The World Baseball Classic (WBC), also referred to as the Classic, is an international

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

tournament sanctioned by the

World Baseball Softball Confederation The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) is the international Sports governing body, governing body for the sports of baseball, softball, Baseball5 and Blind baseball. It was established in 2013 by the merger of the International Baseba ...

(WBSC), the sport's global governing body, and organized in

partnership A partnership is an agreement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments or combinations. Organizations ...

with

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) and

Major League Baseball Players Association The Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) is the labor union representing all current Major League Baseball (MLB) and Minor League Baseball (MiLB) players. All players, managers, coaches, and athletic trainers who hold or have held ...

(MLBPA). The winning team is awarded the World Baseball Classic Championship Trophy. It is one of the two main senior baseball tournaments sanctioned by the WBSC, alongside the WBSC Premier12, but is the only one to grant the winner the title of "world champion". The tournament, proposed in 2005 by MLB and its Players Association, was first held in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

as an invitational event. It previously coexisted with Olympic baseball (until 2008) and the

Baseball World Cup The Baseball World Cup (BWC) was an international baseball tournament for national teams around the world, sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF). First held in 1938 as the Amateur World Series (AWS), it was, for most of its ...

(until 2011) as tournaments sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, the predecessor to the WBSC. The Baseball World Cup was discontinued after the 2011 edition, when the WBSC accepted an MLB suggestion to make the WBC the officially-sanctioned world championship, on the condition that the Classic should have direct qualifications and follow international anti-doping rules. After a three-year gap between the first two installments of the tournament, plans were made for the World Baseball Classic to be repeated every four years following the 2009 event. The third installment of the Classic was held in 2013, and the fourth was held in 2017. The World Baseball Classic was held five times from

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, with

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

winning the championship. Japan, as of the 2023 tournament, is the only team to win the tournament multiple times. The tournament is the first of its kind to have national teams featuring professional players from the top-level major leagues around the world, including Major League Baseball and

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

(NPB). In addition to providing a format for the best baseball players in the world to compete against one another while representing their home countries, the World Baseball Classic was created in order to further promote the game around the globe. As of the 2023 World Baseball Classic, the tournament is one of the most viewed sporting events in the world.

Background

Prior to the advent of the World Baseball Classic, there was no international baseball championship that saw universal participation from players across the globe. Outside the United States, the formally-recognized "world championship" was the

, sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation and held 38 times from 1938 to 2011; it was known as the Amateur World Series until 1988. The inaugural 1938 Amateur World Series was contested by

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and the

over a series of five games from August 13 to 20 in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, and was won by

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

was by far the most successful team at the Baseball World Cup, winning 25 of the 39 editions. Baseball was also intermittently played at the Summer Olympic Games as early as

1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...

, although it was not recognized as an official

demonstration sport A demonstration sport, or exhibition sport, is a sport which is played to promote it, rather than as part of standard medal competition. This occurs commonly during the Olympic Games but may also occur at other sporting events. Demonstration sport ...

until the 1984 Los Angeles Games. It would take another eight years, at the 1992 Games, for baseball to be accorded the status of a medal sport. For most of their history, the Olympics and Baseball World Cup were open only to amateur (i.e. non-professional) players; as a results, those participating in top-level

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

leagues in the United States, Japan, and elsewhere were not included. Although both competition formally rescinded their amateur-only status in the 1990s, allowing professional players to participate, there was little participation from major league players. Nevertheless, the idea of a tournament with the express involvement of top-level professional ballplayers had been seriously considered since the mid-1990s. Gene Orza, counsel and board member of the

, began campaigning for such a tournament in 2004, enlisting the support of IBAF president Aldo Notari. The inaugural tournament was announced by MLB Commissioner

Bud Selig Allan Huber "Bud" Selig (; born July 30, 1934) is an American baseball executive who currently serves as the commissioner emeritus of baseball. Previously, he served as the ninth commissioner of baseball from 1998 to 2015. He initially served a ...

and MLBPA president Donald Fehr on May 11, 2005. The success of the 2006 tournament led organizers to immediately begin planning for a follow-up tournament in 2009. The IBAF merged with the International Softball Federation in 2013 to form the

. That same year, the WBSC discontinued the Baseball World Cup, last held in 2011, making the World Baseball Classic one of the two main senior baseball tournaments sanctioned by the WBSC, alongside the Premier 12.

