2009 World Baseball Classic

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This article or section contains information about a future international baseball tournament. It is likely to contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change as the event approaches and more information becomes available.

The 2009 World Baseball Classic will be an international baseball competition. It follows the inaugural 2006 World Baseball Classic, the first international tournament to feature a large number of major league players. It will be during March, also the time of MLB spring training.

Contents 1 Format 2 Teams 3 Venues 4 External links 5 References 6 See also

[edit] Format

The 2006 tournament consisted of 16 national teams initially divided into four pools. In an attempt to avoid the kind of convoluted tiebreaking procedures the World Baseball Classic rules committee instituted for the inaugural 2006 tournament, the round-robin format will be replaced in 2009 by double-elimination to move teams beyond the first two rounds. Also unlike 2006, there will be a crossover of teams from their second-round pools to the semifinals; the winner of each second-round pool will face the runner-up of the other. The winners of the semifinals then meet to determine the World Baseball Classic champion.

[edit] Teams

All 16 nations that participated in the 2006 tournament have been invited to play in the 2009 tournament.^[1]

Pool A	Pool B	Pool C	Pool D
China	Australia	Canada	Dominican Republic
Chinese Taipei	Cuba	Italy	Netherlands
Japan	Mexico	United States	Panama
South Korea	South Africa	Venezuela	Puerto Rico

The winner and runner-up teams from Pools A and B will advance to the second round to play in Pool 1. The winner and runner-up teams from Pools C and D will advance to the second round to play in Pool 2.

[edit] Venues

• First Round (March 5-March 12)
  • Pool A: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan (cap. 42,000)
  • Pool B: Foro Sol Stadium, Mexico City, Mexico (cap. 27,940)
  • Pool C: Rogers Centre, Toronto, Canada (cap. 49,539)
  • Pool D: Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan, Puerto Rico (cap. 18,000)

• Second Round (March 14-March 19)
  • Pool 1: PETCO Park, San Diego, California (cap. 42,685)
  • Pool 2: Dolphin Stadium, Miami, Florida (cap. 38,560)

• Semifinals and Final (March 21-March 23)
  • Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, California (cap. 56,000)

[edit] External links

• With Classic over, MLB looks ahead
• 2009 World Baseball Classic coverage

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Baseball at the Summer Olympics
• Baseball World Cup
• World Series

v • d • e World Baseball Classic 2006 • 2009

v • d • e International Baseball International World Baseball Classic • Olympics • Men's World Cup • Women's World Cup • Intercontinental Cup • University • Universiade (Defunct) • Junior "AAA" • Youth "AA" • Haarlem Baseball Week      Africa: African Baseball & Softball Association – All-Africa Games      Americas: Pan American Baseball Confederation – Pan American Games      Asia: Baseball Federation of Asia – Asian Championship • Asian Games • Southeast Asian Games      Europe: Confederation of European Baseball – European Championship      Oceania: Baseball Confederation of Oceania – Oceania Championship • Pacific Games International Baseball Federation