The Russia national baseball team is the national baseball team of Russia. The team competed in the European Baseball Championship and the Baseball World Cup. It is organized by the .
History Baseball was first played in Irkutsk, Russia in 1917, promoted by a YMCA secretary from Chicago. Lapta, a similar bat-and-ball sport, had been played in Russia since the 14th century. American baseball also depended on the hide of Russian Tartar horses for the cover for baseballs. American-born players drew sizable crowds in Moscow in the 1930s, though the sport was not promoted by the Soviet Union.
Japanese Baseball Hall of Famer Victor Starffin was born in Nizhny Tagil in 1916 before moving to Japan as a child and taking up the sport.
The national baseball team was formed in 1987, following the International Olympic Committee's decision to add baseball as an Olympic sport. The team began competing in the European Baseball Championship in 1991, playing in that tournament as the Soviet Union national team, with its best finish being a surprising second place finish in 2001. Pitcher Rinat Makhmoutov was named the most valuable player of the 2001 tournament.
Russia's head coach is Vladimir Timakov.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the World Baseball Softball Confederation banned Russian athletes and officials. In addition, WBSC Europe relocated competitions that had been scheduled to be held in Russia during 2022, and excluded Russian teams from all its competitions for both national and club teams held in Europe in 2022.
Placings Baseball World Cup : 16th : 13th : 14th
Intercontinental Cup : 9th
European Baseball Championship : 6th : 8th 1995 : 8th 1997 : 4th 1999 : 4th 2001 : 2nd 2003 : 8th 2005 : 11th 2007 : 10th 2012 : 12th 2014 : 8th 2016 : 12th 2019 : Did not qualify 2021 : 10th 2023 and 2025 : not eligible to compete
References
External links
Baseball and Softball Federation of Russia official site