YEARBOOK2011 INTERNATIONAL BASEBALL FEDERATION YEAR BOOK 2011 ibaf.org 1 INTERNATIONAL BASEBALL FEDERATION FEDERACIÓN INTERNACIONAL DE BÉISBOL GLO BAL BASE BALL ibaf.org follow us on GLOBAL PARTNERS 2 YEARBOOK2011 Founded in 1938, the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) is the recognised baseball federation of the International Olympic Committee. Established in the Olympic capital of Lausanne in 1994, the IBAF is made up of over 100 national federation members, and it organises numerous major events, such as: the Baseball World Cup, the Women’s Baseball World Cup as well as the World Championships for all ages. The IBAF also sanctions the World Baseball Classic and works to continue the development and expansion of baseball all over the world. IBAF Headquarters Maison du Sport International 54, Avenue de Rhodanie 1007 Lausanne Switzerland Tel: +41-21-318 8240 Fax: +41-21-318 8241; +41-2-318 8242 IBAF Executive Offi ce of the President BASEBALL FEDERATION INTERNATIONAL Via Guglielmo Calderini 68 00196 Rome Italy Tel: +39-06-89561859 Fax: +39-06-88658348 E-mail: ibaf.offi [email protected] Web site: www.ibaf.org 3I INTERNATIONAL BASEBALL FEDERATION FEDERACIÓN INTERNACIONAL DE BÉISBOL IBAF 12U Baseball World Championship - Chinese Taipei July 9 to 17 IBAF 16U Baseball World Championship - Mexico August 19 to 28 IBAF Baseball World Cup - Panama September 29 to October 15, 2011 European Championship Juveniles (12U) - Belarus 2011 IBAF TOURNAMENTS 2011 IBAF June 27 to July 2 European Championship Juniors (18U) - Spain July 4 to 10 European Championship Cadets (16U) - Czech Republic July 18 to 23 AAA Asia Championship (18U) - Japan August 28 to September 2 IX Panamericano Juvenil AAA (18U) - Colombia September 23 to October 20 XVI Pan American Games - Mexico October 19 to 25 4 YEARBOOK2011 IBAF History 6 Executive Committee 10 Commissions 12 IBAF Presidents 13 IBAF Offi ces 14 IBAF Africa – ABSA 15 Member Federations 16 IBAF Oceania – BCO 21 Member Federations 22 OF CONTENTS TABLE IBAF Asia – BFA 26 Member Federations 27 IBAF Europe – CEB 33 Member Federations 34 IBAF Americas – COPABE 47 Member Federations 48 Professional Baseball 56 Olympic Movement 59 History of Baseball in the Olympic Games 80 World Baseball Classic 87 IBAF Baseball World Cup 89 IBAF Intercontinental Cup 100 IBAF 18U Baseball World Championships 108 IBAF 16U Baseball World Championships 113 IBAF 12U Baseball World Championships 115 IBAF Women’s Baseball World Cup 116 FISU World University Baseball Championships 120 Continental Championships 122 IBAF World Rankings 136 5 INTERNATIONAL BASEBALL FEDERATION FEDERACIÓN INTERNACIONAL DE BÉISBOL IBAF HISTORY The fi rst-ever international baseball event was a series of exhibition games that took place during the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis, MO. (USA). The exhibition was so successful that baseball, as an exhibition event, was repeated at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. These two events laid the groundwork for the rise in popularity that the game saw internationally in the 1930s. In 1936, a baseball exhibition was held at the Olympic Games in Berlin. This exhibition was an enormous success as 92,565 spectators fi lled the Olympic Stadium to watch a game between two American teams. Following the success of Berlin, in August 1938, the fi rst Baseball World Cup was held in London. With the participation of just two teams, the United States and Great Britain, a series of fi ve games was played. The British team won four of the fi ve games. This was followed by the formation of the International Baseball Federation (IBF). For many years following, the Baseball World Cup hosted only two to four countries at a time, but in 1950, international baseball had a breakthrough – the 11th Annual Baseball World Cup took place in Managua, Nicaragua, with a record participation of 12 countries. In what was the largest Baseball World Cup to date, Cuba was proclaimed champions. Over the next 30 years, international baseball prospered throughout the world (highlighted by over 100,000 spectators taking in another baseball demonstration game at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne). As time went on, continents formed their own baseball federations and countries began creating and hosting their very own global tournaments, such as the Pan American Games and the Asian Championships. The game of baseball was growing at a rapid rate. It was during this period of time that Cuba entrenched itself as an international baseball power. With countries all over the world striving to match their talent 6 YEARBOOK2011 level, baseball was being pushed further into the forefront of the worldwide sports scene and, by extension, into the minds of the International Olympic Committee. When it was announced in early 1978 that the 1984 Olympic Games were to take place in Los Angeles, LA. (USA), Peter O’Malley, President and Owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, organized a meeting that was attended by virtually every IBAF HISTORY delegate from the 37 countries affi liated with the IBAF. The idea of baseball as a true fi xture in the Olympic Games was becoming a reality. Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles was the venue for the 1984 Olympic Baseball demonstration tournament, which was organized with the help of the big league club. The tournament, won by Japan, was watched by an average stadium crowd of 48,000, making baseball the third-most popular sport at the Olympic Games in terms of attendance. On October 13, 1986, the efforts put forth in Los Angeles came to fruition when, at the International Olympic Committee Session in Lausanne, Switzerland, baseball was included in the offi cial programme of the 1992 Olympic Games to be hosted by Barcelona, Spain. In 1988, the USA won the last Olympic demonstration tournament at the Olympic Games in Seoul, and Cuba won the fi rst-ever Olympic gold medal for baseball at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.The silvers went to Japan and Chinese Taipei and the bronze went to Puerto Rico respectively. In June 1993, at a Congress in Rome, Aldo Notari of Italy was unanimously elected as President of the international baseball organization. He immediately took steps towards making a crucial change: transferring the corporate headquarters to the Olympic capital in Lausanne, Switzerland. This was a key move, clearly integrating baseball into the Olympic Movement. Three years later, in 1996, the baseball tournament in the Atlanta Olympic Games topped its own record with 1,134,203 tickets sold. Cuba took home its second straight Olympic gold at the event, with Japan fi nishing with the silver and the USA with the bronze. 7 INTERNATIONAL BASEBALL FEDERATION FEDERACIÓN INTERNACIONAL DE BÉISBOL In 1999, following an agreement between Major League Baseball (MLB), the MLB Players Association (MLBPA) and the international federation to allow the participation of non-25-man roster professional players in the Sydney Games, the federation decided to return to its roots and changed its name to the International Baseball Federation (IBAF). IBAF HISTORY With the inclusion of professional players, the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games baseball tournament was a tremendous success as 97.44 percent of capacity was averaged over the event’s 32 games. There were two fi rsts in this Games – one, the Olympic gold medal went to the United States (Cuba garnered the silver and South Korea, the bronze) and two, the tournament featured teams from fi ve continents, illustrating the growth of baseball internationally. In the eight years since Sydney, baseball has seen many more positive changes. In 2002, the fi rst ever FISU World University Baseball Championships were played, and the IBAF approved the inception of the Women’s Baseball World Cup. Both events have gone on to see much success, and both were be played in 2008 in the Czech Republic and Japan, respectively. 2004 was a year of ups and downs for the sport. The year was highlighted by Cuba’s gold medal in the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Australia took home the silver for its fi rst Olympic baseball medal and Japan earned the bronze. Prior to the Olympic Games, however, baseball had learned that by the narrowest of margins, it had been voted off the Olympic Programme for the London Games of 2012 and 2016 games. Since then, as part of a global effort to return baseball to the program, Major League Baseball has created a new event, the World Baseball Classic (sanctioned by the IBAF), that features professional players from all over the world in a truly international event held prior to the start of the regular season. In 2006 the fi rst World Baseball Classic was held in the United States, with Japan winning the gold medal. 8 YEARBOOK2011 The Second edition of the World Baseball Classic was held in 2009. The tournament grew in size in both commercially and in terms of its global fan base and featured a multi country, multi city tournament setup, with the fi rst round of the classic being entirely held outside the United States. Japan emerged the winner over South Korea, with the United States and Venezuela the other semi fi nalists. IBAF HISTORY 2009 also featured the IBAF 2009 Baseball World Cup. The event being played across seven European countries, rather than in Cuba where it was originally scheduled to be played. The tournament saw the United States emerge victorious over Cuba, however equally as important demonstrated the fan-base for the game in Europe. The conclusion of the 2009 tournament schedule also heralded a new era for the International Baseball Federation with the election of Riccardo Fraccari as President. Fraccari and his executive through new initiatives, including outreach, multimedia efforts and a new Web site (IBAF.org), look to greatly increase the relevance of the organisation to the global sports community and the global baseball community.