Im sure that this question has been answered before but i have had no useful information from google on the subject so here goes. In the US im told there is a league of Baseball named the “World Series”, but why is the United States the only country that participates? The name suggests some International competition?
Because they named it “World Series.” A name is not a description.
At the time, however, baseball was played in the US and few other places. The winner of the NL vs. AL series was the best professional team in the world by default. Back then (1903), there were also “World Champions” in boxing and other sports that were usually American, with much of the world not competing. It was how things were done.
And, before someone jumps in, it has nothing to do with the New York World.
To be fair, there are Canadian teams, but that’s certainly not enough to warrant a World title. Generally, the finest players from across the world find their way to our league, so from that standpoint, the name is apt. There are many players from Central America, Japan, Australia, and other places where you can find strong youth baseball.
Outside of Japan, however, none of those places has a strong professional league. The Japanese teams are probably a step down from the US league, their best players can certainly compete, but I think their average player wouldn’t cut it in MLB.
I don’t know about that. Sure, Ichiro and Matsui were the considered the superstars of the Japan Leagues (as was Sasaki when he left for Seattle), but there are a fair number of Japanese players in the Majors now who were rank-and-filers back home. Kazuo Matsui (Mets), Tsuyoshi Shinjo (Mets/Giants, now back in Japan), Kazuhisa Ishii (Dodgers), Akinori Otsuka (Padres), Tomo Ohka (Expos), Masao Kida (Mariners), none of these guys stood out from the crowd in Japan.
Now, I wouldn’t say that the average level in Japan is the same as the Majors, but I think the gap has narrowed significantly.
Hold on, I’m pretty sure that Kazuo Matsui and Kazuhisa Ishii were both stars in the Japanese leagues. They’re both fairly average in the US. Tsuyoshi Shinjo was an extremely mediocre outfielder who was becoming more and more relegated to backup status in the States. Otsuka is definitely a valuable asset here in the States.
Also consider that while Ichiro and Hideki Matsui were the best players in Japan, they’re not even the best players at their respective positions, in their respective leagues or even in their respective divisions.
I think that the average Japanese League team would have have its hands full with the best AAA teams here in the states, although, they would probably win in the end.
Forgot to answer this.
The World Series is not actually a league. It is a best of 7 series played between the winners of the National League and the American League (both of which have teams from Canada).
While the name suggests International competition, it’s not actually meant to mean that. It’s meant to give the impression that it’s the most important baseball series in the world - which it is.
The other thing you have to remember is that sports competitions in the US are not set up the same as they are in other countries. There is no independent national committee creating leagues and inviting clubs to participate. Each baseball team (and basketball, football, hockey, etc.) is considered a franchise of the business entity known as Major League Baseball (or NBA, NFL, NHL, etc.). So basically you have a private business entity calling its most important event the World Series. It’s basically just a superlative.
As I understand it, baseball is a major sport in only a small number of countries, of which the U.S. and Japan are the two largest populationwise by an order of magnitude.
It’s popular as well in Canada, Taiwan, Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico (allowing it a unique identity for this purpose), and Venezuela.
The World Series is a misnomer – it’s the playoff between the two top-of-the-line leagues (“Major Leagues”) in U.S. baseball, each of which has had one team located in Canada since around 1970. (With the Expos moving to the D.C. area, only Toronto will be fielding a non-U.S. Major League team from here on in.)
As I understand it, Japan has an equivalent playoff between its two major professional leagues.
The creme of the Hispanic-American nations’ players tend to gravitate to the much higher salaries and recognition available in the U.S.
It’s my opinion that slowly but surely, baseball will move towards international status, with some arrangement for games between U.S. and Japanese teams, and major league teams in a few Mexican cities and probably Caracas.
I always was told that World Series was derived from the Chicago World paper who were the first to sponsor it.
Correct? :dubious:
See my previous post. That was long debunked.
Where baseball is played now is irrelevant. World Series was used as the term for the championship ever since the two leagues met (actually, it was first used in the 1880s for a championship exhibition series between the National League and the American Association). Baseball later spread to other countries (Japan in the 1930s, for instance), but there was no need to change the name.
Say it with me: a name is not a description.
The Miss Universe pageant doesn’t have an entry from Mars.
Haj
And the Super Bowl is definitely not always super.
…and it’s not always in a bowl.
no, wait, scratch that
…and there isn’t any bowling at all.
eh. take your pick
Not only that, back in the 1880’s, when the first “World Series” (back then, it was held between the champions of the National League and the American Association) was held, the New York World was the media’s foremost supporter of American…cricket.
Maybe not, but plenty of people call the winners of the World Series “world champions” (Google “world champion Florida Marlins”), suggesting that for them at least “World” is more than just part of the name.
I used to believe the New York World story too, until somebody pointed me to the Snopes page debunking it: Claim: Baseball’s championship is known as the “World Series” because it was originally sponsored by the New York World newspaper.
What is considered the big international baseball competition? World cup baseball?
I did not have much success googling.
World Cup baseball has been discussed but not implemented. But I’d wager it would gain some momentum sometime in the next 10-15 years.
Olympic Baseball is that most significant international competition that the United States participates in (read: Major League Baseball contractual players) and typically most of the major league stars don’t go. It tends to be marginal major league and good minor league players with possibly some college players.
Actually no one a Major League roster is allowed to participate in Olympic baseball, which is one reason why the IOC wants to get rid of the sports. Japan allowed its teams to release players for the Olympics as did Korea.
The US didn’t even qualify for the 2004 Olympic baseball tournament, losing a qualifying game to Mexico in 2003.
It’s obviously just a little piece of vanity on the part of the relevant baseball officials in whatever the year was. So what? Why bother attacking it, why try to justify it?