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.   For more information contact committee chair Robert K. Fitts by email or by phone at (212) 828-6678.

• February 2003 - Asian Baseball Committee formed
  if you would like to join please contact Rob Fitts at
  asianbaseball@mindspring.com
• The 2006 SABR Convention (SABR 36) will be held July 2006 in Seatle, Washington.
  for more information see the  SABR Home Page
  
• The Asian Baseball Committee Meeting will be held in July, 2006
  at the SABR Convention
  Download Asian Committee Newsletter #4
  (PDF File)
  
• Asian Committee Research Project
  The Asian Research Comittee has decided that our first project will be a thorough study of the 1934 Major League All-Star tour of Asia.  As this topic will have sources in both English and Japanese, it will allow members on both sides of the Pacific to participate. 
  For more information please see the 1934 Asian Tour webpage.
  
• If you are interested in joining the project please contact Robert Fitts at asianbaseball@mindspring.com or at 212-828-6678.

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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