eBASEBALL™ Federation Focus: Argentine Baseball Federation ready to be part of WBSC eBASEBALL™: POWER PROS

Argentine Baseball Federation

1. Recap the basic history of your National Federation and the origins of baseball in your country

According to La Prensa newspaper records dating back to 1888, the first baseball team in the country was the Buenos Aires Béisbol Club.
In the city of Rosario, about 250 kilometres from Buenos Aires, there are reports of the arrival of baseball to the city thanks to Central American sailors who arrived to work in the port. We can safely say that baseball is over 100 years old in Argentina.

In Buenos Aires

By the 1920s, the sport was already gaining strength. The fact that it was practised in a public place, such as the parks of the Palermo neighbourhood in Buenos Aires, made many locals interested in the sport, which they baptized “field chess.”
In 1925, the Argentine Baseball Association was founded. It would organize the first baseball tournament in the country: Standard Oil Co., Piratas Béisbol Club, Asociación Cristiana de Jóvenes (Youth Christian Association), General Motors and Nippon were some of the participants in the early editions of the championship.
In 1932, the Argentine Baseball League was officially created. Standard Oil Co. became the first champion. Due to the rise of the sport, it was necessary to divide the competition into divisions. Thus, the second, third and fourth divisions of the Argentine League were created to give playing opportunities to teams belonging to different levels of baseball.

The rise of baseball and the great Argentine soccer clubs

By the mid-1930s, “baseball fever” moved to traditional Argentine soccer institutions. So much so that Boca Juniors, River Plate, Gimnasia y Esgrima de Plata and San Lorenzo de Almagro began to play tournaments in various categories of the Argentine Baseball and Softball League (ex-Argentine Baseball League).

The River Plate team was crowned 1937 champion. They defeated their soccer rival, San Lorenzo de Almagro. The following year, Boca Juniors claimed the top league title. In subsequent years, institutions such as Club Atlético San Isidro, GEBA, DAOM and Ferro Carril Oeste would join (the last two currently participate in the Metropolitan Baseball League tournaments).
By 1950, the 1st and 2nd category tournaments of the Argentine Baseball and Softball League had ten participants each. That same year, the Venezuela Baseball Club, comprised of Venezuelans residing in Buenos Aires and surrounding areas, would debut in the major tournament.
In 1957, the First Argentine Senior Baseball Championship was held, attended by representatives from the city of Rosario, the province of Buenos Aires and the Federal Capital, the latter being the first champion of the competition.

COSUBE, the Metropolitan Baseball League and the Argentine Federation are born

In 1954, the Argentine Baseball and Softball Federation was created. It acted as a competition governing body, supervising the teams and coordinating international friendlies, foreign tours and other tasks. Two years after its formation, it suffered political struggles. This caused changes in Argentina's baseball and softball governing body. Due to this intervention, the Metropolitan Baseball League (LMB) was born in 1956. This is how the Argentine Baseball and Softball League teams became part of the LMB.
In 1957, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay founded the South American Baseball Confederation (COSUBE, Confederación Sudamericana de Béisbol). It was meant to gather all the governing bodies of Southern America and organize regional competitions.
In 1960, baseball and softball created two separate Fedearions in Rosario: the Argentine Baseball Federation (FAB, Federación Argentina de Béisbol) was born.

2. Describe your National Team programmes

The National Team has a work agenda to grow its competition level to achieve our sporting goals.
In men's baseball, we work in the U-10, U-12, U-15, U-18, U-23 and adult categories. The top-level U-23 and the U-18 National Teams participated in international competitions in 2023, while the U-12 and U-15 will compete in 2024, aiming at a spot in the respective World Cups.
Women's baseball is developing through regional leagues. We are preparing to host the Women's World Cup Qualifier in 2026. We have a sports strategy and a strategy to raise the quality of our venues to World Cup standards.

3. Describe your top-level competition (teams, cities involved, format).

The Federation has two national-level competitions for top athletes: The Youth Development League in the first half of the year (it is a U-19 competition for provincial teams that lasts three months) and the Argentine Baseball League (LAB), which is played in the second half of the year. It is a semi-pro league reinforced with foreign players, the Argentine players who return after competing in Europe, our players who compete at the Collegiate level in the United States and the National Team players who have competed in the country's regional leagues.
The LAB, the top-level baseball competition in Argentina, is scheduled from September to December. The 2023 season is the sixth LAB edition.

4. Describe your grass-root activity.

We work in three fundamental areas: introduction to baseball, competition and high-level performance. We emphasise the initial stage to guarantee a critical mass of children that allows us to project growth in all regions.

5. Give an estimate of how many people play baseball in your country

We can estimate about 7,000 registered players and nearly 20,000 non-registered players who compete in different variants of baseball and softball.

WBSC eBASEBALL™ Series

1. What do you hope to achieve by participating in the WBSC eBASEBALL™ Series?

We hope to reach more people globally in order to develop eBaseball as a new baseball/softball discipline in our country.

2. How will your presence at the WBSC eBASEBALL™ Series benefit your baseball and softball communities?

Firstly, the benefit will be accessing an electronic sport. Nowadays, everyone plays with consoles and computers. A baseball variant will allow us to gain market share, increase support and sign new players.

3. What eBASEBALL™ skills do you think will transfer to real baseball?

Basically, it is the acquisition of knowledge in the fundamentals of baseball, learning how to play it, its rules, and its secrets.

4. How does your participation in the WBSC eBASEBALL™ Series align with your federation's overall strategy or mission?

Our strategy is to grow in the sport, grow in the number of players by massifying it. This is an alternative to reach the traditional player and the potential player who does not enjoy the field but rather the game console.

5. What benefits do you think you can bring to the WBSC eBASEBALL™ Series?

A new market in the southernmost country in the world that has the purpose of becoming a benchmark in the southern cone.

6. What advice would you give to other Federations interested in being part of the WBSC eBASEBALL™ Series?

We would encourage them to take the step and incorporate a tool that will guarantee the massification of the sport since it is the future of the new generations of athletes.

7. What are you most looking forward to regarding the WBSC eBASEBALL™ Series?

We hope that this participation will support our efforts to grow and develop. Our ultimate goal is to be able to compete on equal terms with our Central American brothers.