| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 8 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  United States |
| Runner-up |  Hawaii |
| Third place |  Canada |
| Fourth place |  Colombia |
The 1955 Global World Series was the first Global World Series, an international baseball tournament organized by the International Baseball Congress in the mid-1950s. It was held in Milwaukee from September 23 to 28, 1955, and was the first worldwide baseball tournament hosted in the United States.
At the time, the Amateur World Series (AWS), the internationally sanctioned baseball world championship, was on hiatus; it was last held in 1953, and would not be held again until 1961 Amateur World Series. [1] The AWS did not allow professional baseball players, excluding players active with Major League Baseball and its affiliates; on top of that, the United States had not participated in the AWS since 1942.
Thus, the Global World Series emerged as an alternative tournament, organized by the semi-professional National Baseball Congress (NBC). NBC president Ray Dumont had begun discussing an international tournament that would feature multiple semipro teams from across the globe as early as 1948, supported by J. G. Taylor Spink, publisher of The Sporting News, and Alejandro Aguilar Reyes, founder and then-commissioner of the Mexican League. [2] These efforts were spearheaded by former MLB Commissioner Happy Chandler, in his role as head of the International Baseball Congress. [3] Chandler in particular sought to expand and existing two-nation series (most recently played between the United States and Japan) to a series involving four nations, or perhaps eight, in 1954. [2]
Despite the success of the two series in Japan, Chandler felt that, in order to increase the number and scope of the teams in the tournament, an American city would have to host. The organizers initially looked at Ebbets Field in New York City, put forth by Brooklyn Dodgers president Walter O'Malley, but Chandler instead selected Milwaukee County Stadium, the new home of the Milwaukee Braves. Chandler and Dumont initially sought to host the first Global World Series in 1954, but plans fell through and it was instead held in 1955. [2]
Some national teams were made up of their country's professional or semi-pro club champions, including the United States, represented by the Boeing Bombers of Wichita, Kansas. Aside from Daryl Spencer and Les Layton, both former New York Giants players, the team was made up of Boeing factory workers with minor league baseball experience. [2] Canada was represented by the Saskatoon Gems, which included Canadian hockey international Jackie McLeod. [4] Mexico was represented by the Refinerias club of Poza Rica, and Hawaii by the Honolulu Red Sox. [2]
The other national teams were true all-star selections. [2] Puerto Rico included Luis Olmo, a former Major League outfielder and scout who had most recently played with the Cangrejeros de Santurce in the 1954–55 season. [5] The Spanish national team classified by virtue of winning the 1955 European Baseball Championship. [6] Spain's participation was a coup for the tournament's organizers, as the rival International Baseball Federation had not yet been able to involve European countries in the Amateur World Series. [7]
| Milwaukee, Wisconsin | |
|---|---|
| Milwaukee County Stadium | |
| Capacity: 15,000 | |
 |
| Rk | Team | W | L | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 5 | 1 |  | |||
| 2 | Hawaii | 4 | 2 |  | |||
| Third place game | |||||||
| 3 | Canada | 3 | 2 |  | |||
| Eliminated after four games | |||||||
| 4 | Colombia | 2 | 3 | ||||
| Eliminated after three games | |||||||
| 5 |  Mexico | 1 | 2 | ||||
| 6 |  Japan | 1 | 2 | ||||
| Eliminated after two games | |||||||
| 7 |  Puerto Rico | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 8 |  Spain | 0 | 2 | ||||
The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) was a professional women's baseball league founded by Philip K. Wrigley, which existed from 1943 to 1954. The AAGPBL is the forerunner of women's professional league sports in the United States. Over 600 women played in the league, which eventually consisted of 10 teams located in the American Midwest. In 1948, league attendance peaked at over 900,000 spectators. The most successful team, the Rockford Peaches, won a league-best four championships.
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The 1939 Amateur World Series was the second Amateur World Series (AWS), an international men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation. Great Britain did not defend the AWS title it had won in the inaugural event the previous year. The tournament took place, for the first time, in Cuba. It was contested by the national teams of Cuba, Nicaragua and the United States, playing six games each from August 12 through August 26. Cuba won its first AWS title – the first of what would be a record 26 titles by the time the series ended in 2011, 22 more titles than the next closest nation.
The 1940 Amateur World Series was the third Amateur World Series (AWS), an international men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation. The tournament took place, for the second consecutive time, in Cuba. It was contested by seven national teams playing twelve games each from September 14 through October 6 in Havana. Cuba won its second, and second consecutive, AWS title.
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