World Baseball Classic officially announced

[Kurt Angle Mark 0]

From MLB.com

 

All the world is baseball's stage

Global tournament involves 16 nations

By Barry Bloom

 

DETROIT -- The world is a stage and next year, Major League Baseball will be at the center of it.

 

For the first time, Major League players will be eligible to compete in international play when the inaugural World Baseball Classic opens its 18-day run next March 3, Commissioner Bud Selig and Don Fehr, the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, announced at a Monday morning media conference on the eve of Tuesday's annual All-Star Game at Comerica Park.

 

The landmark field of countries invited includes Australia, Canada, China, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Taiwan, the U.S., and Venezuela.

 

As of now, the tournament is set to begin with the three-day Asian Qualifying round in Japan's Tokyo Dome from March 3-6 - run concurrently with Major League Baseball's Spring Training in Arizona and Florida - and ends with the title game at a yet to be selected Major League venue in the U.S. on March 20. Japan has tentatively agreed to participate, but final approval must come from the Nippon Baseball Players Association later this month.

 

The other three first-round pools will be staged in Arizona, Florida and Puerto Rico from March 8-11.

 

The greatest names in baseball will be able to play for their home nations in international play for the first time. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens could play for the U.S.; Hideki Matsui and Ichiro Suzuki for Japan; Sammy Sosa and Albert Pujols for the Dominican; Bobby Abreu and Johan Santana for Venezuela; Vinny Castilla and Erubiel Durazo for Mexico; Carlos Beltran and Pudge Rodriguez for Puerto Rico; Carlos Lee and Mariano Rivera for Panama, and Larry Walker and Jason Bay for Canada, just to name a few.

 

The newly christened World Baseball Classic is targeted to be held again in 2009 and then every four years thereafter.

 

It is the first international tournament to include Major League players on the 25-man rosters from each of the 30 Major League teams. Each nation will be allowed a roster of 27 players with a minimum of 12 pitchers.

 

Major League players are expected to fill 270 of the 432 roster spots. A maximum of nine players from each of Major League Baseball's 30 teams will be eligible to play in the tournament.

 

More World Baseball Classic headlines:

• WBC steps up to center stage

• Bauman: A Classic in the making

• Excitement surrounds predicting matchups

• WBC frequently asked questions

• Announcement press conference

Olympic baseball, which was just dropped from the 2012 Games, has only been a gold medal sport since 1992, with only eight nations competing in the tournament every four years. Since 2000, when the U.S. won the gold medal, only Major League-affiliated players outside the 25-man roster have been eligible to play for any of the teams attempting to qualify for those eight slots.

 

The new World Baseball Classic opens the door to twice as many teams in the tournament with developing baseball nations like South Africa, Australia, Italy and China all being given a chance to showcase their budding programs. Meanwhile, powerhouse teams from the U.S., the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Japan, Canada, Taiwan and Korea will vie with perennial international power, Cuba, for the championship.

 

Cuba comes into the tournament with its own national team of native professionals, having won three of the four Olympic gold medals; every International Baseball Federation (IBAF) World Cup since 1982 and every gold medal at the Pan American Games since 1967. But even Cuba has never faced this level of competition on the field in international play.

 

There are four pools of four teams each. Japan, Korea, China and Taiwan are in Pool A. The U.S. Canada, Mexico and South Africa are in Pool B. Cuba, Panama, Puerto Rico and the Netherlands are in Pool C. The Dominican Republic , Venezuela, Italy and Australia are in Pool D.

 

In the first round, each of the four teams plays the other three teams once and the two teams with the best record go on to the second round. The winners from Pool A and B, and the winners from Pool C and D form the next pair of four-team brackets.

 

In the second round, each of the four teams plays the other three teams once and the two teams in each pool with the best records go on to the single-elimination semifinals. The two semifinal winners advance to the single-elimination championship game.

 

Each of the 16 teams in the tournaments is guaranteed a minimum of three games with the two finalists playing as many as eight.

