Hello David,

Just as US football holds a "world series" with only US teams
involved

erm... that's baseball with the "world series" ;)
american football's similar is the "super bowl"...

Yes, and it is not *only* US teams, there are a couple of Canadian
teams in major league baseball.ÿ :-)

Oh - of course. The "world" comprises USA AND Canada.

Aside from the fact there is only *one* team from Canada allowed
to compete in MLB, it should be kept in mind that no other teams
outside the USA are allowed. That is significant.

There are also other versions of football played around the world.
Canada has a league of its own. So does Australia. All play by a
different set of rules, but it is football nonetheless.

Anyway, back to baseball. Which used to be an international sport
played at the Olympics. The USA even won a gold medal in the event.
Countries from around the world were allowed to compete. Not just
from the USA. That is part of what made it all so much fun.

Women also were able to have their own kind of fun with softball.
Which used to be an international sport played at the Olympics.
Countries from around the world were allowed to compete. Not just
from the USA. The USA even won a gold medal in the event.

But hey. We are talking about baseball. Real baseball. Where boys
can be boys and girls can be girls. And the USA hosts the most
famous international baseball tournament in the world, known as
the World Series in Major League Baseball. That is the official
name of the tournament. Played mostly by boys aged 10-13.

The championship game is always played in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
And it is free for spectators to attend. No passport required.

When this tournament first began in 1947, only teams from the USA
were allowed to compete. Which hardly qualified as being international.
So in the 1950s teams from other countries were allowed to compete.
The first year such teams were allowed to compete, Mexico won the
title with its pitcher pitching a perfect game against Team USA.

In 1975, the USA was so embarrassed it decided not to allow any
teams from the rest of the world to compete. Team USA won the title
that year, but the fans did not approve. So in 1976 it was decided
that everybody from around the world would again be allowed to
play.

Australia got tired of playing in a regional, and threatened
to quit. So it was decided to grant Australia its own regional,
even though no team from Australia had ever won a title.

Even Donald Trump got into the act, threatening to ban Cuba from
playing. But the organizers did not bother listening to anything Trump
told them, and decided to grant Cuba a regional, on a rotating basis
with Panama and Puerto Rico.

This year there will be teams from 20 regionals competing.
Next year there will bbe teams from 22 regionals competing.

And unlike MLB, girls are allowed to play.

Now that is what you call international.

--Lee

--
If PBS won't do it, who will?

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