Countries where baseball could've been popular

[zroberts1991]

Its no secret that baseball is one of the most popular sports in the world. Whatever one may say its still america's pastime, the most predominant sport in Latin America and immensely popular in parts of Asia.

The point of this thread is Im running a historical fictional league and as Im progressing Im starting to think about countries where baseball could've become one of the top sports.

Id like to have a universe with many countries that have a high baseball quality. In your opinion what are some nations where baseball may have thrived but for some reason didn't. Im thinking about the countries where Cricket is very popular and may pretend that baseball took its place so India, England, Australia and New Zealand would have a lot of talented players.

Whats your take?

[r0nster]

they tried in Israel twice .... the 2nd time it nearly caught on and only lasted a year or two. The far east and the western hemisphere as well as Austrailia baseball is huge. European football (soccer) is HUGE there and they love hockey as well. They are beginning to accept American football but baseball doesn't get the attention like it does in the accepted areas of the world.

[The Game]

In one of my leagues i have the World Baseball League which starts in 2015. Some countries where I have teams that are not really known for their baseball programs are Russia, England, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Turkey & Spain. Of course I have Canada, US, Mexico, PR, DR, Cuba, Italy, Netherlands, Australia, Korea, China, Japan, Chinese Tapei, Philippines, Ireland & France. i guess the last 3 do not have baseball programs.

[r0nster]

the beauty of this game is that you can have ANY team or nations play in this game

I wonder if there is an online league that has you representing a nation as opposed to a city or state .... I am gonna start looking

[zroberts1991]

Originally Posted by r0nster

they tried in Israel twice .... the 2nd time it nearly caught on and only lasted a year or two. The far east and the western hemisphere as well as Austrailia baseball is huge. European football (soccer) is HUGE there and they love hockey as well. They are beginning to accept American football but baseball doesn't get the attention like it does in the accepted areas of the world.

I have to be honest I lived in Australia for quite some time and no one plays baseball around there. Aussie Rules is the by far the most popular sport there along with rugby, futbol and cricket. Basketball is just starting to pick up there lately but baseball is a long way off from being popular. I know MLB has a youth academy out there but I can't think of one time where I saw a baseball field out there.

[r0nster]

I hear all the time about Australian baseball league there. Its been said the talent level isn't all that high in comparison to American or Far Eastern countries but from what I gather its still accepted there.

Either way its no big deal I just would love to see baseball in every country and major city

[zroberts1991]

Originally Posted by r0nster

I hear all the time about Australian baseball league there. Its been said the talent level isn't all that high in comparison to American or Far Eastern countries but from what I gather its still accepted there.

Either way its no big deal I just would love to see baseball in every country and major city

Ha no worries I just remember asking my roommates out there if they wanted to grab a glove and go out for a catch and they had no idea what in the hell i was talking about

[ohv]

Well here in Finland it could be more popular (some really amateur level baseball is only played), but the second biggest summer time team sport after soccer is this: Pesäpallo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . The basic idea is similar with the bases and so on, but how the homeruns and the "pitching" works makes it quite different.

[Kobeck]

IMO, the countries that the USA has been involved with in a military manner since 1850s. Not invaded as much as at least trained with. Official baseball sponsored tours have not been terribly successful overseas, but when Americans, soldiers mostly, have long term contact and can teach baseball then it has proven to be popular, not always but a lot of times. So to answer the question I think the following:

Mexico, Cuba, Nicaragua, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Columbia, Canada, Japan, British controlled parts of China, Egypt, Haiti, Chile, Korean Penisula, Saoma, UK, Spain, Phillipines, Abyssinia (Ethopia), France, Germany, Italy, China proper, Tiawan, Domenican Republic, Soviet Union, Croatia, Turkey, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, Newfoundland, Bermuda, St. Lucia, Bahamas, Jamaica, Antigua, Trinidad, British Guiana, Dutch Guiana, Iceland, Austria, Greece, Israel, Egypt, Vietnam, Lebanon, pretty much the Caribbean, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Congo (Zaire), Cyprus, El Salvador, Lybia, Grenada, Chad, Bolivia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Peru, Liberia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Somalia, Macedonia, Central African Republic, Albania, Kenya, Tanzania, East Timor, Serbia, Yemen, Afghanastain, Georgia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Pakistain, Uganda, Jordan, Mali and a bunch of the 'stans' in the Caucasus region. And Im sure Im missing some - lol

[Cryomaniac]

