How the World Views Baseball

 

Baseball is indeed America’s past time sport but, it is very popular around the world as well. The Dominican Republic, Japan, Venezuela, Korea, and Cuba are just some countries that have a high interest in baseball. Countries like Japan and Korea have special chants for each player, they even have drums and trumpets playing in the background. Fans are able to be involved with the game by supporting their favorite players by cheering them on with their assigned chants, it really does bring the mood up while you’re at a baseball game. In 2013 I got to watch a baseball game in San Fransisco, the game was affiliated with the World Baseball Classics. The World Baseball Classics is a tournament where pro baseball players join their respective countries and play other pros that play for their own countries, it’s pretty much like the Olympics but focused on baseball. The game I went to was a semi-final game against Japan and Puerto Rico, the seats were pretty much full and you can hear many different sounds like the trumpets and drums that the Japanese fans played, and the ringing of cowbells that Puerto Rico fans sent off. Both fanbases were electric, they didn’t take an eye off the game, the crowd was so loud that it actually was hurting my ears but I wasn’t complaining at all because it was super fun. There are many players from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Cuba that come into the major leagues and have an outstanding career. Many of the successful players from the Dominican Republic grew up playing baseball on the streets or a small field, people there aren’t as privileged there but they still continue to do what they love. In Japan, high schoolers are forced to practice baseball almost 24/7 they have lots of strict training routines to do every day, some players even quit because the program is too strict. The world’s view of baseball completely varies on the country but many countries still love the game and have a passion for it.

 

Citizen, Global. “Baseball around the World.” YouTube, YouTube, 4 Apr. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNPl8m6yNgE.