Nearly every major national amateur baseball organization in America is united as a USA Baseball National Member Organization. As a result, USA Baseball governs more than 12 million amateur players in ballparks and playgrounds across the country.
As the commissioner's office for amateur baseball, USA Baseball is a resource center for its various membership groups, fans, and players. USA Baseball is also responsible for promoting and developing the game of baseball on the grassroots level, both nationally and internationally.
On the field in 2009 USA Baseball witnessed one of its most successful years ever. The World Baseball Classic Team, comprised of some of the best American players in Major League Baseball, kicked off the competition calendar for the organization, and it finished fourth, losing to eventual champion Japan in the semifinals in Los Angeles. USA Baseball fielded the World Cup Team -- its second professional squad of the year -- in September in Europe. Coming off a first place finish in the event in 2007, the team of All-Stars from Minor League Baseball did not disappoint, bringing home the country's second gold medal in the event in a row. The Collegiate National Team competed through a rigorous summer schedule, capping it with a title at the inaugural World Baseball Challenge in Canada. The 18U National Team made program history in Venezuela by winning its first ever COPABE "AAA"/18U Pan American Championships. In Taiwan, the 16U National Team took home the gold medal at the IBAF "AA"/16U World Youth Championships, and finishing the year on a high note, the 14U National Team pulled out a win in a close gold medal final for the COPABE "A"/14U Pan American Championships.
PROFESSIONAL TEAMS (WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC TEAM, WORLD CUP TEAM)
Since 1999, USA Baseball has been selecting teams of professional-level minor and major league players to represent the United States in various international competitions, including the World Baseball Classic and the IBAF Baseball World Cup.
Among the first teams of professional players that USA Baseball fielded was the 2000 U.S. Olympic Baseball Team, managed by Tommy Lasorda at the Sydney Games. Led by Ben Sheets, the team of minor league players defeated Cuba for the gold medal. In 2008 a Davey Johnson-led U.S. team featuring the likes of Dexter Fowler, Matt LaPorta and Stephen Strasburg took home the bronze medal from the Beijing Games, which currently stand as the last Olympic Games featuring a baseball competition.
For the inaugural 2006 World Baseball Classic, USA Baseball selected its first team comprised of Major League Baseball players. The team featured such stars as Chase Utley, Derek Jeter and Chipper Jones. In the second installment of the WBC in 2009, with players like Dustin Pedroia, Ryan Braun, Jeter and Jimmy Rollins donning the red, white and blue, the U.S. team finished fourth, losing to Japan in the semifinals.
Other recent highlights for the Professional Team include World Cup gold in 2007 and 2009, teams which featured young stars like Pedro Alvarez, Evan Longoria, Colby Rasmus and Justin Smoak.
COLLEGIATE NATIONAL TEAM
The USA Baseball Collegiate National Team is comprised of the top collegiate baseball players in the country. The team competes each summer in a schedule of exhibition games across the U.S. and overseas against the world's top baseball talent. As part of this schedule, the U.S. takes on the Japan Collegiate All-Stars nearly every summer and squares off in international friendship series against the likes of Canada, Chinese Taipei and the Netherlands. Each summer schedule also features a prominent international tournament for the age group, which includes the Pan American Games and the FISU World Collegiate Baseball Championships. In 2009 the Collegiate National Team won the inaugural World Baseball Challenge in Canada.
Players who taken the field for the Collegiate National Team and have gone onto Major League Baseball success include such notables as Jim Abbott, Troy Glaus, Todd Helton, Ryan Howard, Barry Larkin, Tino Martinez, Pedroia, David Price, Huston Street, Mark Teixeira, Troy Tulowitzki, Jason Varitek, Ryan Zimmerman.
18U NATIONAL TEAM
Comprised of the nation's top players ages 17-18, the USA Baseball 18U National Team is a perennial power on the international baseball scene. The team competes in two major events in bi-yearly cycles -- the COPABE "AAA"/18U Pan American Championships and the IBAF "AAA"/18U World Junior Championships. In 2009 the U.S. won its first COPABE Pan Am title in the history of the 18U program.
Each year, USA Baseball and its National Member Organizations who are competing in the event invite the top high school-aged players in America to the Tournament of Stars presented by Major League Baseball, an all-star tournament featuring top 18U players in the country held at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C. The event is used as the primary selection vehicle for the 18U National Team.
Current Major Leaguers Alex Rodriguez, Matt Holliday, Scott Kazmir, Jeff Francoeur, and B.J. and Justin Upton have all worn the USA jersey as 18U players.
16U NATIONAL TEAM
An international powerhouse, the USA Baseball 16U National Team has proven to be the country to beat on the global baseball scene since USA Baseball began selecting and training players in the 16U age category in the summer of 1997. Since then, the program has medaled each time it has taken the field in such international events as the IBAF "AA"/16U World Youth Championships and the COPABE "AA"/16U Pan American Championships. In 2009 the 16U National Team knocked off the world's best teams en route to a gold medal at the IBAF Worlds.
A staple on the 16U baseball community's calendar, USA Baseball's 16U Championships helps the organization identify players for the National Team. The event is held in two regions -- East (Florida) and West (Arizona) -- and 72 teams compete in each region. USA Baseball representatives and scouts select the top players from each region and from there the National Team is chosen.
Past 16U players who have gone on to play in the major leagues include Casey Kotchman, Billy Butler, Brett Anderson, Delmon Young and James Loney.
14U NATIONAL TEAM
USA Baseball fielded its first-ever 14U National Team in 2007, and the team was an immediate success, going undefeated in winning the gold medal at the COPABE "A"/14U Pan American Qualifier in Guatemala. Later that year the U.S. sent its second 14U National Team to compete in the COPABE Pan American Championships, where it too took home the gold. Since its 2007 titles, the 14U National Team still has not lost in the event, winning both the 2008 and 2009 COPABE Pan American Championships as well.
Members of the USA Baseball 14U National Team are selected from, among other scouting channels, the pool of players participating in the annual USA Baseball National Team Identification Series (NTIS) in Cary, N.C. and the 14U Championships East (Florida) and West (Arizona), which will debut in 2010.
WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM
The USA Baseball Women's National Team was established in 2004 when USA Baseball began selecting and training an official National Team for women. An 18-player team was chosen following open tryouts across the nation, and the squad went on to capture the gold medal in the first-ever IBAF Women's Baseball World Cup in Edmonton, Canada. The team repeated as IBAF World Cup gold-medalists in 2006 in Taiwan and took home the bronze medal from the 2008 World Cup in Japan.
When not competing in the World Cup, the Women’s National Team competes in international friendship series, leads youth clinics and works to grow the game of baseball among women in the U.S.
FINANCIALS
• 2006 United States Baseball Federation and Baseball America Foundation combined audited financials
• 2007 United States Baseball Federation and Baseball America Foundation combined audited financials
• 2008 United States Baseball Federation and Baseball America Foundation combined audited financials
• 2009 United States Baseball Federation and Baseball America Foundation combined audited financials
• 2006 United States Baseball Federation IRS Form 990
• 2007 United States Baseball Federation IRS Form 990
• 2008 United States Baseball Federation IRS Form 990
• 2006 Baseball America Foundation IRS Form 990
• 2007 Baseball America Foundation IRS Form 990
• 2008 Baseball America Foundation IRS Form 990
