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Baseball in Asia has a long history. By the 1870s, organized teams existed in Japan and China, and by the beginning of the twentieth century, baseball had spread to the Philippines, Korea, and Taiwan (where it has become the national sport). The past decades have seen the growth of baseball reach into almost every corner of Asia, with national teams from Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, India, Iran, and Malaysia regularly competing in international play. Currently, there are thriving professional leagues in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and China. The primary goals of the Asian Baseball Committee are to introduce Asian baseball to the North American public and to focus on the long history of interaction between American and Asian baseball. These exchanges are important topics for both understanding the cultural variations of baseball and also for bringing together scholars from different nations. The committee hopes to achieve these goals by producing and distributing; creating a website; encouraging serious studies of Asian baseball by helping researchers network; encouraging members to publish their studies in the SABR journals, and eventually holding symposium at the annual SABR coventions.
About SABR: The Society for American Baseball Research was established in Cooperstown, New York in August of 1971. The Society's mission is to foster the study of baseball, to assist in developing and maintaining the history of the game, to facilitate the dissemination of baseball research, to stimulate interest in baseball, and to safeguard the proprietary interests of its members' research efforts. |
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WHY JOIN SABR?
“SABR is the Phi Beta Kappa of baseball, providing scholarship which the sport has long needed ... An excellent way for all of us to add to our enjoyment of the greatest game."
Ernie Harwell, Broadcaster,
Detroit Tigers
"SABR is baseball’s best-kept secret ... its benefits are many for the advanced fan, the aspiring professional, or simply those who cannot get enough good baseball talk and text."
John Thorn, Official Historian,
Major League Baseball