Status

The World Baseball Classic is often compared to the WBSC Premier12 as they are the only two senior international baseball tournament. However, the WBC is the only one which grants to the winner the title of "World Champion". This is because players active in

, arguably the highest level baseball league in the world, do not participate in the Premier12. This renders the latter tournament less significant without the best players participating. Despite this, controversially, the WBSC World Rankings award higher points for winning the WBSC Premier12 than winning the World Baseball Classic. Yet, the baseball world generally acknowledges the World Baseball Classic as the ''de facto'' most prestigious international baseball tournament, even often referring to it as "The World Cup of Baseball", comparing the Classic with the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

History

The first World Baseball Classic tournament was announced in May by

, the

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

of Major League Baseball. Major League Baseball had been attempting to create such a tournament for at least two years, but faced resistance from both owners and the MLBPA players' union. MLB owners, notably

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

owner

George Steinbrenner George Michael Steinbrenner III (July 4, 1930July 13, 2010) was an American businessman who was the principal owner and managing partner of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees from 1973 until his death in 2010. He was the longest-serving own ...

, had been concerned about their star players being injured in international play before the beginning of

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

and the regular season. This was a concern for the MLBPA as well, but their primary objection was with

drug testing A drug test (also often toxicology screen or tox screen) is a technical analysis of a biological specimen, for example urine, hair, blood, breath, sweat, or oral fluid/saliva—to determine the presence or absence of specified parent drugs o ...

. MLB wanted the stricter Olympic standards in place for the tournament, while the union wanted the more lax MLB standards in place at the time. Eventually, a deal was reached on insurance for player contracts and a fairly tough drug testing standard. MLB teams would not be able to directly block their players from participating. Similarly,

(NPB) and its players' association had a disagreement over participation in the tournament. While the owners initially agreed to the invitation, the players' union was concerned about the time of year the tournament was scheduled to take place, as well as their right to be better represented for the tournament. On September 16, 2005, after four months of negotiations, NPB officially notified the IBAF and MLB they had accepted the invitation.

2006–09: Samurai Japan's back-to-back championships

The 16-team field for the inaugural 2006 tournament was pre-selected, featuring the countries judged to be the "best baseball-playing nations" in the world; no qualifying competition was held. The tournament format featured round-robin group play in the first and second rounds, followed by

single-elimination A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

semifinals and finals. The first game in WBC history saw

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

defeat

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One China principle stipulated by the ...

2–0 before a crowd of 5,193 at the

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium (whose former site is now occupied by the Tokyo Dome Hotel and a plaza for this stadium). In Japan, it is often us ...

on March 3, 2006. South Korea went on to advance to the semifinals with a 6–0 record but lost to

(a team South Korea had beaten twice in the earlier rounds) for a berth in the final game. Meanwhile,

defeated the

in the other semifinal. Both countries had to go through two rounds of group stages and the semi-finals in knockout format to reach the final. Cuba lost only two games, once to

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

in the first round and once to the

in the second round. However, Japan lost three times, twice to

in each round and the

in the second round. This sparked a format controversy since South Korea would have a better overall and head-to-head record than Japan by the end of the tournament. As such, Cuba was the favorite to win the final. The team with the higher winning percentage of games in the tournament was to be the home team. 2006 World Baseball Classic Trophy; the trophy is in the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame The match began progressing when Japan's starting pitcher–

Daisuke Matsuzaka is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher, who pitched professionally for 23 seasons, 16 of them in NPB, 7 in MLB. He is currently a baseball color commentator, critic, Sports journalism, reporter, and YouTuber. Daisuke is nicknamed i ...

–gave up four

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

, five

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s and one run by the end of the 4th inning using a

gyroball A gyroball is a rare type of pitch (baseball), baseball pitch used primarily by players in Japan. It is thrown with a spiral-like spin, similar to bullet from a rifle, or an American football pass. This spin stabilizes the ball in flight, minimizi ...

pitching style. Offensively, Japan was able to record 6 runs with the help of Ichiro Suzuki's batting style of contact hitting. Once the Japanese

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if ...

took the mound in the 6th inning, Cuba aggressively responded for the rest of the baseball game, using power hitting. By the end of the eighth, the disparity would come down to one run in favor of Japan from Frederich Cepeda's

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

, who would record three

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

by the end of the game. In the ninth, Japan would counter by pushing their offensive limit over Cuba's, which would result in a final score of ten to six. The aftermath of the final most notably included notice from

, from Cuba's increase in

defection In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...

to Matsuzaka's impact for the

World Series champion The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) and concludes the MLB postseason. First played in 1903, the World Series championship is a best-of-seven playoff and is a contest between the champions of base ...

