• The International Baseball Federation is the sanctioning body for international baseball tournaments
• Cuba dominates international baseball organization rankings for two world baseball tournaments
• Baseball has never taken off as an Olympic Sport even though its worldwide popularity is on the upswing

We keep it real here at Electro-Mech, because we’re more than just an electronic scoreboards continue to light up, we’ll be there. Just read on and you’ll see what we mean.

History of International Baseball Federation

The International Baseball Federation (IBAF) was established in 1938 and is responsible for governing the worldwide sport of baseball. It keeps statistics on baseball organization rankings and is the sanctioning body for international baseball tournaments including the:

• Baseball World Cup
• World Baseball Classic
• Olympic Baseball
• Intercontinental Cup

There are 112 countries involved with this international baseball association. Each country is represented by either their own league baseball organizations or by one of five confederations:

1. African Baseball and Softball Association
2. Baseball Confederation of Oceania
3. Baseball Federation of Asia
4. Confederation of European Baseball
5. Pan American Baseball Confederation

The International Baseball Federation was mainly associated with amateur ball until the establishment of the “World Baseball Classic” in 2006. It has been stated in international circles that the World Series isn’t really a world championship until all countries can participate. Major League Baseball and the IBF organized this tournament to answer their critics.

International Baseball Association Tournaments

• It was the International Baseball Federations inaugural year in 1938 when the first Baseball World Cup took place. It wasn’t too difficult in coming up with baseball organization rankings as only two teams took in the tournament: the United States and Great Britain. Since then, there have been 37 Baseball World Cups with Cuba dominating this tournament with 25 gold medals.

• The first international baseball association to hold tournaments among the baseball playing countries of the world was the Olympic Games. Baseball debuted in 1904 at the St. Louis Summer Olympics. Since then, baseball has been considered an exhibition sport when it comes to the Olympics. It wasn’t until the 1992 Summer Olympics that baseball became an official sport in the eyes of the IOC. Only amateur players were allowed to compete until 2000 when professional baseball players were allowed to compete. Fortunately or unfortunately, MLB has not been willing to suspend the season to allow players to compete in the Olympics. This has been cited as a major reason why baseball has been voted out of the 2012 Summer Games.

• The World Baseball Classic is an International Baseball Federation sanctioned event in cooperation with MLB, MLBPA, and international baseball associations around the world. There have only been two tournaments, so far, with Japan taking the prize at both events. Participants were chosen based on international baseball organization rankings and 16 countries were chosen. Professional players are allowed to compete and still the Americans have not been able to win as yet. It shows that the level of ball played at the international level is of high caliber.

• The Intercontinental Cup has been a sanctioned tournament of the International Baseball Federation since 1973. It has been held every second year with Cuba again dominating the international scene. The last tournament took place in 2006.