List of countries with their first Major League Baseball player

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 list is based on players' birthplaces and each location's current country, per detailed records at Baseball-Reference.com.
  • For example, a player born in Berlin would be included with other players born in present-day Germany, even if when the player was born it might have been part of East Germany or West Germany.
• The countries listed are generally consistent with those that compete in the Olympic Games. For example, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands appear in the list.
• 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.

List

Listed players appeared in at least one game of a professional baseball (referred now as a "major league", after Major League Baseball (MLB) on December 2020 announced that it would be incorporating the statistics of the seven professional Negro Leagues into its official record books), which this list of leagues includes:

• American Association (1882–1891)
• American League (1901–present)
• Federal League (1913–1915)
• National Association (1871–1875)
• National League (1876–present)
• Players' League (1890)
• Union Association (1884)
• Negro National League (I) (1920–1931)
• Eastern Colored League (1923–1928)
• American Negro League (1929)
• East–West League (1932)
• Negro Southern League (1932)
• Negro National League (II) (1933–1948)
• Negro American League (1937–1948)

The seven major Negro leagues from 1920 to 1948 were officially recognized as "major leagues" in December 2020. Note that the status of the National Association as a major league is in dispute. National Association players are included in the major league records of sites such as Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet, thus are also included here.

Hall and Wright both made their debut on 5 May 1871.

Immigrated to, raised in, and/or developed in the United States.

Notes

References

References

1. Anderson, R.J.. (December 16, 2020). "MLB Elevates Negro Leagues to 'Major League' Status, Giving 'Overdue Recognition' to 3,400 Players".
2. Thorn, John. (4 May 2015). "Why Is the National Association Not a Major League … and Other Records Issues".
3. "Players by birthplace: Afghanistan Baseball Stats and Info".
4. "Players by birthplace: American Samoa Baseball Stats and Info".
5. "Players by birthplace: Aruba Baseball Stats and Info".
6. "Players by birthplace: At Sea Baseball Stats and Info".
7. "Players by birthplace: Australia Baseball Stats and Info".
8. "Players by birthplace: Austria Baseball Stats and Info".
9. "Players by birthplace: Bahamas Baseball Stats and Info".
10. "Players by birthplace: Belgium Baseball Stats and Info".
11. "Players by birthplace: Belize Baseball Stats and Info".
12. "Players by birthplace: Brazil Baseball Stats and Info".
13. "Players by birthplace: Canada Baseball Stats and Info".
14. "Players by birthplace: China Baseball Stats and Info".
15. "Players by birthplace: Colombia Baseball Stats and Info".
16. "Players by birthplace: Cuba Baseball Stats and Info".
17. "Players by birthplace: Curacao Baseball Stats and Info".
18. "Players by birthplace: Czech Republic Baseball Stats and Info".
19. "Players by birthplace: Denmark Baseball Stats and Info".
20. "Players by birthplace: Dominican Republic Baseball Stats and Info".
21. "Players by birthplace: Finland Baseball Stats and Info".
22. "Players by birthplace: France Baseball Stats and Info".
23. (April 19, 2016). "How Twins OF prospect Max Kepler journeyed from Germany to majors".
24. "Players by birthplace: Germany Baseball Stats and Info".
25. "Players by birthplace: Greece Baseball Stats and Info".
26. "Players by birthplace: Guam Baseball Stats and Info".
27. "Players by birthplace: Hawaii Baseball Stats and Info".
28. "Players by birthplace: Honduras Baseball Stats and Info".
29. "Players by birthplace: Hong Kong Baseball Stats and Info".
30. "Players by birthplace: Indonesia Baseball Stats and Info".
31. "Players by birthplace: Ireland Baseball Stats and Info".
32. "Players by birthplace: Italy Baseball Stats and Info".
33. "Players by birthplace: Jamaica Baseball Stats and Info".
34. "Players by birthplace: Japan Baseball Stats and Info".
35. "Players by birthplace: Latvia Baseball Stats and Info".
36. "Players by birthplace: Lithuania Baseball Stats and Info".
37. "Players by birthplace: Mexico Baseball Stats and Info".
38. "Win Remmerswaal". Society for American Baseball Research.
39. "Players by birthplace: Netherlands Baseball Stats and Info".
40. "Players by birthplace: Nicaragua Baseball Stats and Info".
41. "Players by birthplace: Norway Baseball Stats and Info".
42. "Players by birthplace: Panama Baseball Stats and Info".
43. "Players by birthplace: Peru Baseball Stats and Info".
44. "Players by birthplace: Philippines Baseball Stats and Info".
45. "Players by birthplace: Poland Baseball Stats and Info".
46. "Players by birthplace: Portugal Baseball Stats and Info".
47. "Players by birthplace: Puerto Rico Baseball Stats and Info".
48. "Players by birthplace: Russian Federation Baseball Stats and Info".
49. "Players by birthplace: Saudi Arabia Baseball Stats and Info".
50. "Players by birthplace: Singapore Baseball Stats and Info".
51. "Players by birthplace: Slovakia Baseball Stats and Info".
52. "Players by birthplace: South Africa Baseball Stats and Info".
53. "Players by birthplace: South Korea Baseball Stats and Info".
54. "Players by birthplace: Spain Baseball Stats and Info".
55. "Players by birthplace: Sweden Baseball Stats and Info".
56. "Players by birthplace: Switzerland Baseball Stats and Info".
57. "Players by birthplace: Taiwan Baseball Stats and Info".
58. "Players by birthplace: United Kingdom Baseball Stats and Info".
59. (4 May 1871). "Ft. Wayne Kekiongas 2, Cleveland Forest Citys 0".
60. "First National Association Game".
61. "Players by birthplace: U. S. Virgin Islands Baseball Stats and Info".
62. "Players by birthplace: Venezuela Baseball Stats and Info".
63. "Players by birthplace: Viet Nam Baseball Stats and Info".