The Emergence of Baseball in China: Part I

A sport-loving nation

Open almost any magazine or newspaper today, and China is sure to be mentioned, if not featured. Since reopening to the rest of the world in the late 1970s, China has developed at a rate unmatched by the history of any other nation.

I live in Shenzhen, a city in the south of China, just an hour north of Hong Kong. Twenty-five years ago, this city was a small fishing village. Fast-forward to 2008, and it has become China’s richest city, not to mention a production hub for many of China’s countless mass-produced goods, from fashion bags to digital cameras and LCD TVs.

In the world of sports, the race to catch the West is becoming more evident. It is hard to flip through the Chinese TV channels these days and not catch a glimpse of a Rockets or Bucks game, or at least some NBA highlights.

And the Olympics…well, people can debate all day about whether Beijing deserves the honor of hosting the 2008 Olympic Games. The facts are, Chinese love the Olympics, and Beijing is the perfect place to host the Games.

When I first came to China in the summer of 2004, the first thing I did was walk into a restaurant in Beijing, only to be ignored by the waiters who were all gathered around the restaurant’s 20-inch TV with the rest of the patrons intently watching an Olympic game of badminton like it was the Super Bowl.

When was the last time any patriotic group of Americans gathered around to watch an Olympic competition all night? Unfortunately, the excitement of the Olympics has passed many of us by. But in China, the Games are hotter than Yao Ming himself.

So we know that basketball and the Olympics are huge in China. Even the World Cup was a big deal in China two years ago—and they didn't even have a team.

But what about baseball?

China is not exactly known for its up-and-coming MLB prospects. Will baseball get picked up in the whirlwind of adopting foreign pastimes as China’s own? The fact that the first ever MLB game in China is just around the corner is an indication that China is ready for baseball. And with the new Wukesong Stadium built for the Olympics, Beijing is gearing up for America’s favorite pastime.

The man who killed baseball

With a history about 20 times longer than that of the U.S., it is not surprising that many worldly phenomena are deeply rooted in China. On numerous occasions, China has claimed, often with reason, to be the inventor of things like the toilet and even soccer. Baseball is not one of these things. But surprisingly, the beginnings of baseball in China trace back farther than most would think.

Its roots are in Shanghai, where in 1863, the Shanghai Baseball Club was formed. National interest in the sport picked up quickly, and in 1915, China placed second to the Philippines in a Greater Asia baseball tournament held in Shanghai.

Forty years later, baseball was as big as it would ever be.

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