First MLB Player by Country 2024

Baseball has years of history leading to it becoming the Major League Baseball we know and love today. Along the way, players have joined the pros from all over the world. In the past, not all professional teams were respected as such, especially when it comes to racially segregated teams. Today, we include these players, teams, and leagues as we examine the first pro baseball player from each country.

Baseball is considered a very American sport, so it is no surprise that the United States had its first professional baseball player in 1871, the year the first professional baseball league began. Bobby Matthews was a pitcher for the Fort Wayne Kekiongas and the first of over 16 thousand players from the United States to go pro.

Several other countries also boast 1871 as the year they had their first MLB player. Bob Addy from Canada played for the Rockford Forest Citys. He was the first of 250 professional Canadian players. Rynie Wolters played for the New York Mutuals, the first of only 12 players to go pro from the Netherlands. Cuba's Steve Bellan played for the Troy Haymakers, and Ireland's Andy Leonard played for the Washington Olympics and the Boston Red Stockings. Interestingly, The Boston Red Stockings are now the Atlanta Braves and not the Boston Red Sox. 201 professional baseball players have been from Cuba and 47 from Ireland.

Most recently, Jesus Luzardo of the Oakland As became the first baseball player from Peru to play in the majors. 2017 saw the first players from Lithuania and South Africa: Dovydas Neverauskas and Gift Ngoepe respectively. Both played for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Several countries have first players who were born within their borders to American parents. China's Harry Kingman played for the New York Yankees in 1914 and was born to missionaries in Hong Kong. Vietnam's Danny Graves played for the Cleveland Indians in 1996 and was born in South Vietnam to a Vietnamese mother and an American father. Singapore's Robin Jennings played for the Chicago Cubs in 1996, Saudi Arabia's Craig Stansberry played for the San Diego Padres in 2007, and Hong Kong's Austin Brice played for the Miami Marlins in 2016.