Baseball Around the World: How the World Plays the Game

by Chris Singleton, Dean Burrell

It might be America’s favorite pastime, but baseball isn’t just an American sport!

From Cuba to Japan, Australia to Italy, a diverse melting pot of countries and cultures have embraced the ole ballgame. In Baseball Around the World, you’ll take a multicultural world tour to meet the nations and players who have pushed baseball to international popularity―with a twist, of course.

Find out what they eat at Japanese baseball stadiums, how a gold rush brought baseball to Australia, why South Korean games are allowed to end in a tie, and much more in this home run of a book!

Genres: Nonfiction, Sports

32 pages, Hardcover

Published June 17, 2022

About the author

Chris Singleton is an inspirational speaker and former professional baseball player who travels the country as a student achievement specialist. Chris has spoken to over 75,000 students and teachers across the nation and has helped thousands of students and teachers overcome hardships and excel in the classroom. Chris's speech on overcoming hate with love has been seen or shared millions of times and has gotten him featured on Lifetime, ESPN E:60, USA Today, CNN, and Fox News. Chris is a proud father of his son, CJ, and a proud husband to his high-school sweetheart, Mariana.

Reviews

[Colin Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative!

[Jordan Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baseball Around the World by Chris Singleton and Dean Burrell hits a home run for fans and enthusiasts of the game. Focusing on a dozen different countries, the colourfully set out book is packed full of interesting statistics about notable players and teams, festive food choices for fans and a timeline of key milestones for the sport’s development in each country. With lots of photos, graphics and pop-out boxes, it is easy for readers to jump to specific areas of interest. You can hone in on the history, fast facts or ‘did you know’ sections. You can find a who’s who of players, mini maps to show team locations in each country, and lists of major stadiums. Singleton and Burrell are writing for children aged seven to eleven, but adults that love the game as much as I do will thoroughly enjoy learning many new and interesting facts. I enjoyed learning about women’s involvement in the game, why speaking Spanish is essential for team managers and how the game arrived Down Under. The multicultural view offered in Baseball Around the World helps readers imagine what it might be like to watch or play the game in different nations. You might eat hot dogs in the stands in the United States, but in Italy, you’ll likely be sipping espresso, eating panini sandwiches and enjoying gelato at the ole ball game. The book concludes with an interesting history of Little League and how twenty-eight countries so far, have participated its World Series.

Teachers will love Baseball Around the World, How the World Plays the Game, as an engaging, easy-to-digest resource poised for students to make country comparisons. The book offers an encyclopaedia style reference for learners to effectively examine countries, learn about how place influences sport, and also touches on issues of gender and diversity. Despite the differences of baseball’s development over the years in different countries, Singleton and Burrell also emphasize the shared heart of the game. “One of the great things about the game is that it shows people how we are all equal.” Baseball Around the World is a well-presented, informative look at how the love of the game can unify us all, no matter where on the planet, we call home.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Copy provided by the publisher

This picture book sized exploration of baseball is packed with information about this "American pastime" in different areas of the world! Beautifully formatted with plentiful vintage illustrations, it takes us to Cuba, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Italy, Nicauragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Japan, South Korea and Australia, all without a passport! Each two page spread covers one country, and includes information like quick stats, famous players, teams and their cities, and even favorite ball park stats! I especially appreciated that a section on what the sport is like in that country today. There are even fun facts, like information about Albert Spalding, the first woman player in professional baseball (Genevieve Beacom, in the Australian Baseball League in 2022), and information about Little League, complete with a roster of countries that play in the Little League World Series.

This was an intriguing book to flip for that will interest sports aficionados who are fans of National Geographic atlases and "fun fact" books, or who want a more global look at baseball with similar information to Sports Illustrated's Baseball Then to Wow. There's so much information on a wide range of topics that include everything from the racial inequities in the early years of the sport to the philanthropic work in which players engage. The pictures from different countries will intrigue readers eager for travel, and the timelines at the bottom of the page are highly informative.

This colorful book is a great introduction to the sport for the youngest fan (or parent of said child!), and the red, yellow, and blue cover is so attractive that I sort of want to make a sports themed quilt to go along with this in order to have a fantastic baby gift for an avid baseball fan! I know just the students to hand this to at my school.

[Erin Buhr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a new nonfiction book about baseball around the world. I generally thing of baseball as an American sport but it spread near and far around the world since the early 1800s. This book looks at the different countries where baseball is played. It shares when and how it arrived, a little about baseball in that country today, a map of where the teams are located, lots of photos and more. There is a lot of information gathered and well presented in this book. A great book to baseball fans and little leaguers. It would also be a fun way to explore history and geography with a baseball fan.