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

in the next year. The next iteration of the tournament, taking place in 2009, featured the same 16 teams from 2006. However, the controversial round-robin format from 2006 was replaced by a modified double-elimination format for the first two rounds (the semifinals and final game remained single-elimination). The eight teams advancing from the first round were the same as in 2006, except for a "Cinderella" performance by the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, which twice defeated the Dominican Republic to reach the second round. In the semifinals, South Korea defeated

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

while Japan defeated the

won the coin flip held after the second semifinal between

and the United States, designating them as the home team for the final. Japan drew first blood, scoring on an RBI single by Michihiro Ogasawara in the third inning. Shin-Soo Choo tied the score 1−all with a

in the fifth inning. With runners on first and third, Hiroyuki Nakajima hit an RBI single to bring Seiichi Uchikawa home to give Japan the lead 2−1. South Korea failed to take advantage of Japanese pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma, who was visibly tired, when they failed to score in the seventh inning, when Iwakuma was relieved by Toshiya Sugiuchi after two outs. Uchikawa hit a single to start the eighth.

Atsunori Inaba Atsunori Inaba (稲葉篤紀, born August 3, 1972) is a Japanese professional baseball manager, coach and former player. He was the Most Valuable Player of the 2006 Japan Series. He is currently the general manager for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham ...

scored a

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

to put Uchikawa in scoring position, and Uchikawa scored on Akinori Iwamura's sacrifice fly. Hyun-wook Jong retired the remaining batters to close out the inning. Japan brought out their closer, Yu Darvish, for the bottom of the ninth with a 3−2 lead. Darvish struck out Keun-woo Jeong, but walked

Hyun-soo Kim Hyun-soo Kim (; ; born January 12, 1988) is a South Korean professional baseball outfielder for the LG Twins of the KBO League. He has previously played in the KBO League for the Doosan Bears, and in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Balti ...

and Tae-kyun Kim to put South Koreans on first and second with one out. Darvish then struck out Choo and was one out away from saving the game. But Bum-ho Lee singled, driving in Jong-wook Lee for the game-tying run to make it 3−all and send the game into

extra innings Extra innings is the extension of a baseball or softball game in order to break a tie. Ordinarily, a baseball game consists of nine regulation innings (in softball and high school baseball games there are typically seven innings; in Little Lea ...

. Japan batted first, with Chang-yong Lim pitching for South Korea in the tenth. Uchikawa and Iwamura hit a single to put runners on first and third with two out. Ichiro was one strike away from ending the inning when he hit a line-drive single up the middle that scored Iwamura and Uchikawa. Lim then hit Nakajima with a pitch and intentionally walked Norichika Aoki to face Kenji Johjima who was hitless up to that point. Lim was able to strikeout Johjima and send the game to the bottom of the tenth. Darvish made short work of South Korea, capping with a strikeout of Keun-woo Jeong to clinch Japan's successful defense of their 2006 championship. Pitcher

of Japan was awarded the tournament MVP for the second consecutive time, with a 3−0 record and 2.45

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

. After the match the team was congratulated immediately for their victory by Japanese prime minister Taro Aso. And Korean President

Lee Myung-bak Lee Myung-bak (; born 19 December 1941), often referred to by his initials MB, is a South Korean businessman and politician who served as the tenth president of South Korea from 2008 to 2013. Before his presidency, he was the CEO of Hyundai Engi ...

invited the Korean team to come and encourage the team.

2013: Direct qualification and "Plátano Power"

In 2013, The World Baseball Classic is one of the two main senior baseball tournaments sanctioned by the WBSC, alongside the Premier 12 but the Classic is the only one which grants to the winner the title of "World Champion". The buildup to the 2013 tournament included a qualifying round for the first time, with the four lowest finishers from 2009 having to re-qualify against 12 additional teams. This resulted in two new nations making their first appearances in the WBC, as

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

respectively replaced

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. The round-robin format was revived for the tournament's first-round, while the second-round remained double-elimination. in Pool B,

went into the final game needing not only to win (which would cause a three-way tie for the two second-round berths) but to win by at least five runs in order to have a chance of advancing on tiebreakers. Although

lost its 2−0 lead in Korea's three-run eighth-inning rally, and then lost the game, they emerged as winners of the pool and of the second-round berth since Korea's margin of victory was only one run. and then

