Editing Haesanite National League (section)

=== 1936-1962: Merger and Government Support ===
[[File:1950s baseball.jpeg|thumb|297x297px|Baseball exploded in popularity during the Free Republic, driven in part by widespread coverage of the game over radio and eventually television.]]In 1926, the Haesan Baseball Organization also was a popular baseball league, and in the mid 1930s as the economy turned south, the leagues decided that they could not withstand the economic competition and decided to merge.  Condensing the Baseball Organization's teams that were in the same markets, the HNL expanded from 6 teams to 10.  After the [[April Coup]] in 1942, military rule came to Haesan, and the government decided that sports fandom was a useful tool to keep the populace happy and less concerned with politics.  As a result, the government heavily funded the HNL, and financed the construction of new stadiums, investment in domestically manufactured equipment to world-class standards, and financed the HNL All-Star team to represent Haesan at international competitions.  As a result, during the reign of the Free Republic, baseball became akin to a national sport, with a lot of pride and energy going into supporting its growth.