WBC
Congrats to the Dominican Republic: The 2013 World Baseball Classic Champions!
You have asked for it readers and now it is here! An entire page devoted to the upcoming 2013 edition of the World Baseball Classic!
After the initial WBC in 2006, the tournament returned in 2009. The decision was made to have the WBC played three years after the inaugural edition and then four years later from there. As result, after a long wait for baseball fans…the third World Baseball Classic was back for the 3rd edition in 2013. It was a thrilling March- with the final 2 countries facing off for global baseball supremacy: The Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. The DR won the game 3-0 behind the MVP bat of Robinson Cano. Congrats to the Dominican Republic on being crowned the 2013 WBC Champions!
2013 World Baseball Classic in March, 2013: Standings
March 19, 2013: AT&T Park, San Francisco
Finals
Puerto Rico 0 -Dominican Republic 3
(The Dominican Republic wins the 2013 WBC)
March 17, 2013: AT&T Park, San Francisco
Semi-Finals (Single Elimination)
Final: Puerto Rico 3 – Japan 1
(Japan is eliminated)
March 18, 2013
Netherlands 1 – Dominican Republic 4
(Netherlands is eliminated)
March 12-16, 2013: Marlins Park, Miami
Round 2 – Pool 2 (Double Elimination)
U.S. 1-2 (eliminated)
Italy 0-2 (eliminated)
Dominican Republic 2-0 (advanced to Semi-finals)
Puerto Rico 2-1 (advanced to Semi-finals)
March 7-12, 2013: Tokyo
Round 2 – Pool 1 (Double Elimination)
Cuba 1-2 (eliminated)
Netherlands 2-2 (advance to Semi-finals)
Japan 3-0 (advance to Semi-finals)
Chinese Taipei 0-2 (eliminated)
ROUND 1
March 2-6, 2013: Fukuoka Japan
Group A
Japan 2-1 (advance to Round 2)
Cuba 3-0 (advance to Round 2- Top Seed in Group A)
China 1-2 (eliminated)
Brazil 0-3 (eliminated)
March 2-5, 2013: Taichung Taiwan
Group B
Korea 2-1 (eliminated)
Australia 0-3 (eliminated)
Chinese Taipei 2-1 (advance to Round 2)
Netherlands 2-1 (advance to Round 2)
March 7-10, 2013: San Juan, Puerto Rico
Group C
Venezuela 1-2 (eliminated)
Puerto Rico 2-1 (advance to Round 2)
Dominican Republic 3-0 (advance to Round 2 – Top Seed in Group C)
Spain 0-3 (eliminated)
March 7-10, 2013: Phoenix
Group D
U.S. 2-1 (advance to Round 2)
Mexico 1-2 (eliminated)
Canada 1-2 (eliminated)
Italy 2-1 (advance to Round 2)
2013 World Baseball Classic in March, 2013: Venues
March 17-19, 2013: San Francisco
Semi-finals and Finals: Japan, Netherlands, TBD, TBD
| Game 1 | Sun, Mar 17 | Semi-final: Puerto Rico 3 – Japan 1 | ||
| Game 2 | Mon, Mar 18 | Semi-final: Netherlands 1 -Dominican 4 | ||
| Game 3 | Tue, Mar 19 | Finals: Puerto Rico 0 – Dominican 3 |
Round 2: (Double-Elimination)
March 12-16, 2013: Miami: U.S., Italy, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico
| Game 1 | Tue, Mar 12 | Final: Italy 4 – Dominican Republic 5 | ||
| Game 2 | Tue, Mar 12 | Final: Puerto Rico 1 – United States 7 | ||
| Game 3 | Wed, Mar 13 | Final: Puerto Rico 4 – Italy 3 | ||
| Game 4 | Thu, Mar 14 | Final: United States 1 – Dominican 3 | ||
| Game 5 | Fri, Mar 15 | Final: Puerto Rico 4 – United States 3 | ||
| Game 6 | Sat, Mar 16 | Final: Puerto Rico 0 – Dominican 2 |
Round 2 – Pool 1 (Double Elimination)
March 7-12, 2013: Tokyo: Chinese Taipei, Japan, Cuba, Netherlands
| Game 1 | Thurs, Mar 7 | Final: Netherlands 6 – Cuba 3 | ||
| Game 2 | Fri, Mar 8 | Final: Japan 4 – Chinese Taipei 3 | ||
| Game 3 | Sat, Mar 9 | Final: Chinese Taipei 0 – Cuba 14 | ||
| Game 4 | Sun, Mar 10 | Final: Japan 16 – Netherlands 4 | ||
| Game 5 | Mon, Mar 11 | Final: Cuba 6 – Netherlands 7 | ||
| Game 6 | Tue, Mar 12 | Final: Netherlands 6 – Japan 10 |
Round 1: (Round-Robin)