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

was the biggest surprise in the early stages of the tournament, making it to the second round with wins over Canada and Mexico. DR_vs_PR

The tournament ended in an all-Caribbean championship game, with the

defeating

, In the final, Samuel Deduno started for the Dominican Republic, while Giancarlo Alvarado started for Puerto Rico. 35,703 fans attended the game at

AT&T Park Oracle Park is a ballpark in the South of Market, San Francisco, SoMa district of San Francisco, California. Since 2000, it has been the home of the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). The stadium stands along San Francisco Bay ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. An additional 50,000 Dominican fans watched the game at Estadio Quisqueya in

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

. In Puerto Rico, the final was the most watched sporting event for the past year with nearly three-fourths of all households tuning in. Edwin Encarnación hit a two-run

in the first inning, giving the Dominican Republic the lead. Erick Aybar had the game's third

run batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

for the Dominican Republic. Deduno recorded five

s in five scoreless

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

and Fernando Rodney completed the game with a save, his seventh of the tournament. Four Dominican relief pitchers combined for 4 scoreless innings. This was the third time in the tournament that the Dominican Republic defeated Puerto Rico. The Dominican Republic completed the tournament with an 8–0 record, becoming the first undefeated team to win the World Baseball Classic. Robinson Canó was named the

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

of the Classic after he batted 15-for-32 (.469), the most hits in tournament history. After the match the team was congratulated for their victory by Dominican president Danilo Medina.

2017: American redemption

The 2017 tournament returned to the format used in 2006, where both the first and second rounds were round-robin, though with the addition of tiebreaker games if needed.

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

and

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

qualified for the first time, with Israel using a roster mostly of

Jewish American American Jews (; ) or Jewish Americans are American citizens who are Jewish, whether by culture, ethnicity, or religion. According to a 2020 poll conducted by Pew Research, approximately two thirds of American Jews identify as Ashkenazi, 3% id ...

players. Prior to the start of the 2017 World Baseball Classic,

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

considered Team Israel, ranked 41st in the world, to be the biggest underdog in the tournament, referring to it as the "

Jamaican bobsled team The Jamaica national bobsleigh team represents Jamaica in international bobsleighing competitions. The men's team debut in the 1988 Winter Olympic Games four-man bobsleigh in Calgary, Alberta Calgary () is a major city in the Provinces ...

of the WBC". On the other hand, Defending champion

extended its WBC winning streak to 11 games, dating to the 2013 tournament, before being eliminated in the second round. The

won its first WBC championship, defeating Japan and

in the semifinals and finals, respectively. Puerto Rico reached the championship undefeated in the tournament, winning all seven

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Associat ...

. Puerto Rico had defeated the United States when they faced each other in Pool F. In the semi-final Japan reached the semifinals with wins in all six games played in the previous rounds. Tanner Roark started for the United States in the semifinal game, while Tomoyuki Sugano started for Japan. Roark pitched four scoreless innings, while Sugano allowed one run in six innings. The United States scored a run on an RBI single by Andrew McCutchen in the fourth inning, and Ryosuke Kikuchi hit a home run for Japan in the sixth inning to tie the game. The United States scored another run in the eighth inning to take the lead, and Luke Gregerson earned the save. Though the Japanese team was considered the strongest defensive team in the WBC, mistakes by Kikuchi at second base and Nobuhiro Matsuda at third base led to each of the United States's runs. In the championship game, Seth Lugo started for Puerto Rico, and Marcus Stroman started for the United States. Ian Kinsler hit a two-run home run for the United States in the third inning, as Puerto Rico's performance faltered without earning a single run throughout the innings. Kinsler scored again in the fifth inning on a single by Christian Yelich, and Yelich scored on an infield single by McCutchen. Two more runs scored on a

bases loaded This is an alphabetical list of selected unofficial and specialized terms, phrases, and other jargon used in baseball, along with their definitions, including illustrative examples for many entries. 0–9 0 :"Oh and ..." See #count, coun ...

single by Brandon Crawford in the seventh inning, and Giancarlo Stanton scored the inning's third run with an RBI single. Meanwhile, Stroman did not allow a hit for the first six innings of play. The United States added another run in the eighth inning with an RBI single by McCutchen. The

completed the

shutout In team sports, a shutout (North American English, US) or clean sheet (Commonwealth English, UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketba ...

to win the championship. Stroman was named the tournament's

2023: "Baseball's already won"

In January 2020, MLB announced that the 2021 WBC would be expanded to 20 teams. The additional four participants would be determined through qualifying tournaments, which were originally planned to take place in March 2020. However, on March 12, 2020, Major League Baseball announced that the 2021 tournament would be postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The

collective bargaining agreement A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...

