Asia

Asia is the largest of earth's continents, spanning from the Ural and Caucasus Mountains and the Bosphorus in the east, to the Pacific Ocean in the West.

The major baseball power in Asia is Japan, home to professional baseball since 1936 and an amateur baseball powerhouse for decades before that. The major leagues in Japan are the Central League and Pacific League, which together form Nippon Pro Baseball. Prominent competitions are the spring Koshien and summer Koshien for high schoolers and the Japan Series.

South Korea is home to the Korea Baseball Organization and has developed significantly as a baseball force since the 1980s. Taiwan, with the Chinese Professional Baseball League, and China, with the China Baseball League, are also home to professional circuits and participants in international competitions. The Asia Series was introduced in 2005 as a way for the four top countries to face off, and they also did so in the World Baseball Classic, starting a year later. Japan and South Korea have also conducted all-star exhibition series in the past.

There is also some baseball being played in the Philippines, Thailand and Pakistan, all of which have taken part in the World Baseball Classic qualifiers. Other countries have taken part in the Asian Baseball Championship, which is held every other year.