In 2022, Hall of Fame shortstop Barry Larkin and fellow Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera, along with two other partners, co-founded Baseball United, the first baseball league focused in the Middle East and South Asia.
The new league hosted its inaugural games in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in November 2023. The inaugural season is slated to take place in the fall of 2025, with the Baseball United Cup occurring earlier in the year.
Rivera and Larkin are not the only MLB Legends involved in the initiative to grow baseball in the Middle East. Hall of Fame inductee Adrián Beltré, Cy Young Award Winner Félix Hernández, 11-time All-Star Albert Pujols, and 2023 National League Most Valuable Player Ronald Acuña Jr. are also listed as co-owners of the league.
In February 2025, the league will host the Baseball United Cup, featuring the first four franchises for the first time. Each team has a former MLB player as an honorary GM. Larkin is the honorary GM for the Mumbai Cobras. Hernández is the honorary GM for the Arabia Wolves. Nick Swisher and Beltré are honorary GMs for the Mid East Eagles and Karachi Monarchs, respectively. Between them, there have been 23 All-Star selections, eight Gold Glove Awards, 13 Silver Slugger Awards, and two World Series.
The Baseball United Cup will take place in the new, to-be-built stadium in Dubai. It will be the first in the UAE, and the field will be named after Larkin.
Other iconic names involved in the new league are Miguel Tejada, Chris Sabo, Elvin Andrus, Robinson Canó, Andrelton Simmons, and Bartolo Colón. Tejada and Sabo will both manage teams in 2025.
Baseball United has brought together a group of experienced and talented MLB players to grow the sport in an untapped region of the world. Players who were once building their careers in the United States are now part of the initiative to bring baseball to the Middle East so players in that part of the world can begin their baseball journeys.
Photo Credit: Dignitaries are seen on the field prior to the Baseball United Showcase at Dubai International Stadium on November 24, 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Adam Nurkiewicz/Getty Images for Baseball United)
