List of countries with their first Major League Baseball player

The following is a list of countries with their first Major League Baseball player. Listed are each country that at least one current or former major league player was born in, along with the name of the first person born in that country to play in a major league game, and the year and sports league of that player's major league debut.

In 1956, Ozzie Virgil Sr. became the first player born in the Dominican Republic to appear in a major league game.

Background

The globalization of baseball has been occurring since its inception. After an influx of players from western Europe in early years, the major leagues came to see fewer European players and more players from Latin America. Players born in over 50 countries and on every continent except Antarctica have now appeared in major league games. Considerations:

  • The players listed are not necessarily the first citizen of a country to play in a major league game, as nationality is determined under a country's nationality law and may differ.
  • The list does not reflect where players grew up and learned to play baseball.
    • Some players on the list, despite their birth location, are or were Americans or Canadians who returned to their parents' home country as children and were raised there. One example is Harry Kingman, who was born in China but grew up in California.
    • Many European-born players on the list moved to North America as children. For example, the first person born in Italy to play in the major leagues, Lou Polli in 1932, moved with his family to Vermont at seven months of age.[lower-alpha 3]

List

Listed players appeared in at least one game of a professional baseball major league (commonly referred to as Major League Baseball, although that entity did not exist before 1903), which encompasses:

Note that the status of the National Association as a major league is in dispute.[1] National Association players are included in the major league records of sites such as Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet, thus are also included here.

The European countries highlighted in blue have had a least one player born there play in a major league game, through the 2019 season.
CountryPlayerDebutRef.
YearLeague
AfghanistanJeff Bronkey1993American League[2]
American SamoaTony Solaita1968American League[3]
ArubaGene Kingsale1996American League[4]
at seaEd Porray1914Federal League[5]
AustraliaJoe Quinn1884Union Association[6]
AustriaJoe Koukalik1904National League[7]
BahamasAndre Rodgers1957National League[8]
BelgiumBrian Lesher1996American League[9]
BelizeChito Martinez1991American League[10]
BrazilYan Gomes2012American League[11]
CanadaBob Addy1871National Association[12]
ChinaHarry Kingman1914American League[13]
ColombiaLou Castro1902American League[14]
CubaSteve Bellán1871National Association[15]
CuraçaoHensley Meulens1989American League[16]
Czech RepublicJohn Stedronsky1879National League[17]
DenmarkOlaf Henriksen1911American League[18]
Dominican RepublicOzzie Virgil Sr.1956National League[19]
FinlandJohn Michaelson1921American League[20]
FranceLarry Ressler1875National Association[21]
GermanyGeorge Heubel1871National Association[22]
GreeceAl Campanis1943National League[23]
GuamJohn Hattig2006American League[24]
HondurasGerald Young1987National League[25]
Hong KongAustin Brice2016National League[26]
IndonesiaTom Mastny2006American League[27]
IrelandAndy Leonard1871National Association[28]
ItalyLou Polli1932American League[29]
JamaicaChili Davis1981National League[30]
JapanMasanori Murakami1964National League[31]
LatviaJoe Zapustas1933American League[32]
LithuaniaDovydas Neverauskas2017National League[33]
MexicoMel Almada1933American League[34]
NetherlandsRynie Wolters1871National Association[35]
NicaraguaDennis Martínez1976American League[36]
NorwayJohn Anderson1894National League[37]
PanamaHumberto Robinson1955National League[38]
PeruJesús Luzardo2019American League[39]
PhilippinesBobby Chouinard1996American League[40]
PolandSkel Roach1899National League[41]
PortugalFrank Thompson1875National Association[42]
Puerto RicoHiram Bithorn1942National League[43]
RussiaJake Gettman1897National League[44]
Saudi ArabiaCraig Stansberry2007National League[45]
SingaporeRobin Jennings1996National League[46]
SlovakiaJack Quinn1909American League[47]
South AfricaGift Ngoepe2017National League[48]
South KoreaChan Ho Park1994National League[49]
SpainAl Cabrera1913National League[50]
SwedenCharlie Hallstrom1885National League[51]
SwitzerlandOtto Hess1902American League[52]
TaiwanChin-Feng Chen2002National League[53]
United KingdomGeorge Hall1871National Association[54]
Harry Wright
United Statesmultiple players1871National Association[55]
U.S. Virgin IslandsJoe Christopher1959National League[56]
VenezuelaAlex Carrasquel1939American League[57]
VietnamDanny Graves1996American League[58]

