World Baseball Classic 2006

[uspdude]

man.. finally they make it happen, its about time. :lol:

[<Gypsum Fantastic>]

Is this World or "world"?

[Seiyuuki]

Oh, Yeah!!! (http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=41971&highlight=baseball)

Projected lineup...

Pool One: Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China (http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/news/050511worldcuprosters1.html)

Probable winner...Japan

C - Kenji Jojima
1B - Nobuhiko Matsunaka
2B - Tadahito Iguchi (White Sox)
3B - Michihiro Ogasawara
SS - Kazuo Matsui (Mets)
LF - Kosuke Fukudome
CF - Hideki Matsui (Yankees)
RF - Ichiro Suzuki (Mariners)
DH - Norihiro Nakamura
SP - Daisuke Matsuzaka
SP - Koji Uehara
SP - Hideo Nomo (Devil Rays)
SP - Tomo Ohka (Nationals)
RP - Shingo Takatsu
Manager: Sadaharu Oh (868 HR in his career)

Pool Two: Puerto Rico, Cuba, Panama, Italy (http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/news/050511worldcuprosters2.html)

Probable winner...Puerto Rico

C - Ivan Rodriguez (Tigers)
1B - Carlos Delgado (Marlins)
2B - Jose Vidro (Nationals)
3B - Mike Lowell (Marlins)
SS - Alex Cora (Indians)
LF - Alexis Rios (Blue Jays)
CF - Carlos Beltran (Mets)
RF - Jose Cruz Jr. (Diamondbacks)
DH - Javy Lopez (Orioles)
SP - Javier Vazquez (Diamondbacks)
SP - Joel Pineiro (Mariners)
SP - J.C. Romero (Twins)
SP - Kiko Calero (Athletics)
RP - Roberto Hernandez (Mets)
Manager: Jose Cruz Sr. (Astros)

Pool Three: Canada, Mexico, South Africa, United States (http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/news/050511worldcuprosters3.html)

Probable winner...United States (Updated according to 05's roster)

C - Jason Varitek (Red Sox)
1B - Derek Lee (Cubs)
2B - Brian Roberts (Orioles)
3B - Alex Rodriguez (Yankees)
SS - Michael Young (Rangers)
LF - Manny Ramirez (Red Sox, Domican Republic opting to play for the U.S.)
CF - Torii Hunter (Twins)
RF - Gary Sheffield (Yankees)
DH - Mark Teixeira (Rangers)
SP - Roger Clemens (Astros)
SP - Mark Prior (Cubs)
SP - Ben Sheets (Brewers)
SP - Mark Mulder (Cardinals)
RP - Billy Wagner (Phillies)
Manager: Bobby Cox (Braves)

Pool Four: Australia, Dominican Republic, Netherlands, Venezuela (http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/news/050511worldcuprosters4.html)

Probable winner...Dominican Republic

C - Miguel Olivo (Mariners)
1B - Albert Pujols (Cardinals)
2B - Alfonso Soriano (Rangers)
3B - Aramis Ramirez (Cubs)
SS - Miguel Tejada (Orioles)
LF - José Guillén (Nationals)
CF - Jose Guillen (Nationals)
RF - Vladimir Guerrero (Angels)
DH - David Ortiz (Red Sox)
SP - Pedro Martinez (Mets)
SP - Bartolo Colon (Angels)
SP - Odalis Perez (Dodgers)
SP - Daniel Cabrera (Orioles)
RP - Francisco Cordero (Rangers)
Manager: Felipe Alou (Giants)

[Ria]

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

cool! :)

[Stormy]

This one will be a hard call.

[Seiyuuki]

All the world is baseball's stage
Global tournament involves 16 nations
By Barry M. Bloom

DETROIT – All 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 packed 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.

"The World Baseball Classic is an historic and unprecedented international tournament," Selig told an audience that included hundreds of media representatives from around the world, plus officials from most of the national and international baseball federations involved.

"For the first time ever, baseball's best players will compete for their home countries in a global tournament," he said. "It will increase worldwide exposure for our great game and promote its grass-roots development not only in countries where the game is already popular, but in nations where the game is less known."

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 end 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. Cuba has also yet to accept the invitation. Neither nation was represented at the press conference.

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.

Eight players attended the conference, wearing the home jerseys of the respective national teams: Jayson Bay, a National League All-Star outfielder from Canada; Justin Huber of Australia, who was the MVP of Sunday's World team victory in the XM Satellite Futures Game; Miguel Tejada, the starting American League All-Star shortstop from the Dominican Republic; Hee-Seop Choi of Korea; Andruw Jones, a National League All-Star who will play for the Netherlands; Carlos Lee, a National League All-Star from Panama; Carlos Beltran the NL's starting All-Star left-fielder from Puerto Rico, and Dontrelle Willis, a member of the NL's All-Star pitching staff and a U.S. native.

Willis, responding to a media question said that, "I hope I just make the team." Echoing the sentiment of the other attending players, Willis added, "it's an honor, no matter how you cut it, to be a representative of my country."

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.

Olympic baseball, which was just dropped from the 2012 Games, has only been a gold medal sport since 1992, with just 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.

While Selig said that it was a shame the International Olympic Committee had voted to drop baseball for 2012, he said that this inaugural World Baseball Classic was proof positive that baseball is truly global.

"I'm sorry they made the decision they made," Selig said. "But as far as the sport is concerned, if you watch what's going on here today, you understand that this sport is being internationalized. It will have a more profound significance in the world as time goes on. And there's no question in my mind that this tournament is going to develop into something that will have people all over the world trying to become a part of it. We're moving on in a very dramatic way."

The new World Baseball Classic opens the door to twice as many teams than the Olympics 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 is expected to come 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.

The Cubans may have diplomatic reasons for not wanting to play in a tournament that will largely be staged in the U.S., but Gene Orza, the union's chief operating officer, said that he anticipated Cuba would play or the organizers would simply go to Plan B.

"Cuba has played in international tournaments before," he said. "And if they don't show up, we have other nations that have already asked to participate in case one of the nations drops out."

Paul Archey, Major League Baseball's vice president of international baseball operations, said his group is currently working on the venue situation and will provide full details, "at the next press conference in a matter of weeks or months."

There are four pools of four teams each. Japan, Korea, China and Taiwan are in Pool A. The United States, 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.

Kevin McClatchy, the managing general partner of the Pittsburgh Pirates and a member of baseball's international committee, said he hoped that one day the World Baseball Classic would have a similar impact as soccer's World Cup, which will be staged next year in Germany.

"I'm very excited about this," he said. "It can grow into one of the most awesome tournaments on the world map."

http://students.washington.edu/dangt/Bracket.jpg

[goldman]

Hahahaha nice tar Stormy, i'am ricky james bitch! :lol:

[Thor]

Is baseball and soccer the same thing?

[<Gypsum Fantastic>]

This competition is created for one purpose, the humiliation of Americans.

[ViktorNavorski]

Well, for the U.S. team, it is shaping up like the U.S. Olympics basketball team in 2004. Most the best players counted on for the U.S. team in the tournament already started coming up with their excuses..."I'm not getting pay enough, I don't want to be too tire...blah...blah...blah..."

Going up against other foreign teams with players with plenty of talents who don't even get pay a tenth of the salary some of these spoil lazy big leaguer brats, there is no way in hell the U.S. will win.

[Violet Fashion by Mindy]

Just another pittfull attempt at from the yanks to try to wrest english invented sports from world dominance.