Diamonds Around the Globe: The Encyclopedia of International Baseball

Peter C. Bjarkman

Feb 2005 · Greenwood Publishing Group

About this ebook

Baseball is increasingly popular throughout the world, as evidenced by the many talented players (such as Ichiro Suzuki, Miguel Cabrera, Albert Pujols, and Hideki Matsui) coming to the Major Leagues from around the globe. The influx of such players is testament to the many high-quality professional and amateur leagues that thrive throughout the world. In this reference book—the first of its kind— narrative chapters trace the history of baseball in Australia, Canada, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and throughout the rest of the world. Bjarkman profiles the teams and leading players from each country. He also covers the history of tournament play throughout the world, including Olympic baseball. This volume provides an invaluable and unprecedented source on the growth of America's national pastime into a global phenomenon that one day might feature a true World Series. Backmatter includes a chronology of important events, an annotated bibliography, and contact information for official baseball federations throughout the world.

About the author

PETER C. BJARKMAN writes extensively about baseball, basketball, and travel-related topics. He has published two previous books on Cuban baseball, plus a history of baseball in Latin America and more than three dozen other titles treating major league baseball, NBA basketball, and NCAA basketball. His recent work includes team history encyclopedias on the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Celtics, and New York Knicks. A fluent Spanish speaker, Bjarkman has twice been featured on Cuban national television discussing Cuban League baseball and the Cuban national team, the only American to claim this distinction during the 40-plus years of the Cuban Revolution.