(CBA) from the

2021–22 Major League Baseball lockout The 2021–22 Major League Baseball lockout was the ninth work stoppage in Major League Baseball (MLB) history. It began at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time Zone, EST on December 2, 2021, after MLB owners voted unanimously to enact a Lockout (sp ...

planned for the next World Baseball Classic to be held in

Qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the tournament concluded on October 5, 2022, with Nicaragua claiming the final berth in a victory against Brazil. The competition took place from March 8, 2023, to March 21, 2023. For the 2023 classic, the MLB urged its stars to participate.

Mike Trout Michael Nelson Trout (born August 7, 1991) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). Trout is an 11-time Major League Baseball All-Star Game, All-Star, three-time American League (A ...

announced his participation, which motivated a cascade of others including

Trea Turner Trea Vance Turner (born June 30, 1993) is an American professional baseball shortstop for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played for the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers. At the internation ...

, Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, J. T. Realmuto,

Mookie Betts Markus Lynn "Mookie" Betts (born October 7, 1992) is an American professional baseball outfielder, shortstop, and second baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Boston Red Sox. ...

and more of MLB's finest to join Team USA. This further stimulated participation of other important stars in countries around the world. The Samurai Japan team assembled their own star-studded roster, including Shohei Ohtani, Roki Sasaki, Yu Darvish, Masataka Yoshida,

Munetaka Murakami is a Japanese professional baseball infielder for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Amateur career Munetaka started playing baseball at five years of age. He entered Kyushū Gakuin Integrated High School where he ...

, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, to form what many consider to be the most powerful Japanese team in history. The

beat Venezuela to face

in the semifinals. Baseball is Cuba's most popular sport, and is played at a very high level. Therefore, the stakes of the encounter were high. Meanwhile, Japan faced

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in the semifinals, who were on a Cinderella run, majorly led by

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

outfielder Randy Arozarena. After defeating Cuba in the semifinals by a wide margin, the

faced another rival,

, in the championship game. The final was incredibly popular in Japan, drawing over 54 million Japanese viewers.

Shōta Imanaga , nicknamed "The Throwing Philosopher", and "Mike Imanaga II" is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Yokohama DeNA BayStar ...

started for Japan, while Merrill Kelly started for USA. With a 3–2 lead, two outs, and no runners on base in the bottom of the ninth inning, Japan's Shohei Ohtani, one of the best pitchers in recent memory, stood on the mound as his

Angels An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

teammate

, widely considered the greatest player of his generation, stepped up to the plate. After the first pitch of this matchup,

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

commentator

Joe Davis Joseph Davis (15 April 190110 July 1978) was an English professional snooker and English billiards player. He was the dominant figure in snooker from the 1920s to the 1950s, and has been credited with inventing aspects of the way the game is ...

reflected on the spectacle, saying, "As Benji Gil said last night, 'Baseball's already won.'" The two battled to a full count. Ohtani would lure Trout to swing and miss with a slider down and away, sealing the victory for Japan. After the match, Japan was congratulated for their victory by Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida. They became the second team to win the World Baseball classic without losing a single game the entire tournament, after the aforementioned Dominican Republic in 2013.

2026 tournament

Before the championship game of the 2023 tournament, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred announced that the next World Baseball Classic would be held in 2026. Sixteen teams qualified by making the top four of their four respective pools during the

tournament. The other four remaining participants will be determined through the qualifying tournament scheduled for 2025. In May 2024, it was announced that the pool play rounds will be played in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

;

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

;

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

; and

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. The quarterfinals will be split between Miami and Houston, and the final round will be played in Miami.

Format

The World Baseball Classic is held during the month of March, coinciding with the

pre-season for most top-level professional baseball leagues such as

(MLB),

(NPB) and the

KBO League The KBO League () is a professional baseball league in South Korea. The league comprises ten teams. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers are the most success ...

