World Baseball Tour

Major League Baseball successfully opened the 2008 season with two games between the Red Sox and A's at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. The Red Sox made a dramatic comeback in the ninth inning to win game one, the A's pitcher Rich Harden dominated the Red Sox lineup for a 5-1 win in the second game. Second Baseman Mark Ellis scored a run on a walk but went 0-3 at the plate. He assisted in completing two double plays.

This is not the first attempt by Americans to spread the great game of professional baseball to other parts of the World. The first time can be attributed to Albert Spalding's World Tour. The tour took two professional baseball "All-Star" teams to play exhibition games around the globe in 1888-1889. The tour, lead by Spalding, showcased some of America's best ball players including John Ward, Cap Anson, Ned Williamson, Ed Crane, and Tom Burns. The tour started in Chicago and played their way across the West stopping in several towns such as Omaha, Nebraska, Denver, Colorado, and Salt Lake City, Utah. They left from San Francisco and traveled by ship to Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, India, Egypt, Italy, France, and finished in England. There are conflicting reviews of the success or failure of the tour but without a doubt American baseball was given global exposure.