2022 in Review - Top Stories of the Year
Below are the news highlights of 2023, month by month. For all stories, click here.
January
January 10 - Historic: Genevieve Beacom becomes first female to play pro baseball in Australia
January 10 - Rachel Balkovec becomes first female manager in USA affiliated baseball
January 13 - WBSC, Newdin Contents partner to launch Virtual Baseball World Cup competitions
January 17 - WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari honours 60th anniversary of Cuba's national baseball league
January 24 - WBSC enters into agreement with Sportradar to help safeguard the integrity of the game
January 24 - Finland celebrates 40 years of baseball in the country
January 24 - Minorca Piratas start construction for first-ever baseball/softball field in Balearic Islands
February
February 2 - WBSC Baseball Division Board Member Saber Jlajla named Tunisian Olympic Academy president
February 3 - Japan’s Olympic gold-medal winning softball team honoured with memorial wall in Izumo City
February 10 - South Africa first qualified nation for WBSC U-23 Men’s Softball World Cup in Argentina
February 11 - WBSC holds European workshop on member benefits and development opportunities
February 12 - Kruno Karin elected to lead WBSC Europe into new era
February 14 - Iran, Iraq sign Memorandum of Understanding on baseball-softball development
February 15 - Emily Glass becomes first-ever woman to scout for MLB's Colorado Rockies
February 25 - Federation Focus: Bhutan wants baseball and softball to thrive on top of the world
February 28 - WBSC statement on Ukraine
March
March 4 - WBSC Development Programmes manual published for 2022-24
March 8 - International Women's Day: Rosi del Castillo continues breaking baseball barriers in Mexico
March 11 - Erasmus+Sport: WBSC endorses European Union development programme to further grow the sport
April
April 8 - WBSC runs key Baseball5 / Mini Baseball workshop for OlympAfrica directors in Africa
April 11 - WBSC Official Rules of Softball Fast Pitch 2022-2025 now available
April 13 - Asian Games 2022 baseball stadium completed in Shaoxing City, China
April 19 - Baseball5 in Africa: Cape Verde Olympic Committee latest to come on board
May
May 2 - Venezuela's Aracelis Léon becomes first woman to serve as COPABE president
May 2 - Three consecutive homers carry Argentina to Men’s Softball Pan American title
May 5 - WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari signs new MOU with Cuba
May 6 - WBSC Academy: Field management continuing development course now online
May 11 - Europe: MLB taking the show to London to help grow the game
May 16 - WBSC publishes Baseball5 Rulebook in seventh language, Arabic
May 19 - New professional softball league to open in USA, schedule announced
May 19 - Softball legend Maria Soto elected President of Venezuelan Olympic Committee
May 23 - Asian Games: New baseball, softball venues pass inspection
May 23 - WBSC releases Official Rules of Softball Slow Pitch 2022-2025
May 31 - WBSC headquarters takes home Critics Award at international architecture competition
June
June 2 - World champions Argentina new world No. 1, pass Japan in WBSC Men’s Softball World Rankings
June 2 - WBSC U-18 Women’s Softball World Cup: The cradle of softball Olympians
June 9 - WBSC awards co-hosting rights of Women’s Softball World Cup to Italy, Ireland and Spain
June 13 - Fans, players, federations celebrate World Softball Day 2022
June 13 - Argentina tops Brazil to win South American Women’s Softball Championship on home soil
June 14 - Sport for all: Softball shines at Special Olympics
June 21 - WBSC welcomes ASOIF Governance Review with significant progress showcased
June 23 - WBSC Academy: Licensing Programme for Softball Technical Commissioners now available
June 24 - Northern Mariana Islands win gold at Pacific Mini Games baseball event, Guam silver, Palau bronze
June 27 - WBSC Academy: Licensing Programme for Softball Umpires now available
June 29 - Striking out doping: WBSC renews and extends partnership with the ITA
July
July 1 - WBSC Academy: Licensing Programme for Baseball Technical Commissioners now available
July 4 - Taiwan's Jeffrey Koo Jr. is the new Baseball Federation of Asia president
July 4 - WBSC Congress awards Order of Honour to Robert Smith, Peter O'Malley and Tom Peng
July 4 - WBSC Secretary General Beng Choo Low re-elected president of Softball Asia
July 4 - Albert Frimpong is the new WBSC Africa President
July 5 - Riccardo Fraccari re-elected president of the World Baseball Softball Confederation
July 5 - WBSC Softball Hall of Fame Class of 2022 inducted
July 6 - Tetsuto Yamada, Yamato Fujita named 2021 WBSC Baseball, Softball Players of the Year
July 7 - Yukiko Ueno: My love for softball has been my driving force
July 7 - IV WBSC Congress shapes organization's new leadership following elections, appointments
July 11 - WBSC presents Order of the Golden Diamond Award to Monica Abbott
July 14 - USA win The World Games gold medal, three-peat as women’s softball world champion
July 14 - Haylie McCleney named MVP as The World Games All-World Team revealed
July 15 - Softball gold medal game draws largest crowd of any sport at The World Games 2022