 

There are 39 total games projected in the tournament.

 

Any player signed to a Major League contract must be approved to participate in the event by Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association. But any other player in the world is eligible to play for his nation if he is a citizen of that nation or it is his country of origin.

 

The baseball federations of each nation will select their players, managers and coaches in conjunction with Major League Baseball, the Major League Baseball Players Association and any existing professional league in a particular nation.

 

Each team will have a manager and five coaches. Player rosters must be submitted to the International Baseball Federation 45 days in advance of training camps opening for each team -- Feb. 26 for teams competing in the Asian Qualifying round and March 3 for the nations opening in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

 

At that point, all players are subject to Olympic-type drug testing and penalties, including a two-year suspension from international play for an initial positive test. Any Major Leaguer testing positive under the tournament rules also would not be subject to penalty under the Joint Drug Testing and Prevention Policy now in force in the big leagues.

 

Bracket

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/wbc/index.jsp

[Bored 0]

Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens could play for the U.S.

Yeah right.

[snuffbox 0]

If the US ends up being a B-level team than I'll have to cheer Panamanian for Carlos Lee.

 

Does anyone really think this will work? I hope it does, but I doubt it...

[devo 0]

So, does that mean that MLB players from other countries can play for either the US or their home nation? If so, it'll be interesting to see which immigrants decide to play for what team. Let's be honest, the United States doesn't have a multitude of home-grown talent. What's there is fantastic, but not enough to make them a favorite in such a tournament.

 

I'm really looking forward to this. Hopefully it'll work out.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I think this tournament is something of a joke. Eight games? A team goes 1-2 and all of the sudden they are out. That does not leave a great deal of breathing room. It makes the tournament more of a random process than any kind of real competition.

[Vern Gagne 0]

Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens could play for the U.S.

Yeah right.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Clemens will play. This is right up his alley.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

It looks good on paper, but(and this could me ignorance on my behalf), the Olympics were pretty well AA ball. I realise that MLB wouldn't allow a lot of players to the Olympics, but it seems roughly the same.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

It looks good on  paper, but(and this could me ignorance on my behalf), the Olympics were pretty well AA ball. I realise that MLB wouldn't allow a lot of players to the Olympics, but it seems roughly the same.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

That's about right actually.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

The first go round, I could see big name talent playing..but as a regular thing I think you'll see less and less big names and more and more up and coming stars playing. It will put players at risk for injuries before even spring training starts..which would suck big time.

[Guest]

Sheffield won't play in 'something that's made up

 

Gary Sheffield wants nothing to do with the World Baseball Classic.

 

Several major league players spoke of the honor they would feel to represent their countries in baseball's first World Cup-style tournament when the groups for the event were unveiled Monday.

 

Sheffield was not among them.

 

The Yankees right fielder told reporters at the All-Star festivities in Detroit on Monday there was no chance he would participate in the event scheduled for March.

 

"My season is when I get paid," Sheffield told the New York Daily News. "I'm not doing that. ... I'm not sacrificing my body or taking a chance on an injury for something that's made up."

 

"A lot of guys feel that way. They won't say it like I will, though," he added.

 

Unlike Sheffield, Miguel Tejada (Dominican Republic) and Dontrelle Willis (United States) were among several players to come out in support of the tournament at press conferences Monday.

 

"I just hope I make the team," Willis said jokingly.

 

Tejada said fans back home would look forward to the event, which baseball hopes will be played a second time in 2009.

 

"They're going to be really excited to see all the players on one team," he said.

 

The 16-nation, 18-day event opens March 3 in Tokyo or Taiwan, where Group A will include Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and China.

 

The United States will be in Group B, which starts play March 8 along with the other groups and will be based in the United States.

 

Cuba, Puerto Rico, Panama and the Netherlands are in Group C, which will be in Latin America, and the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Australia and Italy are in Group D, which will be based in Florida.

 

Major League Baseball has spent more than a decade discussing the tournament and hopes the event will gain in prestige, such as soccer's World Cup.