. Venues are located in either indoor baseball domes or at outdoor baseball stadiums which have mild or moderately warm temperatures during early spring. Despite the absence of many elite MLB pitchers due to exposure or conditioning limits set by their club employers and insurance

underwriting Underwriting (UW) services are provided by some large financial institutions, such as banks, insurance companies and investment houses, whereby they guarantee payment in case of damage or financial loss and accept the financial risk for liability ...

issues and non-standardization, the tournament continues to attract a star-studded field of elite baseball players, particularly among position players who are potent batters. In 2006, many high caliber players from both

and in leagues around the world participated in the World Baseball Classic. Amongst the players that made the All–WBC team were Americans

Derek Jeter Derek Sanderson Jeter ( ; born June 26, 1974), nicknamed "the Captain", is an American former professional baseball shortstop, businessman, and baseball executive. As a player, Jeter spent his entire 20-year Major League Baseball (MLB) caree ...

and Ken Griffey Jr. From Japan,

, Ichiro Suzuki and

Tomoya Satozaki is a former Japanese professional baseball player. He played his entire career with the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. He played for Japan national baseball team, Japan in the 2006 World Baseball Classic, and made ...

were on the team. Other internationals included players from Cuba— Yulieski Gurriel, Yoandy Garlobo and Yadel Martí; and from the Dominican Republic—

Albert Pujols José Alberto Pujols Alcántara (, ; born December 11, 1985) is a Dominicans, Dominican professional baseball Manager (baseball), manager and former first baseman and designated hitter who is the manager of the Leones del Escogido of the Domin ...

, Pedro Martínez and José Bautista. The 2009 Classic saw a similarly high-profile field, with a number of players such as Hall of Famers Pedro Martínez,

Iván Rodríguez Iván Rodríguez Torres (born November 27, 1971), nicknamed "Pudge" and "I-Rod", is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball catcher who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Ran ...

and

Chipper Jones Larry Wayne "Chipper" Jones Jr. (born April 24, 1972) is an American former professional baseball third baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves from 1993 to 2012. The Braves chose Jones with the first overall p ...

and the major international debuts of Cuba's Yoenis Céspedes and Aroldis Chapman. For the 2013 tournament, Japanese players threatened to boycott the event despite its domestic popularity, before later agreeing to take part after reaching a compromise in September 2012 with tournament organizers on sharing sponsorship and licensing revenue. Nevertheless, many key players from the 2009 Japanese team such as Yu Darvish, Ichiro, and Hisashi Iwakuma decided not to participate. However, other prominent MLB players accepted selections from their national teams, such as

Miguel Cabrera José Miguel Cabrera Torres (born April 18, 1983), nicknamed Miggy, is a Venezuelan former professional baseball first baseman, third baseman, and designated hitter who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida Marlins a ...

David Wright David Allen Wright (born December 20, 1982) is an American former professional baseball third baseman who spent his entire 14-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the New York Mets. Chosen by the Mets in the 2001 Major League Baseball dr ...

, R. A. Dickey, Joey Votto, Adrián González, Robinson Canó, and José Reyes, among many others. In 2017, former All-Stars such as Adam Jones,

Chris Archer Christopher Alan Archer (born September 26, 1988) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays, Pittsburgh Pirates and Minnesota Twins. Archer attended Clayton High School ( ...

, Buster Posey, Paul Goldschmidt, Andrew McCutchen and others played for the United States. For the Dominican Republic, former All-Stars Adrián Beltré, Robinson Canó,

Manny Machado Manuel Arturo Machado (; born July 6, 1992) is an American professional baseball third baseman and shortstop for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). Highly recruited from an early age, he was raised in Miami, where he attende ...

, José Reyes,

Edinson Vólquez Edinson Vólquez (; born July 3, 1983) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Cincinnati Reds, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City R ...

, and more participated. Adrián González played once more for Mexico, and

Yadier Molina Yadier Benjamín Molina (; born July 13, 1982) is a Puerto Rican professional baseball Manager (baseball), manager and former catcher who is the manager of the Águilas Cibaeñas of the Dominican Professional Baseball League. He played his entir ...

and Carlos Beltrán represented Puerto Rico alongside up-and-coming stars such as

Javier Báez Ednel Javier "Javy" Báez (born December 1, 1992), nicknamed "El Mago" (Spanish for "the Magician"), is a Puerto Rican professional baseball Utility player (baseball), utility player for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has ...

