The Niners baseball team.
Emblem of the Deep Space Niners baseball team.
Baseball is a Human sport. The modern game of baseball originated on Earth during the mid 19th century, and represented an evolution of a number of older games. Baseball is played by two teams of nine players.
Early years[]
Professional baseball was quite popular during the 20th and early 21st centuries, and the American and National Leagues had thirty-two franchises at their peak. (TNG novel: Fortune's Light)
However, society later started becoming frustrated with the slower pace of the game relative to other sports. (TNG episode: "Evolution", DS9 episode: "If Wishes Were Horses")
Benjamin Sisko and others believed that the early death of A. Bartlett Giamatti was a factor in the decline of baseball. (DS9 novel: The 34th Rule)
In addition, labor disputes and rising ticket prices between 1981 and 2026 contributed to a serious decline in the sport. The number of the sport's fans declined by half between 1999 and 2019. Four teams went bankrupt between 2018 and 2023, while eight others changed ownership multiple times. By 2059, only eight franchises still remained. (TNG novel: Fortune's Light)
Notable professional baseball players[]
- Hank Aaron
- Joe Adcock
- Katsio Bando
- Ernie Banks
- Ralph Branca
- Buck Bokai
- Ty Cobb
- Joe DiMaggio
- Bob Gibson
- Josh Gibson
- Willie Hawkins
- Mickey Mantle
- Willie Mays
- Don Newcombe
- Eddie Newsom
- Hiro Osaka
- Jackie Robinson
- Babe Ruth
- Duke Snider
- Tris Speaker
- Eddie Stanky
- Bobby Thomson
- Ted Williams
- Cy Young
Notable 20th and 21st century teams[]
- Boston Braves
- Boston Red Sox
- Brooklyn Dodgers
- Chicago Cubs
- Crenshaw Monarchs
- Fairbanks Icebreakers
- Gotham City Bats
- London Kings
- Manchester Druids
- New York Giants
- New York Yankees
- Philadelphia Athletics
- Phoenix Sunsets
- San Diego Padres
- (Seibu)
- (Tanis)
Post-professional years[]
Kira and Dax play baseball.
A ten-team interplanetary league was begun in the 22nd century, but lasted only two seasons. (TNG novel: Fortune's Light)
Orions enjoyed baseball as part of a craze for 20th century Earth culture after the UNSS Marco Polo sold them a cargo of artifacts from that era on reference stardate 0/7907.27. (FASA RPG - The Orions module: Book of Common Knowledge)
Prime Minister Nathan Samuels had an uncommon familiarity with baseball, which he used to confuse a room full of Starfleet and MACO officers. (ENT - The Romulan War novel: Beneath the Raptor's Wing)
During the 23rd century, the game continued to be played on an amateur level in rural areas of the southern United States of America. Being from that region, Doctor Leonard McCoy was familiar with the game. Captain James T. Kirk was also familiar with the game. (TOS video game: 25th Anniversary)
Prior to Dermot Cusack's death in 2254, he, Moves-With-Burning-Grace, Gabrielle Carlotti, José Tyler and Nano posed for a baseball team photo. Their caps were adorned with a UFP pennant. (EV comic: "One of a Kind")
In the year 2267, Prince Raviki of Nukolee hit a ball with a baseball bat in a zero-gravity variation of baseball called space ball with James T. Kirk in spacesuits outside of the USS Enterprise. (TOS comic: "A World Gone Mad")
In the year 2274, Hikaru Sulu played a game of softball, similar to baseball but with a larger ball, with members of the crews of the Enterprise and USS Venture. (TOS comic: "Husian Gambit")
Starfleet Academy also had baseball teams on the San Francisco campus. In the 2270s, Cadet Saavik was the pitcher of the freshmen team. Her speed earned her the nickname "Photon Torpedo. (TOS novel: The Pandora Principle)
During the 24th century, notable Starfleet officer Jack Crusher was familiar with the game, and taught it to his son Wesley before he died. (TNG episode: "Evolution")
Another well-known Starfleet officer, Benjamin Sisko, and his son Jake, also loved baseball, and often used the holodeck to recreate baseball games, either as players or spectators. When Sisko first encountered the Prophets inside the Bajoran wormhole, he used baseball as an analogy to explain the nature of linear time to them. (DS9 episode: "Emissary")
In 2375, Sisko formed a baseball team, the Niners, to play against Captain Solok and his all-Vulcan team, the Logicians. (DS9 episode: "Take Me Out to the Holosuite")
By the early 25th century, Grand Nagus Rom, inspired by his participation in the Niners team, created a team called the Ferengi Liquidators. (ST video game: Star Trek Online)
Cestus revival[]
- See main article: Cestus Baseball League.
The sport saw a revival in the 24th century on Cestus III with the formation of the Cestus Baseball League. (DS9 episode: "Family Business"; ST novel: Articles of the Federation)
Appendices[]
References[]
- DS9 - Deep Space Nine Special comic: "Frozen Boyhood"
- ST reference: Star Trek Chronology, 1996 edition, pages 19, 23
External links[]
- Baseball article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
- Baseball article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.