Today, baseball is a popular sport around the world with numerous countries practicing it at amateur and professional levels.

International Baseball Federation (IBAF)

The International Baseball Federation (IBAF) was founded in 1938, after the inaugural Baseball World Cup held in London. About 5 years later, the name of the federation was changed to Federacion Internacional de Beisbol Amateur (FIBA).

In 1973, struggles in the FIBA led to a dissident organisation, the Federacion Mundial de Beisbol Amateur (FEMBA), which organised its own World Championships. The two organisations were reconciled in 1976, forming the International Baseball Association (AINBA).

In 1984, the name of the federation was once again changed, this time to International Baseball Association (IBA). In 2000, the original name was assumed again, International Baseball Federation, now abbreviated to IBAF. In 2013, the IBAF merged with the International Softball Federation to form the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC).

Baseball World Cup

The first World Cup (or World Championships) in baseball were held in 1938, as teams from the United States and United Kingdom played a series of five games. Britain won four and became the first baseball World Champion. After this championship, the IBAF was founded (see above). World Cups have been played at irregular intervals ever since; the 36th took place in the Netherlands in September 2005. Until 1996 professional players were not allowed to participate in the World Cups; since then major league players generally have not participated because the tournaments have conflicted with regular season games.

Below are listed the 39 World Cups held to date: Year Host Nation Number of Teams Winner 1938 United Kingdom 2 United Kingdom 1939 Cuba 3 Cuba 1940 Cuba 7 Cuba 1941 Cuba 9 Venezuela 1942 Cuba 5 Cuba 1943 Cuba 4 Cuba 1944 Venezuela 8 Venezuela 1945 Venezuela 6 Venezuela 1947 Colombia 9 Colombia 1948 Nicaragua 8 Dominican Republic 1950 Nicaragua 13 Cuba 1951 Mexico 11 Puerto Rico 1952 Cuba 13 Cuba 1953 Venezuela 11 Cuba 1961 Costa Rica 10 Cuba 1965 Colombia 9 Colombia 1969 Dominican Republic 11 Cuba 1970 Colombia 12 Cuba 1971 Cuba 10 Cuba 1972 Nicaragua 16 Cuba 1973 Cuba 8 Cuba 1973 Nicaragua 11 United States 1974 United States 9 United States 1976 Colombia 11 Cuba 1978 Italy 11 Cuba 1980 Japan 12 Cuba 1982 South Korea 10 South Korea 1984 Cuba 13 Cuba 1986 Netherlands 12 Cuba 1988 Italy 12 Cuba 1990 Canada 12 Cuba 1994 Nicaragua 16 Cuba 1998 Italy 16 Cuba 2001 Taiwan 16 Cuba 2003 Cuba 15 Cuba 2005 Netherlands 16 Cuba 2007 Taiwan 16 United States 2009 Europe 22 United States 2011 Panama 16 Netherlands

Caribbean Series The first Caribbean Baseball World Series was held in 1949, involving teams from The Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Panama, and Venezuela. Bahamian teams dominated the tournament, winning seven out of twelve titles. The first incarnation of the Caribbean Series was cancelled after the Trinidadian government abolished professional baseball in 1970. The Caribbean Series was revived in 1988, with teams from the Dominican Winter League, Mexican Pacific League, Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League and Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. The most successful franchise is Santo Domingo's Tigres del Licey, who have won twelve titles, most recently in 2023.

World Baseball Classic

In 2006, the first World Baseball Classic took place from March 3–20. The tournament, sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF), was organized by Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association in cooperation with other professional leagues and player associations from around the world. The tournament was held before the start of domestic league play for many nations, allowing professional players from domestic leagues to participate. On March 20, Japan defeated Cuba 10–6 in the final held at Petco Park in San Diego to win the 2006 World Baseball Classic. In the 2009 World Baseball Classic, Japan defeated South Korea 5–3 in 10 innings in the final at Dodger Stadium on March 23, 2009, in Los Angeles, to win their second consecutive championship.

Olympic baseball

Sometimes, baseball matches played during the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis in 1904 are listed as demonstrations at the 1904 Olympic Games. However, most historians do not regard them as such; actually any sports competition held in St. Louis has received a predicate 'Olympic'.

The first real Olympic appearance of baseball is in 1912, as a team from Västerås played against competitors from the U.S. track and field team at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. The Olympics (United States) beat Västerås (Sweden), which played with some Americans borrowed from the opponent, 13–3. A second game was played later, which included decathlon star Jim Thorpe as a right fielder. In that Olympics beat Finland 6–3. Both teams were Americans.

Baseball also made an appearance at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, American players facing a French team (the Ranelagh Club) in an exhibition game. The game lasted only four innings due to poor field conditions, the Americans leading 5–0 at the time. The American media was quick to claim a victory both for the American team and for baseball as a sport.

For the 1936 Olympics, the German hosts had invited the United States to play a demonstration match against Japan. As Japan withdrew, the US sent two 'all-star' teams, named the 'World Champions' and the 'U.S. Olympics'. For a layman crowd of 90,000 (sometimes reported as 125,000), the World Champions won 6–5.