 

Sheffield didn't hold playing in the World Baseball Classic in the same high esteem as playing in the Olympics.

 

"This isn't the Olympics," he told the Daily News. "That's a big difference. This is something you made up."

 

The International Olympic Committee voted last week to kick baseball out of the Olympics following the 2008 Beijing Games.

 

Sheffield, who has been outspoken this season on other topics as well, including deferred money in his contract and the possibility of being traded, attributed some of his negative feelings about the Classic to the risk of being injured during the event -- which would take players away from their MLB teams during spring training.

 

"A lot of guys say, 'Give it a shot, give it a try,'" Sheffield told the Daily News. "But I don't think so."

 

CREDIT: ESPN.COM

 

Apparently that's one asshole's view.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

He's got a point. MLB is making a ton of money off this. If they are going to throw together a loose tournament and make a shitload of money off of it, why should the players all line up and volunteer? Just the mere mention of patriotism doesn't cut it.

[Guest]

Of course, I personally agree with Sheffield although he's an ass. I just don't like the way he throws money around in every statement he makes.

[Jericholic82 0]

what about spring training?

[the max 0]

He's got a point.  MLB is making a ton of money off this.  If they are going to throw together a loose tournament and make a shitload of money off of it, why should the players all line up and volunteer?  Just the mere mention of patriotism doesn't cut it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

The love of the game seems to be good enough for me. Tejada and Willis are two examples of that.

 

Hell, if you were in their shoes why wouldn't you? You get paid either way, since it's an MLB event, so you don't have to worry about losing money for an injury.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

This thing has to go down as the greatest idea in the history of baseball...

 

...

 

...

 

That won't work.

[Shooting Star 0]

I can't believe they're not playing any games here in Dominican Republic! besides U.S.A you know we're the biggest baseball producing country...fuck it.

 

Anyways...Miguel Tejada is one of the players I respect the most because he makes a lot of money playing in U.S.A yet still comes every year and plays here in the Winter League and the caribbean world series, same with David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez they never miss a year here unlike assholes like Alex Rodriguez who hasn't played here since 94.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

HAVANA -- Cuba's top sports official said Wednesday he doubts the nation will participate in next year's World Baseball Classic, calling the event commercialization of the sport.

 

Baseball's first World Cup-style tournament, an 18-day, 16-nation event organized by Major League Baseball and its players' association, is scheduled to start March 3, will be played in the United States, Asia and Latin America.

 

"Cuba doubts it will participate, primarily because the reasons and the interests behind the event have yet to be stated clearly," Humberto Rodriguez, president of Cuba's National Institute of Sports, told The Associated Press Wednesday.

 

The decision will be made by December, Rodriguez said.

 

"However, I can already tell you ... that if it's about capitalizing baseball to show off economic power, we are not in agreement," he said.

 

While Japanese management has approved, the Japanese players' association has not made a decision.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2107228

 

So no Cuba apparently. If Japan doesn't sign up, this is nothing but the same MLB players we get to watch anyway joining some South African jobbers in a farcical tournament. Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of a World Baseball Tournament. But this is not so much about competition as it is a way to make some easy money.

[Guest]

DETROIT -- Alex Rodriguez feels determined to help the Dominican Republic play a key role in baseball's first World Classic, which will take place in March.

 

That's why the Yankees third baseman has already decided which country he will represent in the most important international event in baseball's history.

 

"I am going to play for the Dominican Republic, and I am going to make the Dominicans feel proud," Rodriguez said during the All-Star Game.

 

"I want to say it out loud: I am Dominican," added Rodriguez.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2106934

 

Mostly directed towards one person, obviously he does care about his country.

[Masked Man of Mystery 0]

I love the idea, as I've always wanted to see the Japanese and Korean baseball styles, and the whole thing just sounds cool. I'm not suprised about Cuba though

[Vern Gagne 0]

Read through the lines with Cuba. We won't participate because we know half the team will defect.

