2009 World Baseball Classic

2009 Baseball Classic Logo

The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is an international baseball tournament, first held in March 2006. It is sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and created by Major League Baseball (MLB), the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), and other professional baseball leagues and their players associations around the world. The 2009 WBC, the second edition of the event, was won by Japan for the second tournament in a row.
The WBC is the first international baseball tournament for national teams to feature professional players from the major leagues around the world including Major League Baseball; the Summer Olympics have regularly featured college and minor-league players because the Games conflict with the major league seasons in both regions, and the Baseball World Cup historically has not had major leaguers participate. 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.

Plans call for the World Baseball Classic to be repeated every four years following the 2009 event, with the third installment of the Classic to occur in 2013. Other plans for the 2013 World Baseball Classic include possibly expanding the number of participating teams to 24 with qualifying rounds as a preface to reach the main competition.

Eligibility / Rules of Play

The first-round venues for the second running of the World Baseball Classic, which began on March 5, 2009, in Japan. 
The brackets were as follows:

Pool A -- China, Chinese Taipei, Japan and Korea on March 5 in Tokyo Dome.
Pool B -- Australia, Cuba, Mexico and South Africa, from March 8-12 in Mexico City.
Pool C -- Canada, Italy, the U.S. and Venezuela, from March 8-12 in Toronto.
Pool D -- Dominican Republic, the Netherlands, Panama and Puerto Rico, from March 7-11 in Puerto Rico.

Umpires

# Last Name, First Name, Country
67 Barksdale, Lance (USA)
65 Barrett, Ted (USA)
56 Cooper, Eric (USA)
13 Cousins, Derryl (USA)
6 Davis, Corrie (Canada)
32 DeMuth, Dana (USA)
63 Diaz, Laz (USA)
1 Dreckman, Bruce (USA)
2 DuPont, Stephane (Canada)
50 Emmel, Paul (USA)
3 Estivison, Edgar (Panama)
49 Fletcher, Andy (USA)
53 Gibson, Greg (USA)
15 Hickox, Ed (USA)
51 Hudson, Marvin (USA)
4 Hyham, Paul (Australia)
58 Iassogna, Dan (USA)
46 Kulpa, Ron (USA)
# Last Name, First Name, Country
41 Meals, Jerry (USA)
26 Miller, Bill (USA)
7 Moon, Seong Hoon (Korea)
11 Nakamura, Minoru (Japan)
5 Oh, Seok Hwan (Korea)
14 Perez, Jorge (Cuba)
8 Ramirez, Luis (Mexico)
19 Rapuano, Ed (USA)
9 Rey, Carlos (Puerto Rico)
10 Rodriguez, Willie (Puerto Rico)
12 Toledo, Dan (Mexico)
22 Tomoyose, Masato (Japan)
27 Vanover, Larry (USA)
31 Watarida, Hitoshi (Japan)
47 Wegner, Mark (USA)
21 Wendelstedt, Hunter (USA)
22 West, Joe (USA)
17 Yoshikawa, Masami (Japan)

Results

Semifinals Final
   
1R  South Korea South Korea 10  
2W  Venezuala Venezuela 2  
    SF1W  South Korea South Korea 3
  SF2W  Japan Japan (F/10) 5
2R  USA United States 4
1W  Japan Japan 9  

2006 World Baseball Classic
02/24/2006

2006 baseball Classic

Umpires

Last Name First Name Native Country First Round Assignment
Armendariz Ramon USA Tokyo, Japan
Barksdale Lance USAOrlando, FL (Disney)
Barry Scott USA Orlando, FL (Disney)
Campos Angel USA Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ
Causey Kevin USA San Juan, PR
Davidson Bob USAPhoenix/Scottsdale, AZ
Dellinger Dusty USA Orlando, FL (Disney)
Diaz Nelson Cuba Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ
Dowdy Adam USA San Juan, PR
Drake Rob USASan Juan, PR
Durfee Peter USA Tokyo, Japan
Fairchild Chad USASan Juan, PR
Fullwood Troy USA Orlando, FL (Disney)
Griffith Chris USA Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ
Guccione Chris USA Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ
Hallion Tom USA San Juan, PR
Heo Un KoreaTokyo, Japan
Hickox Ed USA Orlando, FL (Disney)
Hoye James USASan Juan, PR
JohnsonAdrian USATokyo, Japan
KnightBrian USATokyo, Japan
McCabeIan South AfricaSan Juan, PR
ChenMinggao ChinaTokyo, Japan
MoserCasey USAOrlando, FL (Disney)
MuchlinskiMike USAPhoenix/Scottsdale, AZ
PierfrancoLeone ItalySan Juan, PR
PoultonNeil AustraliaPhoenix/Scottsdale, AZ
ReiningerTravis USAPhoenix/Scottsdale, AZ
ReyCarlos Puerto RicoOrlando, FL (Disney)
ShiehLiang-Kuei Chinese TaipeiTokyo, Japan
van GroningenFred NetherlandsOrlando, FL (Disney)

ALTERNATES

Last Name First Name Native Country
Colon Delfin Puerto Rico
Hernandez Edwin Puerto Rico
Peralta Roberto Panama
Provincher Rene Canada
van den Berk Edwin Netherlands

* NOTE: An umpire from Japan will work the World Baseball Classic but will be announced at a later time.

Results

Semifinals Final
   
2R  Cuba Cuba 3  
2W  Dominican Republic Dominican Republic 1  
    SF2W  Japan Japan 10
  SF1W  Cuba Cuba 6
1R  Japan Japan 6
1W  South Korea South Korea 0  

 

Eligibility Rules

A player is eligible to participate on a World Baseball Classic team if:

Rules of Play

A pitcher cannot pitch until:

A pitcher cannot pitch more than

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

A game will be a called game if the leading team is ahead by

Mercy rules do not apply during the semi-finals and finals.  The Designated Hitter rule applies for all games.

Return to Top