, Carlos Correa, and Francisco Lindor. Venezuela's roster included Jose Altuve and

. In 2023, former All-Stars on the U.S. team included

, Nolan Arenado, Pete Alonso,

, Tim Anderson, Jeff McNeil, J. T. Realmuto, Kyle Schwarber,

, Kyle Tucker, Ryan Pressly, Lance Lynn, Miles Mikolas, and Paul Goldschmidt. St Louis Cardinals teammates Lars Nootbaar and Tommy Edman both participated as part of

and

respectively, in honor of both their mothers' heritages. Similarly,

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

player Freddie Freeman decided to play for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

instead, in honor of his late mother. Randy Arozarena, despite being Cuban, opted to play for Mexico instead after the WBC rules allowed players who legally were residents in a country to play for that country, having asked Mexican president

Andrés Manuel López Obrador Andrés Manuel López Obrador (; born 13 November 1953), also known by his initials AMLO, is a Mexican former politician, political scientist, public administrator and writer who served as the 65th president of Mexico from 2018 to 2024. He se ...

to help him in his case for approval of his application as a legal citizen of Mexico.

Rules of play

Eligibility

In addition to the standard rules of baseball, the World Baseball Classic employs the following additional rules: A player is eligible to participate on a World Baseball Classic team if any one of the following criteria is met: *The player is a citizen of the nation the team represents. *The player is qualified for citizenship or to hold a passport under the laws of a nation represented by a team, but has not been granted citizenship or been issued a passport; in this case, the player may be made eligible by World Baseball Classic Inc. upon petition by the player or team. *The player is a permanent legal resident of the nation or territory the team represents. *The player was born in the nation or territory the team represents. *The player has one parent who is, or if deceased was, a citizen of the nation the team represents. *The player has one parent who was born in the nation or territory the team represents.

Pitching

A pitcher cannot pitch more than: *85 pitches per game in the Qualifying Round (all tournaments since 2013, when this round was introduced) *65 pitches per game in the First Round (all tournaments except 2009, in which the limit was 70) *80 pitches per game in the Second Round (all tournaments except 2009, in which the limit was 85) *95 pitches per game in the Championship Round (all tournaments except 2009, in which the limit was 100) A pitcher can still finish a batter's plate appearance even if the limit is reached, but must come out after completing the plate appearance.

Mercy rules

To prevent one-sided contests, games are ended early if one team is ahead by a certain amount. These

mercy rule A mercy rule, slaughter rule, knockout rule, or skunk rule ends a two-competitor sports competition earlier than the scheduled endpoint if one competitor has a very large and presumably insurmountable scoring lead over the other. It is called t ...

s do not apply during the knockout stage.

Designated hitter

The

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. Unlike other players in a team's lineup, they generally only play as an offensive player and usually do not play defense as ...

rule applies for all games.

Extra innings

From 2009 through 2017, starting with the 11th inning, teams automatically start with runners on first and second base. The baserunners are the players in the two batting order positions previous to the leadoff batter for the inning (or substitutes called in to pinch-run for those players). Organizers put this rule in place starting with the 2009 tournament, although originally, it did not come into effect until the 13th inning. The intention behind the rule is to help ensure extra-inning games end in as timely a manner as possible, reducing the chance of seeing marathon extra-inning games that place undue strain on players, particularly pitchers. As no extra-inning games in either the 2009 or 2013 WBCs reached the point where the rule came into play, it took until the 2017 WBC for it to affect a game's outcome. There were three such games in 2017, and all three were decided in the 11th inning. In 2023, the rule was changed to bring the WBC in line with

Video replay review

Beginning in the

2023 World Baseball Classic The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball tournament and the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It began on March 8, 2023, and ran until March 21. It was originally scheduled to take place in ...

, video review is available for all situations as it would be during a Major League Baseball regular season game.

Run differential

Unlike regular season play, where the number of runs by which a team wins a game is not relevant, the number of runs by which a WBC team wins may be relevant if a tie later develops in the standings. In such cases, teams are ranked by their Team Quality Balance, which rewards them for scoring by as many runs as possible, and for winning with as few of their batters getting out as possible when batting in the bottom of the inning. This caused problems during the 2013 WBC, where one game spawned a bench-clearing brawl between the Canadian and Mexican teams (Canadian hitter Chris Robinson had bunted for a base hit after Canada had already taken a large lead, causing Mexican pitcher Arnold Leon to throw three consecutive pitches at the next hitter, Rene Tosoni). These tiebreakers were changed starting in the 2017 WBC to be "fewest runs allowed per inning of defense in head-to-head games", which still places an emphasis on scoring as many runs as possible (whilst also allowing the fewest runs as possible).

