Sport Trivia

The first formal baseball league outside of the United States and Canada was founded in Cuba during 1878. Cuba maintains a rich baseball tradition and its national team has been one of the world's strongest since international play began in the late 1930s. Professional baseball leagues began to form in other countries between the world wars, including the Netherlands (formed in 1922), Australia (1934), Japan (1936), and Puerto Rico (1938). After World War II, professional leagues were founded in many Latin American nations, most prominently Venezuela (1945), Mexico (1945), and the Dominican Republic (1951). In Asia, Korea (1982), Taiwan (1990), and mainland China (2003) all have professional leagues.