Hall and Wright both made their debut on May 5, 1871.
There were 18 players–all born in the United States–in the first game of the National Association, played on May 4, 1871.[55][59]

Notes

  1. This approach is consistent with that of the Hockey Hall of Fame, generally followed for purposes of nationality classification in ice hockey, which classifies players by the currently existing countries in which their birthplaces are located.
  2. A notable example is Al Campanis, the first Greek major league player; when he was born in 1916, his birthplace–the Greek island of Kos–was part of the Kingdom of Italy; Kos has been part of Greece since 1947.
  3. The first player born and raised in Italy to appear in the major leagues was Alex Liddi in 2011.

See also

References

  1. Thorn, John (4 May 2015). "Why Is the National Association Not a Major League … and Other Records Issues". mlblogs.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  2. "Players by birthplace: Afghanistan Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  3. "Players by birthplace: American Samoa Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  4. "Players by birthplace: Aruba Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  5. "Players by birthplace: At Sea Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  6. "Players by birthplace: Australia Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  7. "Players by birthplace: Austria Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  8. "Players by birthplace: Bahamas Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  9. "Players by birthplace: Belgium Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  10. "Players by birthplace: Belize Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  11. "Players by birthplace: Brazil Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  12. "Players by birthplace: Canada Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  13. "Players by birthplace: China Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  14. "Players by birthplace: Colombia Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  15. "Players by birthplace: Cuba Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  16. "Players by birthplace: Curacao Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  17. "Players by birthplace: Czech Republic Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  18. "Players by birthplace: Denmark Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  19. "Players by birthplace: Dominican Republic Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  20. "Players by birthplace: Finland Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  21. "Players by birthplace: France Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  22. "Players by birthplace: Germany Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  23. "Players by birthplace: Greece Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  24. "Players by birthplace: Guam Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  25. "Players by birthplace: Honduras Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  26. "Players by birthplace: Hong Kong Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  27. "Players by birthplace: Indonesia Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  28. "Players by birthplace: Ireland Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  29. "Players by birthplace: Italy Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  30. "Players by birthplace: Jamaica Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  31. "Players by birthplace: Japan Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  32. "Players by birthplace: Latvia Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  33. "Players by birthplace: Lithuania Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  34. "Players by birthplace: Mexico Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  35. "Players by birthplace: Netherlands Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  36. "Players by birthplace: Nicaragua Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  37. "Players by birthplace: Norway Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  38. "Players by birthplace: Panama Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  39. "Players by birthplace: Peru Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  40. "Players by birthplace: Philippines Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  41. "Players by birthplace: Poland Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  42. "Players by birthplace: Portugal Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  43. "Players by birthplace: Puerto Rico Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  44. "Players by birthplace: Russian Federation Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  45. "Players by birthplace: Saudi Arabia Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  46. "Players by birthplace: Singapore Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  47. "Players by birthplace: Slovakia Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  48. "Players by birthplace: South Africa Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  49. "Players by birthplace: South Korea Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  50. "Players by birthplace: Spain Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  51. "Players by birthplace: Sweden Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  52. "Players by birthplace: Switzerland Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  53. "Players by birthplace: Taiwan Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  54. "Players by birthplace: United Kingdom Baseball Stats and Info". Retrosheet. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  55. "First National Association Game". Retrosheet. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  56. "Players by birthplace: U. S. Virgin Islands Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  57. "Players by birthplace: Venezuela Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  58. "Players by birthplace: Viet Nam Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  59. "Ft. Wayne Kekiongas 2, Cleveland Forest Citys 0". Retrosheet. 4 May 1871. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
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