Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization, the oldest of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. A total of 30 teams play in the National League (NL) and American League (AL), with 15 teams in each league. The NL and AL were formed as separate legal entities in 1876 and 1901 respectively. After cooperating but remaining legally separate entities beginning in 1903, the leagues merged into a single organization led by the Commissioner of Baseball in 2000. The organization also oversees Minor League Baseball, which comprises 256 teams affiliated with the Major League clubs. With the World Baseball Softball Confederation, MLB manages the international World Baseball Classic tournament.
Professional baseball is played in leagues throughout the world. In these leagues and associated farm teams, baseball players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system.
The Asia Series was an international club baseball competition, contested by the champions of all four of the professional leagues that are associated with the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) — Australian Baseball League (ABL), Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL), Korea Baseball Organization League, and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) — along with the CEB European Champion Cup holder and the host city, to bring the number of teams up to six.
The Chinese Professional Baseball League is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 2003. As of the 2019 season, the CPBL consists of four teams.
The Japan national baseball team is the national team representing Japan in international baseball competitions. They have reached 2nd place in the Baseball World Cup in 1982, and have won the World Baseball Classic in 2006 and 2009. The team is currently ranked #1 in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation.
The South Korean national baseball team is the national baseball team of South Korea. They won the Baseball World Cup in 1982, and participated in the Summer Olympic Games of 1984, 1988, 1996, and 2000. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, it won the gold medal in a final victory against Cuba. Currently, the South Korean men's baseball team is ranked 3rd in the WBSC World Rankings.
The Cuba national baseball team is the national team of Cuba. The team is made up from the most professional players from the Cuban national baseball system. Cuba has been described as a baseball powerhouse and currently ranks 5th in WBSC's world rankings. It has medalled in all five Olympics in which baseball was played.
The China national baseball team is the national representative team of the People's Republic of China.
The Cadillac Arena is a multipurpose indoor arena in Beijing. It was originally built for the 2008 Summer Olympics basketball preliminaries and finals. Ground was broken on 29 March 2005 and construction was completed on 11 January 2008.
Taiwan Series is the championship series of the Chinese Professional Baseball League. It is usually played in October, after the regular season. It was formerly known as the CPBL Seasonal Championship Series, and was renamed the Taiwan Series after the merger of the Chinese Professional Baseball League and the Taiwan Major League in 2003. Starting in 2005, the winner of the Taiwan Series competes in the Asia Series.
Baseball at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing was held from August 13 to August 23. All games were played at Wukesong Baseball Field, a temporary venue constructed at the Beijing Wukesong Culture & Sports Center. For the third time in Olympic competition, professional baseball players were eligible to participate, though no active players from Major League Baseball were available.
The Chinese Taipei baseball team is the national team of Taiwan. It is governed by the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association. The team is ranked fourth in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, behind the United States, Japan, and South Korea respectively. They have consistently maintained top positions in international baseball competitions. The team is usually made of professionals from Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League, Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, and Major League Baseball or Minor League Baseball from the United States.
The XXXVII International Baseball Federation (IBAF) Baseball World Cup was held in the Republic of China from November 6 through November 18, 2007. Four stadiums hosted. Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium and Taichung Baseball Field in Taichung City, Tianmu Baseball Stadium in Taipei City and Sinjhuang City all played host to the tournament. Sixteen teams participated. At one time, Venezuela’s participation was in question due to possible sanctions to be considered by the International Baseball Federation in the wake of their refusal to grant visas to a youth team from Taichung to participate in the Youth World Baseball championships in August, 2007, but they were allowed to participate. China was originally scheduled to participate in Pool B, but dropped out and was replaced by Thailand, who placed fifth behind China at the Asian Games.
The U-18 Baseball World Cup is the 18-and-under baseball world championship sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and its successor, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), and was first held in 1981 in the United States. Because it is a world championship, the results of the U-18 Baseball World Cup affect the WBSC World Rankings.
Chen Kun is a Chinese baseball player who was a member of Team China at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He also played for China at the 1999 Asian Baseball Championship, 2005 Konami Cup Asia Series, 2005 Baseball World Cup, 2006 Asian Games, 2006 World Baseball Classic, 2009 World Baseball Classic, 2013 World Baseball Classic and 2017 World Baseball Classic.
The U-12 Baseball World Cup is the under-12 baseball world championship sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) and its predecessor the International Baseball Federation (IBAF), and is the most elite and highest level of competition in its age category. The U-12 Baseball World Championship is scheduled to be held every two years and launched in 2011 in Taipei, Taiwan as the "12U Baseball World Championship".
The Asia Winter Baseball League is a professional baseball league hosted in Taiwan with 2012 as its inaugural season. Making use of the warm and dry winter climate in West Taiwan, the short term league aims to offer young baseball players additional training experience and continued exposure in off-season games.
The Taiwan Baseball Summer League, or Popcorn League, is the top-tier semi professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 2014.
The Asia Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) is a World Baseball Softball Confederation-sanctioned international baseball competition jointly launched with the Chinese Professional Baseball League, Korea Baseball Organization and Nippon Professional Baseball leagues. The three-nation tournament is contested by the U-24 national teams of Japan, South Korea and Chinese Taipei.