Participation

The first two iterations of the Classic featured the same 16 teams, chosen by invitation. A qualifying round was added leading into the 2013 tournament and takes place in the year before the WBC proper.

and

were the first new countries to earn berths in the WBC via qualification, and so far the addition of qualifying has allowed seven nations to play in the tournament who were not part of the original 16. The qualification setup for the 2013 and 2017 WBCs featured the top 12 finishing teams from the previous WBC being automatically entered in the following edition, while the four lowest finishers (the teams that finished in last place in their first-round pools) were relegated to the qualifying round. Qualifying consisted of four four-team modified double-elimination tournaments, with the winners earning the last four slots in the main tournament. With the 2023 WBC expanding to 20 teams, the qualifying format changed as well. All 16 participants from the 2017 WBC received automatic bids. The restructured qualifying round consisted of a pair of six-team double-elimination tournaments, from which the winners and runners-up advanced to play in the 2023 WBC.

Trophy

Broadcasting and promotion

The tournament is one of the world's most viewed baseball events. The 2023 tournament was broadcast in 163 territories through 63 media partners, and it was broadcast in 13 languages around the globe. and received US$100 million in benefits, In

, nearly 100 million people watched the WBC in 2023, and 55+ million people watched the end of the tournament, as Shohei Ohtani struck out

. The tournament is one of the most popular events in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

, Central and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, particularly in

, part of Northern

and is called the "''Clásico Mundial''". The match between the

and

is considered a strong rivalry, called "''El Clásico''". In 2023, the Pool D game between

and the

was viewed by 62% of households in Puerto Rico.

Attendance

World Baseball Classic attendance: World Baseball Classic qualifier attendance:

Venues

While comparable tournaments traditionally have had one host country, each WBC has used multiple hosts spread around different parts of the world. Thus far, seven different countries have hosted at least one WBC pool, with each edition of the tournament featuring games played in Asia, Latin America, and the United States. However, the championship round has always been held at Major League Baseball stadiums in the United States.

Results

Performance of nations

;Legend * – Champions * – Runners-up * – Third place * – Fourth place *QF – Quarterfinals (2023–present) *R2 – Round 2 (2006–2017: second round) *R1 – Round 1 (2006–2017: first round, 2023–present: pool stage) * – Relegated to qualification tournament *Q – Qualified * – Did not qualify * – Did not enter

Debut of national teams

Overview

Honors

Most Valuable Player

The inaugural winner of the award in 2006 was Japan's

, who pitched 13

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other tea ...

s and finished with a 3–0 record. Soon after this performance, Matsuzaka received a multi-million dollar contract to join the

of America's

. Again in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, Matsuzaka received the world classic MVP, finishing with a record of 3–0 and an

of 2.54. In 2013, Robinson Canó won MVP after hitting .469 with two home runs and six RBI over the course of the tournament.

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

pitcher Marcus Stroman took home the award in 2017 for the United States. Stroman posted a 2.35 ERA over three starts and no-hit Puerto Rico through six innings in an 8–0 win in the Finals. In 2023,

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...

two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani claimed MVP honors after slashing .435/.606/.739 as a hitter and posting a 1.86 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 9 innings as a pitcher, also pitching the final inning of Japan's win over the US in the final.

All-WBC teams

At the end of each edition of the World Baseball Classic, an

all-star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

team is selected based on their play in the tournament. Three pitchers, eight other position players (one each at each position, including three outfielders), and a designated hitter are named to the team. Japanese pitcher

, Puerto Rican catcher

and Puerto Rican shortstop

are the only players to be named to the All–WBC team twice. Japanese two-way player Shohei Ohtani is the only player to be named to the All-WBC team at two separate positions, having been named to the 2023 team as both a designated hitter and a pitcher. Overall, players representing 12 countries have been named to an All-WBC team, with Japan leading the way with 12 representatives.

Statistical leaders

All-time WBC individual leaders in various statistical categories through the end of the 2023 tournament, excluding qualifier games. Batting Pitching

Notes

References

External links

* {{Navboxes , titlestyle = background:#eaebe6; color:#002821 , list= {{World Baseball Classic winners {{WBC MVPs {{International Baseball {{Main world championships

Classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of Masterpiece, lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or Literary merit, highest quality, class, or rank – something that Exemplification, exemplifies its ...

Quadrennial sporting events Recurring sporting events established in 2006 March in sports World Baseball Softball Confederation competitions