i think a big part of the appeal of baseball in america is that it was "invented" here, much like basketball. most countries have their own native sports.

the reason most of the english speaking world plays cricket is that most of the english speaking world was colonized by the british (which also explains why they speak english). but america was colonized much earlier and for much less time. look at countries where america has a presence today and you'll find baseball leagues to be popular: japan, korea, cuba, the dominican republic, etc.

and also, cricket is for sissies.