Why did Baseball's Popularity Spread?
Baseball's Spread During the Wars In America
In the US Civil War many men from different parts of the country played similar games. During the war they all came together and the rules became codified. When the war was over and they went home,baseball became popular all over in the next 30 years baseball became a professional sport. It started to grow more in the 20's and 30's with radio, and then again after WW2 with television.Back in 1941, baseball was still the national pastime. Americans liked the relaxed pace. The break between pitches was just long enough to ponder some strategy, and shell and eat a couple of roasted peanuts. Whether they were out to watch the men or the women play, more Americans than ever went out to the ballpark during the war. Fans at home, meanwhile, listened to games on the radio. Roosevelt was right. The people needed diversion. And baseball gave them that and more. “Baseball is more than a National Game,” wrote the Feather River Bulletin of California. “It is America’s anchor.”
Spread of Baseball to Japan
Baseball is the most popular team sport in Japan, with high school, university, and professional games stirring the public and dominating the media during the spring and summer months.
Baseball was first played in Japan in 1873 at Kaisei Gakko ( now Tokyo University ) under the instruction of an American teacher, Horace Wilson. Around 1880 the first Japanese baseball team was organized at the Shimbashi Athletic Club, and several college teams were formed in Tokyo. During the period 1890 to 1902, a team from the First Higher School in Tokyo played and often defeated a team made up of American residents in Yokohama; the publicity for these games helped make baseball one of the most popular Western sports in Japan.
Baseball was first played in Japan in 1873 at Kaisei Gakko ( now Tokyo University ) under the instruction of an American teacher, Horace Wilson. Around 1880 the first Japanese baseball team was organized at the Shimbashi Athletic Club, and several college teams were formed in Tokyo. During the period 1890 to 1902, a team from the First Higher School in Tokyo played and often defeated a team made up of American residents in Yokohama; the publicity for these games helped make baseball one of the most popular Western sports in Japan.
Spread of Baseball to the Dominican Republic
For over 100 years, baseball has been at the center of cultural life in the Dominican Republic. Though the origins of baseball in the Dominican aren’t exactly known, historians suggest that baseball first came to the island around the 1880s. Though it is a historical misconception that American Marines brought the game to the island during the 1916 invasion, the United States did play an integral, though indirect, role in bringing baseball here. The United States brought the game of baseball to Cuba in the mid-1860s. It is said that it was Cuban immigrants, fleeing their country's ten-year war, who spread the game throughout the Caribbean, including the Dominican Republic. The first baseball teams on the island were formed either in the year 1894 or 1895.