan (1990) and China (2003) all have professional leagues.<ref>Bjarkman (2004), pp. 362, 368; Gmelch (2006), pp. 100, 75, 59.</ref>

The English football club, [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]], were the first British baseball champions winning the [[1890 National League of Baseball of Great Britain]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Kendrick |first=Mat |url=http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-the-day-the-claret-and-blues-157375 |title=Aston Villa: The day the claret and blues won the baseball league |newspaper=[[Birmingham Mail]] |access-date=October 3, 2016}}</ref><ref name=Cheats>{{cite news|title=The Baseball Championship: Aston Villa the Winners|publisher=Sporting Life|date=September 3, 1890|page=1}}</ref> The 2020 [[Baseball in the United Kingdom#National Baseball Champions|National Champions]] were the [[London Mets]]. Other European countries have seen professional leagues; the most successful, other than the [[Honkbal Hoofdklasse|Dutch league]], is the [[Serie A1 (baseball)|Italian league]], founded in 1948.<ref>Bjarkman (2004), pp. xv.</ref> In 2004, Australia won a surprise silver medal at the [[2004 Olympic Games|Olympic Games]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Mayo, Jonathan|title=Perspective: Baseball in the Holy Land|url=https://www.milb.com/news/gcs-501366|publisher=Minor League Baseball|date=January 28, 2009|access-date=February 5, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090131063101/http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090127&content_id=501366&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp|archive-date=January 31, 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> The Confédération Européene de Baseball (European Baseball Confederation), founded in 1953, organizes a number of competitions between clubs from different countries. Other competitions between national teams, such as the [[Baseball World Cup]] and the [[Baseball at the Summer Olympics|Olympic baseball tournament]], were administered by the [[International Baseball Federation]] (IBAF) from its formation in 1938 until its 2013 merger with the [[International Softball Federation]] to create the current joint governing body for both sports, the [[World Baseball Softball Confederation]] (WBSC).<ref>{{cite web|title=International Baseball Federation (Confederations/Member Federations)|url=http://www.ibaf.org/|publisher=International Baseball Federation|access-date=February 3, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090306131244/http://www.ibaf.org/|archive-date=March 6, 2009|url-status=live}}</ref>  [[Women's baseball]] is played on an organized amateur basis in numerous countries.<ref>{{cite book|last=Seymour Mills|first=Dorothy|title=Chasing Baseball: Our Obsession with its History, Numbers, People and Places|publisher=McFarland & Company|year=2009|pages=169–170|isbn=9780786455881}}</ref>

After being admitted to the Olympics as a [[Olympic sport|medal sport]] beginning with the [[1992 Summer Olympics|1992 Games]], baseball was dropped from the [[2012 Summer Olympic Games]] at the 2005 [[117th IOC Session|International Olympic Committee meeting]]. It remained part of the [[2008 Summer Olympic Games|2008 Games]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Fewer Sports for London Olympics|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/olympics_2012/4658925.stm|work=BBC News|date=July 8, 2005|access-date=September 16, 2008}}</ref> While the sport's lack of a following in much of the world was a factor,<ref>{{cite web|title=Secret ballot eliminates baseball, softball|publisher=[[ESPN]]|agency=Associated Press|date=July 8, 2005|url=http://www.espn.com/olympics/news/story?id=2103234|access-date=June 2, 2019}}</ref> more important was MLB's reluctance to allow its players to participate during the major league season.<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Fetters, Ashley|title=Lost Sports of the Summer Olympics|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/07/lost-sports-of-the-summer-olympics/260101/|magazine=[[The Atlantic]]|date=July 20, 2012|access-date=June 2, 2019}}</ref> MLB initiated the [[World Baseball Classic]], scheduled to precede its season, partly as a replacement, high-profile international tournament. The [[2006 World Baseball Classic|inaugural Classic]], held in March 2006, was the first tournament involving national teams to feature a significant number of MLB participants.<ref>{{cite news|author=Isidore, Chris|title=The Spring Classic?|url=https://money.cnn.com/2006/03/10/commentary/column_sportsbiz/sportsbiz/index.htm|publisher=CNNMoney.com|date=March 11, 2006|access-date=February 3, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=McNeal, Stan|title=Your Guide to the '06 World Baseball Classic|work=[[Sporting News]]|publisher=CBS Interactive|date=March 3, 2006|access-date=February 3, 2009|url=http://business.highbeam.com/62653/article-1G1-142729829/your-guide-06-world-baseball-classic|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701033537/http://business.highbeam.com/62653/article-1G1-142729829/your-guide-06-world-baseball-classic|archive-date=July 1, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Baseball World Cup was discontinued after its [[2011 Baseball World Cup|2011 edition]] in favor of an expanded World Baseball Classic.<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.ibaf.org/en/news/2011/12/03/the-congress-approved-a-new-format-of-internationa/cd3e0ea8-a62d-4c01-85f5-4c2aafba5119|title=IBAF Congress Approves New Format of International Tournaments|publisher=International Baseball Federation|date=December 3, 2011|access-date=January 20, 2013}}</ref>