The I Love Baseball program (ILB) evolved out of the experiences that Ben Holman, Chris McCoy, Brandon Bleek, Brian Bauer and Ryan Church had during mission service in the Dominican Republic in the spring of 2006. Each had the chance to experience firsthand how baseball could be used as a tool to break down walls with young Dominican men.

At its conception, ILB was primarily dedicated to sending teams from the U.S. to the Dominican Republic to redistribute baseball gear. During the summer of 2006, ILB Director and co-Founder, Ben Holman, along with board of adviser member Brian Bauer went to Barahona specifically to understand how baseball could be used to help out the communities of the Dominican Republic. The pair focused on the problems surrounding young Dominican men, their ideas for solutions, and the positive role ILB could play in these solutions.

Through their observation and interviews with Dominican coaches, players, teachers, and community members, Holman and Bauer came to understand that education and leadership are among the biggest problems many of these young men face. It was discovered that a large number of youth skip classes and drop out of school to pursue their dreams of becoming professional baseball players. This inspired ILB to focus its vision not only on sending teams and gear to the Dominican Republic, but to also provide youth with the opportunity to pursue their dream of playing professional baseball, while simultaneously continuing their education.

In the spring of 2008, I Love Baseball became a program of Children of the Nations and officially began working in Barahona, Dominican Republic. The program began with just one coach and 10 boys, and continues to see growth each year.