World Cup of Baseball

[sahyder1]

ajor League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association jointly announced today that the "World Baseball Classic," a 16-nation tournament featuring the world's best players competing for their home countries, will be played in March 2006.

The World Baseball Classic is the result of a coordinated effort among Major League Baseball, the Major League Baseball Players Association, Nippon Professional Baseball, the Korea Baseball Organization and the International Baseball Federation.

"This gathering of baseball's brightest stars will be an outstanding platform to grow the game internationally," said Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig. "As baseball continues to grow globally, more and more fans around the world have the opportunity to appreciate the grace and excitement of our great game. The first World Baseball Classic will bring a unique blend of enthusiasm to old and new fans alike."

"The World Baseball Classic reflects and will demonstrate the continued growth of baseball's appeal worldwide," said MLBPA Executive Director Donald M. Fehr. "We thank the participating leagues, players associations and federations for agreeing to be a part of this event. Major Leaguers look forward to the World Baseball Classic with great anticipation."

Sixteen national teams from North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia will compete in the four-round tournament to be held at various sites in the United States, Asia and Latin America. More detailed information regarding the World Baseball Classic will be announced in July.

[Green Demon]

It also will be good since Teams cannot block players from participating, although they might bring in rules to limit apperances/innings. Also is pretty cool since it sounds as though they are going to be playing the games all over the world, well atleast for the Asian teams. It will be cool to see if the US is able to stand up to the rest of the world Major leagueurs.

[Guest Locutus of Borg]

I hate to say it, but the Dominican Republic is going to own us all...

ESPN Page 2's team predictions:

United States

Lineup

SS Derek Jeter

1B Todd Helton

3B Alex Rodriguez

DH Barry Bonds

LF Manny Ramirez

RF Gary Sheffield

CF Jim Edmonds

C Jason Varitek

2B Mark Loretta

Starting pitchers: Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Jason Schmidt, Ben Sheets

Bullpen: Brad Lidge, Joe Nathan, Billy Wagner, Tim Hudson, Dontrelle Willis

Bench: Scott Rolen, Adam Dunn, Brian Roberts, Joe Mauer

Dominican Republic

Lineup

2B Alfonso Soriano

SS Miguel Tejada

1B Albert Pujols

DH David Ortiz

CF Vladimir Guerrero

RF Sammy Sosa

3B Aramis Ramirez

LF Jose Guillen

C Miguel Olivo

Starting pitchers: Pedro Martinez, Bartolo Colon, Odalis Perez, Miguel Batista

Bullpen: Francisco Cordero, Guillermo Mota, Armando Benitez, Octavio Dotel, Damaso Marte

Bench: Adrian Beltre, Rafael Furcal, Wily Mo Pena, Juan Brito

Puerto Rico

Lineup

2B Jose Vidro

C Ivan Rodriguez

CF Carlos Beltran

1B Carlos Delgado

DH Javy Lopez

3B Mike Lowell

RF Jose Cruz Jr.

LF Bernie Williams

SS Alex Cora

Starting pitchers: Javier Vazquez, Joel Pineiro, J.C. Romero, Kiko Calero

Bullpen: Roberto Hernandez, Javier Lopez, Fernando Cabrera, Pedro Feliciano, Juan Padilla

Bench: Jorge Posada, Jose Valentin, Juan Gonzalez, Luis Matos

Venezuela

Lineup

3B Melvin Mora

2B Carlos Guillen

CF Bobby Abreu

LF Miguel Cabrera

DH Magglio Ordonez

C Victor Martinez

RF Richard Hidalgo

1B Andres Galarraga

SS Omar Vizquel

Starting pitchers: Johan Santana, Carlos Zambrano, Freddy Garcia, Kelvim Escobar

Bullpen: Francisco Rodriguez, Juan Rincon, Jorge Julio, Ugueth Urbina, Wilson Alvarez

Bench: Ramon Hernandez, Edgardo Alfonzo, Cesar Izturis, Juan Rivera

Canada

Lineup

2B Pete Orr

RF Larry Walker

CF Jason Bay

1B Justin Morneau

3B Corey Koskie

DH Matt Stairs

LF Aaron Guiel

SS Danny Klassen

C Cody McKay

Starting pitchers: Rich Harden, Erik Bedard, Jeff Francis, Ryan Dempster

Bullpen: Eric Gagne, Jesse Crain, Paul Quantrill, Rheal Cormier, Aaron Myette

Bench: Simon Pond, Pete LaForest, Stubby Clapp, Rob Ducey

Edited May 12, 2005 by Locutus of Borg

[naiwf]

The damn Dominicans will likely win, but I'll definitely be rooting for Puerto Rico. If they have more than one team from the USA, I'll have to go with whatever team is focused on the Northeast.