There were plans for including baseball at the 1940 Olympics originally scheduled for Japan, but these plans were abandoned after Japan had to withdraw its bid because of the Second Sino-Japanese War.

After World War II, a Finnish game akin to baseball, pesäpallo, was demonstrated at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. Four years later, another demonstration of baseball took place at the Olympic in Melbourne, Australia. A team made up of servicemen from the U.S. Far East Command played Australia. Although initially with few spectators, during the match the crowd for the other athletic events entered the stadium, adding up to 114,000 spectators, which is reportedly still the biggest crowd to any baseball game ever. The match was won by the US, 11–5.

In 1964, the Olympic Games took place in Tokyo, Japan, where baseball was quite popular. A team of American college players—with eight future major league players—was fielded against a Japanese amateur all-star team. The Americans continued their Olympic winning streak, as they triumphed 6–2.

In 1981, baseball was granted the status of a demonstration sport for Los Angeles 1984, and rather than a single match, a full tournament would be organised. With the strong Cuban team absent due to the Soviet-led boycott the field consisted of: United States, Japan, South Korea, Dominican Republic, Canada, Taiwan, Italy and Nicaragua. The final was contested between Japan and the US, and the guests won 6–3, ending the American Olympic victory row. The second-place Team USA included future Hall of Famer Barry Larkin as well as future single-season home run record-holder Mark McGwire.

Another demonstration tournament was held in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. Again, Cuba, the team that won all major international championships since 1984, boycotted the Games. In a field consisting of United States, Japan, South Korea, Puerto Rico, Canada, Taiwan, Netherlands and Australia, Japan and the US again reached the final. Helped by 4 RBIs and 2 homers from Tino Martinez, the United States won 5–3.

At the 1986 IOC congress, it had been decided that the first official Olympic baseball tournament would be held in Barcelona, Spain in 1992.

At the 117th IOC Session, delegates voted to remove baseball and softball from the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. While both sports' lack of major appeal in a significant portion of the world was a factor, Major League Baseball's unwillingness to have a break during the Games so that its players could participate (like the National Hockey League does during the Winter Olympic Games) also played a role in the decision. MLB officials have pointed out that a two-week break in mid-season would necessitate a major reshuffling of its schedule: either the season would have to begin in March and/or the World Series would run into November. (The dozen or so games could be made up by playing doubleheaders, but both the players' union and the owners are against this.) Others saw the move as an anti-American slap delivered by the Europeans on the IOC. Women's softball was particularly hit hard by this ruling, as there are few other venues where female softball players have a chance to show their talents in front of such a large audience.

Baseball was open only to male amateurs in 1992 and 1996. As a result, the Americans and other nations where professional baseball is developed relied on collegiate players, while Cubans used their most experienced veterans, who technically were considered amateurs, as while they nominally held other jobs, they in fact trained full-time. In 2000, pros were admitted, but the MLB refused to release its players in 2000, 2004, and 2008, and the situation changed only a little: the Cubans still used their best players, while the Americans started using minor leaguers. The IOC cited the absence of the best players as the main reason for baseball being dropped from the Olympic program.

Barcelona 1992 This time, the strong Cuban team was present and it won all of its games, beating the US in the semi-finals 4–1, and routing Taiwan in the final 11–1. The United States was upset by Japan in the bronze medal match, losing 8–3. Final ranking:

Cuba Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) Japan United States Puerto Rico Dominican Republic Italy Spain

Atlanta 1996 In 1996, in Atlanta, Cubans won their semi-final match against Nicaragua, while the United States once again stumbled over Japan and lost 11–2. In the final, Cuba retained its Olympic unbeaten status, winning the gold 13–9, while USA beat Nicaragua 10–3 for the bronze medal. Final ranking:

Cuba Japan United States Nicaragua Netherlands Italy Australia South Korea

Sydney 2000 For the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, professional players were allowed for the first time, although no Major Leaguers played for the US. Once again, Cuba was the hot favourite, but they were shocked in the round-robin phase by the Netherlands, who beat them 4–2 but failed to make the semi-finals. In the semi-finals, the United States narrowly beat South Korea, while Cuba edged Japan 3–0 for a third straight Olympic final. In that final, the United States upset the Cubans, beating them 4–0. Final ranking:

United States Cuba South Korea Japan Netherlands Italy Australia South Africa

Athens 2004 The United States baseball team did not participate after losing a qualifying game to Mexico. A number of Americans of Greek descent played for the host nation, however. Japan and Cuba went into the games as the favorites for the gold medal match, but a strong showing by Australia against Japan (Australia beat Japan 9–4 in the preliminary round and again 1–0 in the semi-finals) knocked Japan out of the race for the gold. Cuba ended up winning the gold, defeating Australia 6–2, while Japan took bronze, beating Canada 11–2. Final ranking:

Cuba Australia Japan Canada Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) Netherlands Greece Italy (full results)

Beijing 2008