[iggymcfly 0]

I think this tournament is something of a joke.  Eight games?  A team goes 1-2 and all of the sudden they are out.  That does not leave a great deal of breathing room.  It makes the tournament more of a random process than any kind of real competition.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Is soccer's world cup a "real" competition? How about any Olympic team sport? How about the NCAA football season? In any of those competitions, two losses will eliminate you from contention. You can't realistically expect a 30 game mini-season for an international competition, and I think the format's just about perfect as is.

 

The only real problem I see is the participants. If a majority of invited US stars play, along with Japan and Korea, I think that it will be a tremendous event. The lack of interest from players (and foreign countries) is the only possible thing that could kill this competition.

[Shooting Star 0]

DETROIT -- Alex Rodriguez feels determined to help the Dominican Republic play a key role in baseball's first World Classic, which will take place in March.

 

That's why the Yankees third baseman has already decided which country he will represent in the most important international event in baseball's history.

 

"I am going to play for the Dominican Republic, and I am going to make the Dominicans feel proud," Rodriguez said during the All-Star Game.

 

"I want to say it out loud: I am Dominican," added Rodriguez.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2106934

 

Mostly directed towards one person, obviously he does care about his country.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Well I guess that shut me up...

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Is soccer's world cup a "real" competition? How about any Olympic team sport? How about the NCAA football season? In any of those competitions, two losses will eliminate you from contention. You can't realistically expect a 30 game mini-season for an international competition, and I think the format's just about perfect as is.

 

NCAA Football is far from what I would like to see, but that is another topic. Yes, in any competition there is a chance of upsets and a bad performance can knock you flat. But the proposed format here takes upset possibilities to the extreme. If the Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Chicago White Sox today, no one would bat an eye. The BEST team in major league history still lost a quarter of their games.

 

Here is some fun with bionomial probability (don't worry, I'll spare the calculations). Let's say you take the best team in major league history against average competition, and figure they have a 75% chance of winning any single game. They play three games, and would need to win two in order to advance. What are the odds that the greatest team in baseball history fails to advance? Almost 20%.

 

That's not all. They need to advance out of two of these round robins. Losing either would eliminate this team, and the odds of losing either are about 33%. Now if they have gotten this far, they need to win one semifinal game and one final game. The odds of the greatest team in HISTORY winning over a group of average teams under this format is 37%. 37%! Now, picture a much tighter group of teams, and you get an idea of how random this format is.

 

This is not a competition, it is an exhibition. That is all well and good, and it should be treated as such. 27 players to get through three games, before taking a week off? AAA teams play entire seasons with 23 players, taking a game off every two or three weeks. Who the hell needs 12 pitchers to navigate a three game series?

 

One other thing. We have U.S.A., Canada, Mexico, and South Africa in a group. The United States has produced over 10,000 MLB players. Canada has produced just over 200, and Mexico about 100. South Africa has produced zero. Ever hear of Tim Harrell? He's the only South African in recent memory to play AA baseball, making him the only such qualified player from his country. I hope MLB institutes a ten run mercy rule for their sake.

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0]

WTF, A-Rod is from America.

[Brett Favre 0]

His parents are Domincan though. I don't have a problem with it. He's been there anyway.

[Shooting Star 0]

WTF, A-Rod is from America.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Well he used to live here and started his professional carrer here. That whole you are from where your parents are shit is only in U.S.A...I was born and raised here in Dominican Republic but my parents are from Italy does that make me Italian and not Dominican? this is different in U.S.A though since your country is packed with Immigrants and they mostly try to repressent where their parents are from, so to Americans they are Dominican but to us real Dominicans they are American...it's really confusing. In Mexico city the higher class people HATE being associated with the Mexicans in U.S.A and in Puerto Rico mostly everyone hates New York Puerto Ricans and would love it if they stopped calling themselves Puerto Rican or "Rican" as they put it and disrespecting the flag putting it on their sneakers and using it as hats and skirts.