Baseball in China?
China's two biggest team sports are basketball and soccer. As for the former, evidence of the Sinic obsession with the sport are everywhere: young men wear jerseys of their favorite NBA stars, Yao Ming's games are broadcast nationally on CCTV5, and every basketball court you pass by is filled with young Chinese men (and women) shooting hoops. One boy I taught once asked me to supply him with information about "street ball", his latest obsession. I had to confess that my experience playing ball in the concrete jungles of American cities was rather slim. And besides, basketball isn't my favorite sport; that's baseball.
Awhile back a friend and I argued whether baseball will ever take off in China. He was skeptical. Because Chinese cities are so crowded, he couldn't imagine the government clearing enough land to build a baseball diamond. In addition, for a developing country, baseball can be an expensive game: players need bats and gloves and spikes and balls and catcher's gear, none of which are particularly cheap. A basketball game can happen with two hoops, a ball, enough guys, and a good pair of shoes. Baseball? Not so much.
I countered that Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese cities were also quite crowded yet baseball managed to get a foothold in those societies. In America, baseball is now a mainly suburban sport but it wasn't initially- the game developed on the streets of cities like New York, Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia. Besides, several developing countries around the world are mad about baseball, particularly communist Cuba.
For the Chinese, baseball has several advantages over basketball. For one thing, size isn't as advantageous in baseball as it is in basketball, where few Chinese would be as tall as the average NBA point guard. Several Asian baseball players have succeeded in the US despite being undersized: think no further than the great Japanese outfielder Ichiro Suzuki.
Furthermore, baseball is a sport that emphasizes skill and dexterity over strength. South Korea won the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006 due in no small part to their mastery of fundamental baseball skills. The Chinese, with their legendary discipline, would be well suited to a game in which so much emphasis is placed on error prevention.
Finally, evidence is on my side. China has developed a national baseball team, managed and coached by former Major Leaguers. The team entered the World Baseball Classic and will automatically qualify for the 2008 Olympics. While it's entirely possible that the sport will fail to catch on just as soccer never really has in the US, I still think in the next few decades you'll see far more Chinese youths playing catch. It'd make me happy, at least.
February 5th, 2008 - 04:13
I was wondering why baseball got so popular in Japan and South Korea. My conclusion was the American occupation after WWII. I actually agree with your friend that baseball for those reasons he mentioned, might not take off in China. The Chinese baseball teams suck.
February 6th, 2008 - 10:53
The expense and overcrowding arguments really don’t fly when you look at cricket in South Asia. But comparing cricket in South Asia with baseball in East Asia, you can see how colonialism/occupation played a role.
February 6th, 2008 - 15:54
Ah cricket- didn’t think of it. Sounds like the colonialism explanation is a pretty good one.