July 20 - WBSC, KONAMI sign MOU to develop new baseball video game, eSport competition
July 20 - President Fraccari delivers WBSC Collar of Honour to int'l baseball pioneer Peter O'Malley
July 23 - Baseball in Taiwan: New stadium in Hsinchu opens to sold-out crowd
August
August 4 - Brazil beat Argentina to win South American Baseball Championship, earn ticket to 2023 Pan Am Games
August 7 - USA top Venezuela to become 4x U-12 Baseball World Champions
August 7 - WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup: USA slugger Colin Anderson named MVP as All-World Team revealed
August 16 - Dates announced for VII WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup 2023 in Tainan, Taiwan
August 18 - Softball legend Yukiko Ueno interview: What it takes to be the best in the sport
August 22 - Softball Asia 2023 tournaments announced
August 22 - Italy defeat Great Britain to win historic first-ever WBSC Blind Baseball International Cup
August 23 - Global development: Online Baseball5 Toolkit now available in five languages
August 25 - Baseball5 in Burkina Faso promoting peace, social cohesion
August 31 - Italian Paralympic athlete Arjola Dedaj: "Blind Baseball deserves a demonstration at Paralympic Games"
September
September 1 - Yukiko Ueno: Olympics is a major platform and inspiration for softball
September 5 - USA top Cuba 4-3 to repeat as U-15 Baseball World Cup champions
September 5 - USA's Coy James earn WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup MVP honours as All-World team announced
September 7 - WBSC partners with LEVERADE to award the first-ever NFT digital trophies at Baseball5 World Cup and WBSC Virtual Cup
September 10 - MLB approves rule changes to speed up the pace of play, improve players' safety
September 18 - United States defeat Chinese Taipei in the final, earn 10th U-18 Baseball World Cup
September 18 - USA’s Bryce Eldridge earns WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup MVP honours as six squads represented in All-World Team
September 22 - Great Britain and Czechia qualify for World Baseball Classic 2023
September 30 - International Summit on Sport: WBSC President joins world sport's leaders in signing Sport for All Declaration in Vatican City
October
October 5 - Baseball5 confirmed for Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games
October 6 - Panama and Nicaragua qualify for World Baseball Classic 2023
October 7 - Baseball5 World Cup: New rulebook published with showpiece event in mind
October 23 - WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup: Maruyama three-run homer, masterful pitching highlight Japan's title victory over Korea
October 23 - U-23 Baseball World Cup MVP Ryusei Gonda, All-World Team awarded during closing ceremony
October 24 - Monica Abbott discusses retirement with Japanese media and looks forward to softball at the LA28 Olympic Games
October 31 - Olympic Week 2022: Baseball, Softball and Baseball5 attract keen audience in Olympic capital
November
November 5 - Baseball5 World Cup: TikTok signs on as WBSC content partner
November 7 - World’s largest sports retailer Decathlon joins WBSC Baseball5 World Cup maiden edition as the official supplier
November 8 - Historic day for Africa as Tunisia, Kenya and South Africa claim maiden victories
November 12 - Cuba crowned first ever WBSC Baseball5 World Champions
November 12 - All-Star team sprinkles stardust on inaugural WBSC Baseball5 World Cup
November 16 - WBSC President: Exciting future ahead for Baseball5 after inaugural World Cup
November 18 - WBSC Executive Board meets online, reviews busy 2022 year, looks ahead to exciting 2023
November 19 - France, Türkiye first National Teams to qualify for inaugural WBSC Youth Baseball5 World Cup
November 22 - Corpay Cross-Border Announced as World Baseball Softball's Official Global FX Payments Provider
November 22 - WBSC and Mizuno extend partnership
November 24 - Monica Abbott, Cole Evans, Maria Soto & Vaclav Svoboda complete WBSC Athletes’ Commission as softball athlete representatives
November 27 - Korea's Kimhwanhee win first-ever WBSC Virtual Cup and $10,000 in prize money
December
December 4 - Australia are WBSC Men's Softball World Champions, beating four-time winners Canada, USA claim bronze
December 4 - Marshall Kronk named MVP, five teams represented in All-World Team
December 4 - Final Standings revealed for first ever WBSC Virtual Cup
December 11 - Chinese Taipei win back-to-back U-12 Softball World Cup titles
December 11 - WBSC U-12 Mixed Softball World Cup MVP Yuan-Tsi Tien, All-World Team awarded during closing ceremony
December 15 - Dates, groups unveiled for XVII WBSC Women’s Softball World Cup; first to be played under new Two-Stage format
December 20 - Canada to host IX Women's Baseball World Cup Finals and Group A in Thunder Bay
December 22 - End of the year message from the WBSC President to the global baseball softball community
December 23 - Inaugural WBSC U-23 Men’s Softball World Cup hosting rights awarded to Argentina in 2023; Canada receive wild card
December 30 - Year in Review
December 31 - WBSC Baseball World Rankings: Japan remains as world No 1 men's baseball programme
December 31 - WBSC Softball World Rankings: Argentina, USA close 2022 on top of men's & women’s rankings
