It Ain’t Football

BY DEB SEYMOUR

When we think about the international pastime, my guess is most of us think of “the other kind of football” – or soccer.

But, of course, there’s lacrosse, hockey, cricket, basketball, and a host of other sports we could name. And yet when we think about baseball outside North America, most of us probably only think of Puerto Rico, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Japan, Korea, Panama, and perhaps a few others such as Venezuela, Chinese Taipei, and Australia.

As soon as we rattle off these countries’ names, however, we discover that the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) will also feature the following teams: Columbia, Great Britain, Brazil, Italy, Czechia, Israel, the Netherlands, and Nicaragua.

Baseball is pretty popular outside North America, and certainly at the Little League level. Little League is played in more than 80 countries as well as in all 50 US states. African countries as diverse as Nigeria, Uganda, South Africa, Kenya, and Zimbabwe have Little League organizations.

There are many Little League teams across Europe, with Little League and the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Europe reporting over 1,300 chartered teams as of June 2024, up from 700 in 2023, through a partnership to grow the sport.

Teams and leagues exist in countries including Austria, Belgium, Czechia, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain, competing in regional tournaments to potentially advance to the Little League World Series.

At the WBC and Olympic levels, however, with baseball making its return to the Olympics in 2028 at Dodger Stadium, some international adult teams have been growing in both playing time and popularity – both nationally within their own countries and across the world.

“The Czech Republic were not supposed to be at… (the 2023) World Baseball Classic. Facing the heavily favored Spain team in the World Baseball Classic Qualifiers in Regensburg, Germany, the team turned to firefighter/star pitcher Martin Schneider in a must-win game. Schneider dominated for 6 1/3 innings, giving up just one run. Home runs from Martin Mužík and Marek Chlup – along with a clutch throw from Chlup to nail a runner at the plate – sealed it: The tiny central European nation would be going to its first World Baseball Classic (“The History of Baseball in the Czech Republic,” Michael Clair, March 7, 2023, MLB.com).

When you think about the Czech Republic, or Czechia, what’s the first sport that springs to mind? For me, it’s hockey. For you, it may be another sport. But I bet not a whole lot of fans think “it’s gotta be baseball.”

Here’s a brief summary of the history of baseball in Czechia:

When Czechoslovakia was still a communist country, baseball was considered a suspicious sport; and it was the success of communist Cuba with the sport that really opened the door to baseball in Czechoslovakia.

Hence, by the 1960s and 1970s, multiple student softball clubs and adult softball teams switched over to hardball.

The Czech Extraliga started play in 1979, and a national team has been competing in international tournaments since 1982. After the Iron Curtain fell in 1989, US coaches were allowed into the country to help teach players and hold instructional camps. Since then, the country has taken off, rising up the WBSC rankings along the way.

The Extraliga now features eight teams in its first division, has its very own baseball card set, and every game is streamed live worldwide. In addition to the league, the country hosts the annual Prague Baseball Week, when teams from around the world come for the tournament (Michael Clair, 2003, MLB.com).

While we often bemoan the shrinking interest in baseball in North America, and in particular in the US (as compared to, say, the growth of fandom for American football), in other countries just the opposite is happening.

In December 1986, the Israel Association of Baseball (IAB) was formed as a non-profit organization to develop and promote baseball in the tiny nation.

The sport was introduced to Israel by American immigrants, and although it was a fringe sport for a long time, it’s experiencing slow but steady growth through school programs and volunteer efforts.

Today, the IAB runs six leagues across the country, with players ranging from ages 5 through 50, hailing from wide-ranging cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. With the opening of Ezra Schwartz Ballpark in the town of Ra’anana in 2021, and a soon-to-be-completed national stadium in the Beit Shemesh region outside Jerusalem, Israelis are playing baseball on more fields now than ever before (baseball.org.il).

A graphic outline of the story of Israeli baseball at the Journey of Israeli Baseball shows us that in 1987, the Israeli national team lost its very first game ever, with a shocking score of 54-0, to Saudi Arabia. The team has come a long way since 1987, however, with Israel competing in “the group of death” at WBC 2023 against Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico – but winning one game against Nicaragua to automatically qualify for the 2026 WBC.

But on an entirely different note, as you probably know, for the past several years (since 2019), Major League Baseball has been playing various series in the United Kingdom.

MLB games have been held in the UK through the “MLB London Series,” a partnership with London that included regular-season games in 2019, 2023, and 2024. Following a partnership between the league and the city, there will also be a 2026 series.

Past London Series:

• 2019:The inaugural series featured the New York Yankees vs. the Boston Red Sox. 
• 2023:The St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs played a two-game series at London Stadium. 
• 2024:The New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies faced off in a two-game series.

Future London Series: 

• A long-term partnership between MLB and London includes future games, with a series scheduled for 2026 between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

The British Baseball Federation (BBF) is the national governing body for baseball in Great Britain. Baseball in Britain is not a major sport, but it’s growing. Affiliated clubs may enter as many teams as they wish to play in the BBF leagues. The BBF has three age brackets: a senior bracket for adults, and two youth brackets; one for ages 10-13, and one for ages 14-16.

The season runs from April to September each year, and ends in the National Baseball Championships. There are also National Youth Baseball Championships held each year.

Over the century and a quarter that baseball has been a league-driven sport in the US, a number of British players have participated in the major leagues here at home.

On September 1st of this season, among the call-ups was Harry Ford, called up to the Seattle Mariners. Ford is a catcher, and joins Cal Raleigh on the Mariners’ catching staff. Ford’s parents are both British born; and he represented Britain in the 2023 WBC, where he batted .308 in four games and hit two home runs.

Hence, even though Great Britain is mostly known for its Premier Soccer League and several other important national sports (e.g., cricket), baseball has its own popularity in the UK – and it’s there to stay.

Back here in the US, as American football season begins, we’re still in the throes of the 2025 MLB season; with multiple teams competing for playoff position and for the chance to play October baseball. After the 2025 World Series, however, the 2026 WBC (March 5-March 17, 2026) is virtually right around the corner. The excitement of Mike Trout facing then-teammate Shohei Ohtani in the 2023 WBC still lingers for many of us, and we may be in for some similar treats next year.

No, it ain’t football. But as international baseball keeps growing, the excitement surrounding it is  something pretty special, too.