Baseball

Did You Know - Baseball as sport has its origins in the Taino batu game played in Cuba and throughout the Caribbean. Spanish chroniclers who traveled to the islands during the conquest and colonization periods provide evidence of this activity. The batu game was played at the batei/batey (ball field/court/ceremonial ground) and players used a ball made of resin and shaped leaves. As recorded in Cuba, in some cases, this ball was hit with an instrument similar to an oar or spade. According to Cuban linguists there is a relation in the origin of the words bate (bat) and batear (hit) with the corresponding words batey and batu used by the Tainos. – UCTP Taino News © 2007

See also:

http://www.cubaheadlines.com/2007/07/02/4218/history_of_baseball_in_cuba.html