A Glance History of Baseball in Asia

Baseball in Asia has a long history. By the 1870s, organized teams existed in Japan and China, and by the beginning of the twentieth century, baseball had spread to the Philippines, Korea, and Taiwan (where it has become the national sport). The past decades have seen the growth of baseball reach into almost every corner of Asia, with national teams from Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, India, Iran, and Malaysia regularly competing in international play. Currently, there are thriving professional leagues in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and China.

The primary goals of the Asian Baseball Committee are to introduce Asian baseball to the North American public and to focus on the long history of interaction between American and Asian baseball. These exchanges are important topics for both understanding the cultural variations of baseball and also for bringing together scholars from different nations. The committee hopes to achieve these goals by producing and distributing; creating a website; encouraging serious studies of Asian baseball by helping researchers network; encouraging members to publish their studies in the SABR journals, and eventually holding symposium at the annual SABR coventions.

source: SOCIATY FOR AMERICAN BASEBALL RESEARCH