World Series - International Participation

International Participation

Despite its name, the World Series remains solely the championship of the major-league baseball teams in the United States and Canada, although MLB, its players, and North American media sometimes informally refer to World Series winners as "world champions of baseball."

The United States, Canada and Mexico (Liga Méxicana de Béisbol, established 1925) were the only professional baseball countries until a few decades into the 20th century. The first Japanese professional baseball efforts began in 1920. The current Japanese leagues date from the late 1940s (after World War II). Various Latin American leagues also formed around that time.

By the 1990s, baseball was played at a highly skilled level in many countries. Reaching North America's high-salary major leagues is the goal of many of the best players around the world, which gives a strong international flavor to the Series. Many talented players from Latin America, the Caribbean, the Pacific Rim, and elsewhere now play in the majors. One notable exception is Cuban citizens, because of the political tensions between the US and Cuba since 1959 (yet a number of Cuba's finest ballplayers have still managed to defect to the United States over the past half-century to play in the American professional leagues). Japanese professional players also have a difficult time coming to the North American leagues. They become free agents only after nine years playing service in NPB, although their Japanese teams may at any time "post" them for bids from MLB teams, which commonly happens at the player's request.

Several tournaments feature teams composed only players from one country, similar to national teams in other sports. The World Baseball Classic, sponsored by Major League Baseball, uses a format similar to the FIFA World Cup to promote competition between nations every four years. The International Baseball Federation also sponsored a Baseball World Cup to crown a world champion. But as these teams do not feature the best talent from each nation, the public generally does not give much weight to the result of these tournaments. The Caribbean Series features competition among the league champions from Mexico, Puetro Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela but unlike the FIFA Club World Cup, there is no club competition that feature champions from all professional leagues across the world.