Baseball Timeline
1900-1920s
1904 - Baseball matches are played during the Louisian Purchase Exhibition, that ended up shading the Olympics
1908 - The USA Negro League Stars play in the Cuban League
1912 - A team from the city of Västerås, central Sweden, plays a baseball game against the USA track and field team at the Olympics in Stockholm
1912 - The Netherlands establish the first Baseball Federation in Europe
1921 - Korea assembles a team to face a visiting All-Star from the United States
1924 - A team made of American players faced the Ranelagh Club of France during the Paris Olympics. The game didn't go beyond the third inning due to poor field conditions
1926 - Teams from Cuba and Mexico play the Central American and Caribbean Series
1930s
1930 - A former Major League Baseball Player named Leslie Mann partners with the Louisville Sullger company to form the United States Baseball Congress. The project is to bring baseball to the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. The organizers prefer American Football and Lacrosse.
1934 - Media mogul Shoriki Matsutraro founds the Dai Nippon Tokyo Yakyu Kurabu, the first professional baseball club in Japan to face the visiting American All-Stars
1936 - The professional Japanese Baseball (JBL) League begins to operate in Japan
1936 - Leslie Mann takes two teams to the Berlin Olympics: the World Champions and the US Olympics. A crowd of 100,000, including Adolf Hitler himself, shows up for the demonstration game. Mann umpires the game
1936 - During the Berlin Games, the delegates of England, France, Canada, Hawaii and Cuba agree to Leslie Mann's idea of forming an International Baseball Federation
1937 - Hawaii, The Netherlands and France participate in a baseball tournament at the Paris World Exhibition
1938 - Canada's John Leslie writes the articles of partnership, Leslie Mann is elected the first President of the International Baseball Federation. The first members are USA, England, France, Canada, Hawaii, Cuba, Mexico, Spain, Egypt, China, Japan, Peru, Philippines, Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany
1938 - Businessman and Philantropist John Moores invites Leslie Mann to form a USA team to play a series against the National Team of England, made of players from the professional National Baseball League
13-20 August 1938 - England defeats the USA 4 games to 1 in a series played in Liverpool, Hull, Rochdale, Halifax and Leeds. The series awards the John Moores Trophy and will eventually recognized as the first edition of the Amateur World Series, that will evolve into the IBAF World Cup
1939 - Leslie Mann and Jaime Mariné, the President of the Cuban Dirección de Deportes, organize in Cuba the second edition of the Amateur World Series. Cuba, Nicaragua and the United States participate.
1940-1950s
1942 - The USA withdraw from the Amateur World Series. They won't be back for decades.
1944 - President Jorge Reyes, Mexico, changed the name of the International Baseball Federation into FIBA (Federación Internacional Béisbol Amateur)
1949 - The JBL evolves into the Pacific League and the Central League, that begin to operate jointly as Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB)
1949 - First Caribbean World Series involve teams from Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Panama and Venezuela
1951 - Baseball features on the programme of the inaugural Pan American Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina
1952 - Demonstration of the Finnish game of pesäpallo at the Helsinki Games
1954 - The Philippines win the first Asian Championship
1954 - Italy wins the first ever European Championship
1956 - A USA team made of military personnel defeated Australia, 11-5, in a demonstration game at the Melbourne Olympics
1956 - FIBA President Carlos Zecca (Costa Rica) launches the Mundial Juvenil for players under the age of 18. It's the first ever youth international competition
1960-1970s
1961 - The National Commission of American Baseball is founded
1964 - A United States team, assembled by University of Southern California head coach Rod Dedeaux, defeated Japan, 6-2, in a demonstration game at the Tokyo Olympics
1965 - The United States Baseball Federation (USBF) was founded to "foster and promote national and international baseball competition"
1969 - The USA return to the Amateur World Series and lose a dramatic final against Cuba
1970 - In Cartagena de las Indias, Colombia, Italy and The Netherlands become the first European countries to participate in the Amateur World Series. Canada also joins
1972 - Japan becomes the first Asian country to participate in the Amateur World Series. The tournament, held in Managua, Nicaragua, was named unofficially Baseball World Championship.