Originally Posted by Kobeck

IMO, the countries that the USA has been involved with in a military manner since 1850s. Not invaded as much as at least trained with. Official baseball sponsored tours have not been terribly successful overseas, but when Americans, soldiers mostly, have long term contact and can teach baseball then it has proven too be popular, not always but a lot of times. So to answer the question I think the following:

Mexico, Cuba, Nicaragua, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Columbia, Canada, Japan, British controlled parts of China, Egypt, Haiti, Chile, Korean Penisula, Saoma, UK, Spain, Phillipines, Abyssinia (Ethopia), France, Germany, Italy, China proper, Tiawan, Domenican Republic, Soviet Union, Croatia, Turkey, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, Newfoundland, Bermuda, St. Lucia, Bahamas, Jamaica, Antigua, Trinidad, British Guiana, Dutch Guiana, Iceland, Austria, Greece, Israel, Egypt, Vietnam, Lebanon, pretty much the Caribbean, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Congo (Zaire), Cyprus, El Salvador, Lybia, Grenada, Chad, Bolivia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Peru, Liberia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Somalia, Macedonia, Central African Republic, Albania, Kenya, Tanzania, East Timor, Serbia, Yemen, Afghanastain, Georgia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Pakistain, Uganda, Jordan, Mali and a bunch of the 'stans' in the Caucasus region. And Im sure Im missing some - lol

One of my league ideas that I sometimes use is an "alternate history" where US troops stationed in the UK after WW2 set up a baseball league.

[mgoetze]

Originally Posted by zroberts1991

the most predominant sport in Latin America

LOL, have you ever heard of soccer?

(By the way, "most predominant" doesn't make sense as there can only be one predominant sport in the first place.)

and immensely popular in parts of Asia.

Yes, but you should realize that Japan is actually a pretty small part of Asia.

[Cryomaniac]

Originally Posted by mgoetze

Yes, but you should realize that Japan is actually a pretty small part of Asia.

It's fairly popular in S.Korea and to some extent in Taiwan too.

[Kobeck]

lots of countries in Asia play a decent level of baseball.

As for Europe...

England - we made the game after all! It was really popular here until around the time all the US soldiers started to go home after the World Wars... Saying that is still popular just not pro/semi pro.

Italy

Nederlands

Germany (Every sport is popular in Germany!)

Czech Republic

Finland

and on a lesser level in Europe I'd say France/Spain it could take off if they tried harder maybe.

[mgoetze]

Originally Posted by Garethw87

Germany (Every sport is popular in Germany!)

I guess that's a fair assessment, which means that Baseball would be popular in Germany if anyone had ever actually heard of it. Seriously, it is completely unknown here.

[r0nster]

I know people in Czech Republic and they know of the game but Soccer and hockey is what they care most for.

[Tram2Whitaker]

In the early 1990s, shortly after the "fall of communism" there was a story about a Russian baseball league. It was still in rudimentary stages, and plagued by the crappy post-cold-war Russian economy (they showed how catchers were using hockey goalie mitts, instead of catchers' mitts).

If one were to take this with a grain of salt; at the same time there were stories of folks paying a months' salary for blue jeans, waiting in lines for hours for toilet paper and the like. All the same, if MLB were to have sponsored this fad, as they had sponsored clubs in DR and Venezuela, Russia would be as big a supplier of talent as S. Korea.

[The Wolf]

Originally Posted by mgoetze

I guess that's a fair assessment, which means that Baseball would be popular in Germany if anyone had ever actually heard of it. Seriously, it is completely unknown here.

Wrong. Markus has said that he plays it in a league Germany. My German step-grandfather played it.

Then there's this:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundesliga_(baseball)

[zroberts1991]

Originally Posted by mgoetze

LOL, have you ever heard of soccer?

(By the way, "most predominant" doesn't make sense as there can only be one predominant sport in the first place.)


Yes, but you should realize that Japan is actually a pretty small part of Asia.

When I say Latin America Im mainly referring to DR, Cuba, Venezuela and PR. And yes, in those countries baseball is the main sport.

As for Asia, baseball is very popular in Taiwan and South Korea not just Japan.

If your goal in your post was to try and make me look like an ass, good job.

[mgoetze]

Originally Posted by The Wolf

Wrong. Markus has said that he plays it in a league Germany. My German step-grandfather played it.

Then there's this:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundesliga_(baseball)

Oh yes, wow, some 30,000 people play organised baseball in Germany (Soccer: 6.8 Million). Way to completely disprove my point.