# Iran national baseball team

The Iran national baseball team (Persian: تیم ملی بیسبال ایران) is the national baseball team of Iran. The team represents Iran in international competitions.

## History

Iran baseball committee was founded in 1992. In 1993 it became a federation and continued to function as a federation until 2010, when it became part of Sports Associations Federation. This was largely caused by the inactivity of its national team. Currently Baseball is played in 12 Provinces in Iran. Iran has one stadium specifically designed for baseball in the city of Karaj. From 1994 until 2009, every year teams representing their provinces participated in a national championship.
In 2010, the National Championship games were replaced by a Club Championship League. Club teams were split into a North and South conference with the top two teams in each conference advancing to the playoffs. Since the inception of this league, Tehran's Azarakhsh Club, Bushehr's Naderi Club and Kerman's Mes Club have been able to each win 1 championship.
Iran's national team has participated in 5 Asia Cups (1999, 2006, 2012, 2013 and 2015) and has been able to win the silver medal and bronze medal in the Western Division in 2012 and 2015.
Iran has won 134 baseball matches and lost 68 baseball matches.

## Players

The most notable baseballer of partial Iranian origin is Yu Darvish who was born in Japan to a Japanese mother but has an Iranian father and plays in MLB, although he has not yet received an invitation to the national team.
| Player | Date of birth (age) | Club |
| Moein Hassani | | Kerman |
| Behnam Ghasemi | 21 | Isfahan |
| Nima Bagherinia | | Isfahan |
| Rajabali Barzegar | | Semnan |
| Ali bahram masiri | | Hormozgan |
| Kaveh Chah Bejari | | Bushehr |
| Abtin Nakhjavanpour | | Alborz |
| Mohammad Goodarzi | | Alborz |
| Mehran Sajjadpour | | Alborz |
| Davoud Jabari | | Alborz |
| Mojtaba Gordan | | Semnan |
| Mohammad Ali Kalantari | | Semnan |
| Jalal Changizi | | Semnan |
| Jalil Changizi | | Semnan |
| Iman Khaligh Saket | | Gilan |
| Hamid Mohammadi | | Gilan |
| Amir Khaligh Saket | | Gilan |
| Kian Naddafi | | Gilan |
| Reham Borhani | | Gilan |
| Amirmohammad pirasteh | | Alborz |
| Ahmadreza Derayesh | | Isfahan |
| Keivan Rana | | Bushehr |
| Yasin Sharifi Ziyarati | | Bushehr |
| Yasser Sedighipour | | Isfahan |
| Mohammad Hossein Safdari | | Qom |
| Hessam Arefzadeh | | Bushehr |
| Reza Shabani | | Bushehr |
| Armin Gharibi | | Bushehr |
| Mehdi Vaezzadeh | | Bushehr |
| Mehdi Masoumi | | Bushehr |
| Amir Bazhvand | | Tehran |
| Mehrdad | | Bushehr |
| Mohsen Mohammadi | | Bushehr |
| Majid Mohammadi Senej | | Qom |
| Seyed Abdollah Mohimian Azad | | Bushehr |
| Nima Vaghari | | Khorasan Razavi |
| Mohammad Reza Arabi | | Khorasan Razavi |
| Reza Yousefi | | Khorasan Razavi |

## Managerial history

* Mehrdad Hajian, pre-2009
* Gerardo Yassel Cabrera Moreno, January 2009
* Julio Alberto Hernandez Coste, April 2009
* Mehrdad Hajian, 2012-2014
* Toma Irokawa, January 2015-July 2015

## Tournament history
### Asian Baseball Cup

| Host/Year | Round/Rank |
| 1995, Manila | Did not enter |
| 1997, Bangkok | Did not enter |
| 1999, Chandigarh | Participated |
| 2001, Jakarta | Did not enter |
| 2002, Bangkok | Did not enter |
| 2004, Bangkok | Did not enter |
| 2006, Rawalpindi | 5th (out of 5 teams) |
| 2009, Bangkok | Did not enter |
| 2010, Islamabad | Did not enter |
| 2012, Lahore | Third place |
| 2013, Lahore | Did not enter |
| 2015, Islamabad | Runner-up |
| 2015, Islamabad | Third place |

### Presidential Cup

2015 Presidential Cup was an international tournament hosted by Iran, it was played from September 9–13 at Azadi Sport Complex which was won by India, other participants were Iraq
| Host/Year | Round/Rank |
| 2015, Tehran | Runner-up |

## Achievements

Asian Baseball Cup - Western Division
* 2012 : 3rd
* 2015 : 2nd
* 2017 : 3rd
Iran Presidential Cup
* 2015 : 2nd

## Recent fixtures and results

| 27 July Georgia vs Iran series – Game 1 | Georgia | 13–5 | Iran | Merani Sports Complex |
| 29 July Georgia vs Iran series – Game 2 | Georgia | 15–8 | Iran | Shatili Sports Complex |
| 31 July Georgia vs Iran series – Game 3 | Georgia | 21–5 | Iran | Shatili Sports Complex |
| 24 February Iran vs India – Asian Baseball Cup Western Division | Iran | 15-0 | India | Jinnah Sports Stadium |
| 26 February Pakistan vs Iran – Asian Baseball Cup Western Division | Pakistan | 12-0 | Iran | Jinnah Sports Stadium |
| 27 February Iran vs Iraq – Asian Baseball Cup Western Division | Iran | 18-4 | Iraq | Jinnah Sports Stadium |
| September 2015 Iran vs Iraq – Presidential Cup | Iran | ?-? | Iraq | Azadi Sport Complex |
| September 2015 Iran vs Afghanistan – Presidential Cup | Iran | ?-? | Afghanistan | Azadi Sport Complex |
| 13 September 2015 Iran vs India – Presidential Cup | Iran | 10-11 | India | Azadi Sport Complex |