1972 - During the FIBA Congress in Nicaragua, Italy, Belgium and the USA lead a revolt against President Juan Isa of the Netherland Antilles
8 September 1973 - 27 countries leave the FIBA to form the Federación Mundial de Béisbol Amateur (FEMBA), an alternative world governing body of baseball. Dutch Fehring, USA, is elected the first President
1973 - FEMBA hosts in September the first-ever Intercontinental Cup in Italy and the FEMBA World Championship in Nicaragua in November. FIBA plays its Amateur World Series in Cuba in November
1974 - Carlos Garcia, Nicaragua, succeeds Dutch Fehring as the President of FEMBA
1976 - Mario Vazquez Raña, Mexico, the President of the Pan American Sports Organization, organizes a meeting to convince FEMBA and FIBA to merge. The new governing body was named Asociacición Internaciciónal de Béisbol Amateur (AINBA). Manuel Gonzalez Guerra, an International Olympic Committee (IOC) Member from Cuba, is elected the first President
1977 - AINBA organizes a Mundial Pre Juvenil, for players under the age of 12 in Mexico
1978 - AINBA is formally recognized by the IOC and officially renames the Amateur World Series Baseball World Championship. Italy earns hosting rights. The event leaves the Americas for the first time
1979 - The USFB President Robert Smith hosts an AINBA Extra Ordinary Congress in Los Angeles
1980s
1980 - Japan hosts the World Championship. Carlos Garcia, the future AINBA President, is arrested by the Sandinista police in his home country Nicaragua
1981 - Robert Smith becomes the AINBA acting President
1981 - Baseball is granted the status of Demonstration Sport at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games
1981 - Foundation of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO)
1981 - AINBA organizes the AAA World Cup, to become the U-18 World Cup. The first edition is won by Korea. The hosts USA finish second, Australia is third
1982 - At the World Championship in Seoul, Korea, AIMBA launches its Honours Programme
1984 - Japan beats the USA in the final of the demonstration tournament at the Los Angeles Olympic Games
1984 - Robert Smith is elected the AINBA President. He changes the name of the organization into International Baseball Association (IBA)
13 October 1986 - Baseball is admitted as a medal sport at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona
1988 - The USA win the final against Japan at the demonstration tournament of the Seoul Olympics
1989 - AINBA organizes the AA World Cup, to become U-16 World Cup. Japan wins the first edition on home soil. Chinese Taipei finishes second, China claims third place
1990s
1992 - Cuba wins gold at the Barcelona Olympics beating Chinese Taipei in the final. Japan earns a bronze medal
1993 - Aldo Notari, Italy, is elected the President of IBA
1993 - Baseball is featured for the first time at the Summer Universiad. Cuba wins, Korea finishes second, Canada is third
1994 - IBA Executive Director Miquel Ortin opens the office in Lausanne
1996 - Cuba wins gold at the Atlanta Olympics beating Japan oin the final. The USA claimed bronze
1998 - The IBA allows professional players for the World Championsip to be played in Italy. The tournament is unofficially named World Cup
2000s
2000 - The USA, led by legendary Tom Lasorda, won gold at the Sydney Olympics in the first Olympic Games that allowed professional baseball players to compete. Cuba finished second, Korea claimed a bronze medal
2001 - The world governing body changes its name once again and becomes the International Baseball Federation (IBAF)
2001 - The world championship played in Taiwan is officially named the IBAF World Cup
2002 - Cuba wins the first baseball University Championship in Messina, Italy. The USA finish second, Japan is third
2002 - During a press conference at the Intercontinental Cup in Havana, Cuba, IOC President Jacques Rogge announces the revision of the programme of the Olympic Games
2004 - Cuba beats Australia in the final of the Athens Olympics. Japan earned a bronze medal
2004 - The USA win the first-ever Women's World Cup in Canada. Japan finish second and Canada is third
7 July 2005 - IOC Session 117 in Singapore votes baseball out of the programme of the 2012 Olympics with 54 votes against 50
9 February 2006 - IOC Session 118 in Turin, Italy, rejects (46-42) the proposal of a revote for baseball
25 July 2006 - Aldo Notari dies in his hometown Parma, Italy. First Vice President Tom Peng, Chinese Taipei, become the IBAF acting President
2 March 2007 - Harvey Schiller, USA, succeeds Aldo Notari as the President of the IBAF
2008 - Korea beat Cuba in the final of the Beijing Olympics. The United States claimed bronze
March 2009 - The International Softball Federation (ISF) rejectes the IBAF proposal for a joint bid for reinstatement in the Olympic Programme
April 2009 - The IOC announces that only two sports will be proposed to the IOC Session for the programme of the 2016 Olympics
October 2009 - The IOC Session 121 in Copenhagen, Denmark, awarded to Rio de Janeiro the hosting rights of the 2016 Olympics, elected Jacques Rogge to his third term as IOC President and included golf and rugby 7 in the programme.
6 December 2009 - Riccardo Fraccari succeeds Harvey Schiller as the IBAF President
2010s
2011 - Chinese Taipei wins on home soil the first-ever U-12 Baseball World Cup. Cuba finishes second, Venezuela is third
2012 - The IBAF changes to U-15 the age bracket of the U-16 World Cup. The first edition is played in Mexico. Venezuela wins, Cuba finishes second and Chinese Taipei is third
December 2012 - 2011 Chinese Taipei wins on home soil the first-ever U-12 Baseball World Cup. Cuba finishes second, Venezuela is third
2012 - The IBAF Members unanimously (83 Federations participated to the voting) approve the proposal of a merger with the International Softball Federation (ISF) through a postal vote, opening the door for a new joint federations - the WBSC - to be launched in 2013.
2015 - The WBSC's signature event - the Premier12 - makes its debut.