As promised, when discussing the Carrasquel family in Part I on Middle Infielders Drinking from the Fountain of Youth, here is a bonus blurb on the earliest players from each major baseball-playing country outside the United States. Both Canadians and Cubans have been in the top baseball leagues since the National Association’s inception in 1871.

Canada is bigger on hockey than baseball, while Mexico and South Korea are more fanatical about soccer/football, but baseball is nonetheless a well-established, popular sport in those countries. Baseball is probably the most popular sport in the rest of the countries listed in the chart below.

Perhaps I should have used a different criterion than 1,000 innings to indicate the first impressive pitching career from each country. For example, Mexico had many pitchers with laudable careers before Fernando Valenzuela, but they didn’t quite chalk up 1,000 innings, because they were all relievers: Vincente Romo ’68-’82, Horacio Pina ’68-’78, Enrique Romo ’77-’82,  and Sid Monge ’75-’84.  In particular, Aurelio Lopez ’74-’87 - for six of those years was an outstanding reliever for Detroit. He only made it to 910 innings.

South Korea does not have a 1,000 game player, yet, but Shin-Soo Choo (2005-) is more than half way there. The Nicaraguan who came closest to 1,000 games was San Francisco outfielder Marvin Benard (1995-2003).

In the 28-year span from 1969 to 1996, a team from Taiwan won the Little League World Series each year. With all of their Little League championships, you would think Taiwan would have produced some player with 1,000 innings or 1,000 games in the majors by now, but they have not. The closest is Chien-Ming Wang with 733 innings. As I write this, Wang is on a rehab assignment with Washington, but there may not be a spot for him on the Nationals when he completes it.

The Dodgers had a highly rated outfield prospect in the early-to-mid 2000s named Chin-Feng Chen. His debut as a September call-up in 2002 was the first appearance by any Taiwanese in the majors, but he was a bust. Since then, seven other Taiwanese have had a taste of major league baseball. The only one with some solid success besides Wang has been Dodger reliever Hong-Chih Kuo – released this spring by the Seattle Mariners.

Mariano Rivera won’t be the first Hall of Famer from Panama. Rod Carew was born in the Canal Zone -now a part of Panama.

Before we go to the chart, let’s look at some countries that have produced major league talent despite having a relatively minor focus on baseball.

Baseball is so far down Australia’s list of sports in popularity, it doesn’t get mentioned in any cultural profile. Yet, Australia has produced three 1,000 game players (Joe Quinn, Craig Shipley, and Dave Nilsson), a reliever with a 10-year career (Graham Lloyd), and an outstanding reliever currently in his ninth MLB season, Grant Balfour. Because many of the earliest professional baseball players came from a cricket background, it is not surprising that Australia’s first "major leaguer" was playing in 1884. That was Joe Quinn (not Jack Quinn a European immigrant as a boy). However, the next Aussie to play in the majors was Craig Shipley, who started his career over 100 years later (1986).

At least the soccer/football-loving nation of Italy has a professional baseball league. Their first major leaguer, Lou Polli, pitched for the St. Louis Browns in 1932. An Italian utility infielder named Reno Bertoia played mostly for the Detroit Tigers from 1953 to 1962 and he holds the record for most games played by an Italian at 612. Although born in Italy, he actually grew up across the river from Detroit in Windsor, Ontario. In fact, none of the first six Italians to reach the major leagues spent most of their childhood in Italy. Seattle’s Alex Liddi is the seventh Italian major leaguer and the most recent. He was raised in Italy. I like his chances of passing Bertoia’s game total, but it is probably less than 50%.

The Netherlands is the only other European country with internationally competitive baseball teams. They have won more European championships than Italy. Born-and-bred Dutchman Greg Halman was a Top 10 prospect for the Seattle Mariners in 2010 and did play in 44 major league games. Sadly, he was stabbed to death on November 21, 2011.

Soccer/football overwhelms all other sports in Colombia, where they don’t have baseball facilities up to the standards of the Caribbean Baseball Association. Yet somehow they produced two 1,000+ game shortstops – two whose careers have almost completely coincided to the point where they were both active last year yet failed to land a major league job this year: Edgar Renteria and Orlando Cabrera.

Many baseball players came from the British Isles during its early years, when cricket-playing skills were much more transferable to early baseball. Bobby Thompson, of post War New York Giants fame, was born in Scotland and played in well over 1,000 games, but he grew up in Staten Island (part of New York city). Danny Cox pitched for the Cardinals and various teams from 1983 to 1995, reaching more than 1,000 innings. He was born in England, but went to college in Alabama. I have not been able to find out where he spent most of his childhood. I mentioned Jimmy Austin in Part I on old infielders. He was from Wales, but he had been in the U.S. since he was six.

Professional baseball in the 1870s and 1880s was filled with Irish immigrants: Jack Bond, Tony Mullane, Hugh Daily, Jack Doyle, Patsy Donovan were the most notable, if you are well-versed on 19^th century baseball. The number of major league games by all Irish-born players since 1912 is three. I can’t confirm it, but I am assuming they all came to the U.S. as young boys and learned the game on this side of the Atlantic.

There were many Germans in baseball’s earliest years - right up to the Great War - most notably Charles "Pretzels" Getzien. (Germany Schaefer, who played in over 1,000 games, was born in Chicago from German parents.) There was a steady wave of German immigrants in the latter half of the 19th century, so it makes sense that they learned the game here eager to fit in with American culture as immigrants generally were. Over the last 65 years (my guess), U.S. military personnel are often stationed overseas before returning home. That may account for most European born major leaguers of these times. Glen Hubbard (1978-1989) and Edwin Jackson (2003-present) are both such examples from Germany. Craig Lefferts (1983-1994) was born there, too. I don’t know when he came to the States, but I can tell you he pitched for his Florida high school.

Norway produced 1,000+ game outfielder/firstbaseman John Anderson, whose career began with Brooklyn in 1894. His family moved to the U.S. when he was eight. Russia exported a kid before their revolution: Eddie Ainsmith (1910-1924) grew up to play 1,000+ games in the majors. Elmer Valo, who played in the majors from the age of 19 to 40 starting in 1940, was born in Czechoslovakia but came to Pennsylvania at six. Poland’s zany reliever Moe Drabowsky (1956-1972) came to the U.S. when he was about three. And of course, another prankster and Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven was born in the Netherlands, but he was raised in California.

Chili Davis and Devon White were outstanding players in the ‘80s and ‘90s. They were both born in Jamaica, but both moved to the U.S. before their teen years. Justin Masterson is the next best player born in that island nation.

Since, this was originally about pitchers drinking from the fountain of youth, let me mention that Nicaragua’s first major league player Dennis Martinez had (in WAR) one of the 10 best seasons ever by a pitcher in his 40s. He pitched 174 innings of 3.08 ERA in the 1995 strike-shortened year dominated by hitters. Martinez added another 30 innings of 2.73 ERA in the postseason and helped bring the Indians to the brink of the World Championship. Current pitching stalwart Vincente Padilla also hails from Nicaragua.

Baseball Playing Nations

¹now Aruba, Curacao, Sint Maarten, or special municipalities of The Netherlands