[Cactus Drags]

I don't see why America should get more than one team.

Still, it'll certainly be interesting to watch. Is this a professional-only thing? 'Cause I don't think there are any pro leagues in Europe...

[naiwf]

I don't see why America should get more than one team.

Still, it'll certainly be interesting to watch. Is this a professional-only thing? 'Cause I don't think there are any pro leagues in Europe...

←

[Ananas]

This is the tournament that baseball fans have been waiting for. I'll be waiting with wide eyes, even if Canada is kind of outclassed by some of the heavy hitters that will be in the tournament.

[sahyder1]

Manny can play for the US because he's an American citizen. The US would get multiple teams because they can field that many and have enough regions that can have a team. I mean if you go down the list....where are you coming up with 16 teams?

US

Canada

Cuba

Japan

Taiwan

Venezuela

Puerto Rico

Dominican Republic

You can easily split the US into regions and still have them field competitive teams. I don't want teams that have no shot at competing.

[ACCBiggz]

United States

Lineup

SS Derek Jeter

1B Todd Helton

3B Alex Rodriguez

DH Barry Bonds

LF Manny Ramirez

RF Gary Sheffield

CF Jim Edmonds

C Jason Varitek

2B Mark Loretta

Starting pitchers: Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Jason Schmidt, Ben Sheets

Bullpen: Brad Lidge, Joe Nathan, Billy Wagner, Tim Hudson, Dontrelle Willis

Bench: Scott Rolen, Adam Dunn, Brian Roberts, Joe Mauer

[Lowerdeck]

Anyone NOT seeing Clemens or Johnson being in this?

I think this is a good idea long overdue. Dominican Republic should win.

[KJE]

I think there should be one team per country, just because that way it keeps true to the best-on-best format.

No matter what, I'd still be rooting for Canada --> I like their chances very much to come in the top 4-5. I was actually excited for this when I heard it last night, as I'm still hyped from the World Cup of Hockey in August... lol

[Guest Locutus of Borg]

Manny can play for the US because he's an American citizen. The US would get multiple teams because they can field that many and have enough regions that can have a team. I mean if you go down the list....where are you coming up with 16 teams?

US

Canada

Cuba

Japan

Taiwan

Venezuela

Puerto Rico

Dominican Republic

You can easily split the US into regions and still have them field competitive teams. I don't want teams that have no shot at competing.

←

[Miami Vice]

This will be a sweet tournament. Unfortunetly it looks like we (Canada) are going to get crushed. I predict a 4th place finish for Canada just like at the Oylimpics. D.R has this thing in the bag.

[King Ellis]

Go on Holland, always up for anything. Maybe the Aussies will send in a few spinners too

[Cactus Drags]

Manny can play for the US because he's an American citizen. The US would get multiple teams because they can field that many and have enough regions that can have a team. I mean if you go down the list....where are you coming up with 16 teams?

US

Canada

Cuba

Japan

Taiwan

Venezuela

Puerto Rico

Dominican Republic

You can easily split the US into regions and still have them field competitive teams. I don't want teams that have no shot at competing.

←

[livid]

Manny can play for the US because he's an American citizen. The US would get multiple teams because they can field that many and have enough regions that can have a team. I mean if you go down the list....where are you coming up with 16 teams?

US

Canada

Cuba

Japan

Taiwan

Venezuela

Puerto Rico

Dominican Republic

You can easily split the US into regions and still have them field competitive teams. I don't want teams that have no shot at competing.

←

You missed my point. Why should America get greater representation? No other sport does that at it's world championships/cups...

←

[naiwf]

I guess it would be like the Olympics in the sense that you could theoretically play for the country of your birth or the USA depending on citizenship.

[sahyder1]

If the US gets more then one team it will be divided by regions. Sports Illustrated or ESPN the Mag did a story on that a little while back. They had up to 4 US teams.

[Ananas]

Letting one country field more than one team is a detriment to the tournament's legitimacy. I'd rather sacrifice a bit of competitiveness than lose face by not having 16 teams representing 16 countries.

[sahyder1]

how would it be losing face? The idea to me is having a nice competitive tournament. I don't wanna some European team in there just getting trounced.