Bat and Ball - Baseball away from the MLB Quiz

Answer: Cuba

The first winners of the Baseball World Cup, in 1938, were Great Britain, who beat the only other nation that took part, the USA. By far the most successful team in the competition's history were Cuba, who won it 25 out of the 39 times the contest took place. The last winners of the Baseball World Cup, in 2011, were the Netherlands. The competition was replaced by other tournaments.
(Question by Upstart3)

Answer: Japan

The baseball rankings for men are based on the World Baseball Classic (with 20 participating team in 2021) and the WBSC Premier 12 (participants are the 12 highest ranking national teams). Both take place every four years, but two years apart from each other. Also included in the ranking are results of the World Cups for several Junior teams. For the women's rankings the Women's Baseball World Cups count.
(Question by malama)

Answer: 24th

The First Major League in the Netherlands was established in 1922. During the occupation by Germany, materials became scarce and playing baseball became difficult. After the war, along with the Marshall plan, the USA sent materials to the rescue of Dutch baseball. In 1956 the Dutch team won their first European Championship in Rome and their 24th in 2021. Italy won 10 of the other 12 titles (they won the first in 1954 and their 10th in 1997). The other two were won by Spain (1955) and Belgium (1967).
(Question by malama)

Answer: Merseyside

Bat and ball games have been around for hundreds of years, but there are written references to a game called "baseball" played in the UK from the early 18th century. The game of rounders evolved in the UK separately from the similar baseball in the USA.

In the late nineteenth century, tours by American baseball players to the UK inspired rounders associations in south Wales and Liverpool to rename themselves as "baseball associations". Their sport retained differences from the American version of baseball, such as underarm "bowling" as opposed to overarm "pitching" and team sizes of 11 instead of 9.

The game of Welsh or British baseball reached a peak of popularity in the period between the 1940s and 1970, with international fixtures between England and Wales attracting thousands of spectators.

The game declined, with the international fixture being stopped in 2015. (Question by Upstart3)

Answer: Jane Austen

"Northanger Abbey" is a satire on Gothic novels by Jane Austen. In it, Catherine Morland, the young heroine, has an overactive imagination, and is torn between two lovers. Many misunderstandings hamper the progress of true love. A sporty girl, Catherine preferred "cricket, base-ball, riding on horseback, and running about the country at the age of fourteen, to books."
(Question by Upstart3)

Answer: Barcelona and Real Madrid

While Barcelona and Real Madrid is the answer, all five football clubs listed as options have had a baseball team at some point in their history.

Real Madrid's baseball team was founded in 1903, just a year after the football club, making them one of the first in Spain. They were also one of the first to build an exclusive baseball field, with the opening of Campo de la Elipa in June 1963. While the association football club achieved huge success in the 21st century, the baseball team was not so lucky, folding in 1989 as one of the most decorated in Spanish baseball history, with 10 league titles and 8 Copa Del Rey championships to their name. The Copa Del Rey is also the name of the domestic cup competition in Spanish association football.

Barcelona also had their own baseball club founded in 1941 and dissolved in 2011 at the behest of Sandro Rosell, the president of FC Barcelona from 2010 to 2014. The majority of the players would then go on to form the Barcelona Baseball Softball Club in 2012 and would lose in their first two Copa Del Rey finals in 2012 and 2013 before winning their first in 2014.
(Question by runaway_drive)

Answer: 1992, Barcelona

Although at the Olympic Summer Games some games of baseball have been played since 1904, officially it became an Olympic sport only in 1992 in Barcelona. Cuba won gold, Taiwan won silver, Japan won bronze, and USA came in 4th.
(Question by runaway_drive)

Answer: Japan

James Bonner was recruited to Dai Tokyo in the Japanese Baseball League. This happened in 1936, eleven years before Jackie Robinson "broke the color barrier" in the United States Major League Baseball.
Back in the US James Bonner had been playing for the San Francisco Colored Giants, for the Oakland Black Socks and the ethnically diverse Berkeley Grays and was an impressive player. He was hired by the Dai Tokyo Club for a fee that was three times that of a typical Japanese player. But his performance in Japan was poor and he was dismissed after only one month. Possible explanation for the poor performance were the smaller dimensions of the strike zone and the different texture of the balls used in Japan.
(Question by malama)

Answer: Israel

Six male teams participated: Israel, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, USA, and Dominican Republic. Japan won their first ever gold medal in baseball, and became the first home nation to do so, beating the USA in the final. The women played softball, and Japan won gold for that too.
(Question by runaway_drive)

Answer: Beep baseball

In Beep baseball, participants all wear masks to ensure they receive no visual stimulus. Pitcher and catcher are on the same team as the batter and aim to guide them to the get their best hit. The ball is larger than a traditional baseball and beeps continuously. Contrary to regular baseball, it's good to hit a high fly ball because it confuses the fielders. Catches are very rare. The game started in the US, but it is popular in Taiwan and Europe.
(Question by Upstart3)