Editing Albert Spalding (section)

===World Tour===
{{main|Spalding World Tour}}
In 1888–1889, Spalding took a group of major league players around the world to promote baseball and [[Spalding (company)|Spalding sporting goods]]. This was the first-ever [[Spalding World Tour|world baseball tour]].<ref name="fame" /> Playing across the western U.S., the tour made stops in Hawaii (although no game was played), New Zealand, Australia, [[Ceylon]], Egypt, Italy, France, and England. The tour returned to grand receptions in New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago. The tour included future [[National Baseball Hall of Fame|Hall of Fame]]rs Cap Anson and [[John Montgomery Ward]].

The tour was also touted by Spalding as a launching point for baseball to reach the global stage. At a celebratory dinner in Manhattan, he celebrated the tour – perhaps prematurely – for establishing “our national game throughout the world.” Following Spalding's statements, [[Mark Twain]] proclaimed that the tour “carried the American name to the outermost parts of the earth, and covered it with glory every time.”

While Spalding and company gushed about their schlep around the world, waxing lyrical about baseball's future as a global sport, in reality, the tour had very little impact on the sport's hold overseas. Sports like [[soccer]], [[Rugby union|rugby]], and [[cricket]] had already been established in many other countries due to the presence of European imperialism so baseball had a difficult time gaining popularity in these regions. While baseball did reach a wider global audience, it was due to a larger scale diffusion of the sport rather than the efforts of one magnate, like Spalding envisioned.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ruck |first1=Rob |title=The Oxford Handbook of Sports History |last2=Edelman |first2=Robert |last3=Wilson |first3=Wayne |date=2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780197520956 |location=New York, NY |pages=197–198 |access-date=}}</ref>

While the players were on the tour, the National League instituted new rules regarding player pay that led to a revolt of players, led by Ward, who started the [[Players' League]] the following season (1890). The league lasted one year, partially due to the anti-competitive tactics of Spalding to limit its success. The tour and formation of the Player's League is depicted in the 2015 movie ''Deadball''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4531902/|title=Deadball|date=15 March 2015|publisher=Internet Movie Database}}</ref>