[7] The first baseball match played on French soil finally took place on March 8 1889 on the occasion of the international exhibition, in the part of the Spalding World Tour, at the Parc Aérostatique de Paris in front of 1500 spectators.

In the wake of the match of March 8 1889, the main Parisian school clubs have set up thèque or baseball sections.

The Parisian hen is based on the championship of the Paris Baseball Association, chaired by the American Frank B. Ellis,[10] while a provincial group is formed.

In 1914, the year opens with the passage to Nice then to Paris of the world tour of Chicago White Sox and the New York Giants.

France acquired many fields and baseball began to attract crowds and as a result there were up to 3,000 spectators at a single championship match at Le Vésinet.

[11] Spalding, who also supports the young French league,[12] is delighted by this development and declares that "the next country of baseball will be France".

At the end of the war, baseball entered the university, notably in Paris, Toulouse, Lyon, Nice and Dijon while the bats are now produced locally.

Christy Mathewson who is stationed in France is very reserved on the level of French players declaring in 1919 to "The Washington Post" that they have more afraid of a baseball than a German grenade.

[16] On the occasion of the Summer Olympics in Paris in 1924, an exhibition match is being held on July 18 in between a formation named All Stars USA and the Ranelagh BBC.

At the end of the summer, on August 31, a match pompously baptized the European World Series, opposes the Stade Elisabeth Stadium in Paris, selections of Parisian and London players.

[17] In November 1924, two Major League Baseball (MLB) teams met in a friendly exhibition match in Paris: the pennant-winning New York Giants and the Chicago White Sox played at Stade de Colombes in front of 4000 spectators.

One commentator doubted that the sport would gain popularity in France, writing that the French preferred games that were more instinctive to them, and pronouncing that "football and rugby are not in danger of being dethroned.

[19] In fact, Reichel is one of the leading figures in the fight against professionalism and he is afraid that baseball will experience this development on the Old Continent.

1924 indeed marks a turning point at this level with the adoption of professionalism by Austrian football; a first in continental Europe for a team sport.

The federation set up a French championship in 1926 which incorporated a few clubs from the Parisian baseball league such as Sporting Bedford Eco, Paris Champion in 1923.

Initiated to play during the war, the French army continued its practice during the 1920s and even considered adopting it as an official sport for training soldiers.

They had a few Major League players including Dave Koslo, pitcher for the New York Giants, and Merv Connors, first base for the Chicago White Sox.

[22] President of the French baseball Federation since 1931, Georges Bruni is very close to Reichel's theses, but he is a genuine fan of the game.

[24] The best player playing in France during the 1990s is the Canadian Jeff Zimmerman who takes advantage of the low level of opposition to develop his shots.

The departure of the young center fielder of the Rouen Huskies, Joris Bert, in the school clubs of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2007 confirms the effectiveness of the training policy put in place with the support of the Ministry of Sports and the MLB.

The American Major League also organizes training camps in France in order to observe the evolution of young French players and direct the best to the United States.

The same year Alexandre Roy became the 4th Frenchman to sign a professional contract with a franchise of Major League Baseball, the Seattle Mariners.