March 2-6, 2013: Fukuoka Japan: Group A – Japan, Cuba, China, Brazil
(Cuba and Japan advance to Round 2 – Cuba is the top seed in Group A)
| Game 1 | Sat, Mar 2 | Final: Japan 5 – Brazil 3 | ||
| Game 2 | Sun, Mar 3 | Final: Cuba 5 – Brazil 2 | ||
| Game 3 | Sun, Mar 3 | Final: China 2 – Japan 5 | ||
| Game 4 | Mon, Mar 4 | Final: China 0 – Cuba 12 | ||
| Game 5 | Tue, Mar 5 | Final: Brazil 2 – China 5 | ||
| Game 6 | Wed, Mar 6 | Final: Japan 3 – Cuba 6 |
March 2-5, 2013: Taichung Taiwan: Group B – Korea, Australia, Chinese Taipei, Netherlands
(Netherlands and Chinese Taipei advance to Round 2 – Chinese Taipei is the top seed in Group B)
| Game 1 | Sat, Mar 2 | Final: Australia 1 – Chinese Taipei 4 | ||
| Game 2 | Sat, Mar 2 | Final: Korea 0 – Netherlands 5 | ||
| Game 3 | Sun, Mar 3 | Final: Netherlands 3 – Chinese Taipei 8 | ||
| Game 4 | Mon, Mar 4 | Final: Korea 6 – Australia 0 | ||
| Game 5 | Tue, Mar 5 | Final: Australia 1 – Netherlands 4 | ||
| Game 6 | Tue, Mar 5 | Final: Chinese Taipei 2 – Korea 3 |
March 7-10, 2013: San Juan, Puerto Rico: Group C – Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Spain
(Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico advance to Round 2- Dominican Republic is the top seed in Group C)
| Game 1 | Thu, Mar 7 | Final: Venezuela 3 – Dominican Rep. 9 | ||
| Game 2 | Fri, Mar 8 | Final: Spain 0 – Puerto Rico 3 | ||
| Game 3 | Sat, Mar 9 | Final: Dominican Rep. 6 – Spain 3 | ||
| Game 4 | Sat, Mar 9 | Final: Puerto Rico 6 – Venezuela 3 | ||
| Game 5 | Sun, Mar 10 | Final: Spain 6 – Venezuela 11 | ||
| Game 6 | Sun, Mar 10 | Final: Dominican Rep. 4 – Puerto Rico 2 |
March 7-10, 2013: Phoenix: Group D – U.S., Mexico, Canada, Italy
(United States and Italy advance to Round 2 – United States is the top seed in Group D)
| Game 1 | Thu, Mar 7 | Final: Italy 6 – Mexico 5 | ||
| Game 2 | Fri, Mar 8 | Final: Canada 4 – Italy 14 |
| Game 3 | Fri, Mar 8 | Final: Mexico 5 – United States 2 | ||
| Game 4 | Sat, Mar 9 | Final: Canada 10 – Mexico 3 | ||
| Game 5 | Sat, Mar 9 | Final: United States 6 – Italy 2 | ||
| Game 6 | Sun, Mar 10 | Final: United States 9 – Canada 4 |
2013 World Baseball Classic: Qualifying Tournament Standings
Group 1:
France: 0-2 (eliminated)
Israel: 2-1 (eliminated)
South Africa: 1-2 (eliminated)
Spain: 3-1 (advances to WBC 2013)Group 2:
Canada: 3-0 (Advance to WBC 2013)
Czech Republic: 0-2 (eliminated)
German: 2-2 (eliminated)
Great Britain: 1-2 (eliminated)Group 3:
Brazil (3-0) (advances to WBC 2013)
Columbia (1-2) (eliminated)
Nicaragua (0-2) (eliminated)
Panama (2-2) (eliminated)Group 4:
Chinese Taipei (3-0) (advances to WBC 2013)
New Zealand (2-2) (eliminated)
Philippines (1-2) (eliminated)
Thailand (0-2) (eliminated)
***WBC BROADCAST NOTE: We have confirmed that all the WBC Qualifier games will be broadcast at worldbaseballclassic.com – with the finals from each qualifier tournament to be shown on the MLB Network***
QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT – SCHEDULE
SEPTEMBER 19-23, 2012
2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifier 1 in Jupiter, Fla. (France, Israel, South Africa, Spain): Roger Dean Stadium
Game 1: South Africa vs. Israel: Wedneday September 19: Israel 7 – South Africa 3
Game 2: Spain vs. France: Thursday September 20, 7PM EST: Spain 8 – France 0
Game 3: Israel vs. Spain: Friday September 21, 1PM EST: Israel 4 – Spain 2
Game 4: South Africa vs. France: Friday September 21, 7PM EST: South Africa 5 – France 2 (eliminated)
Game 5: Spain vs. South Africa or France: Saturday September 22, 7PM EST: Spain 13 – South Africa 3 (eliminated)
FINALS: Game 6: Spain vs. Israel: Sunday September 23, 5PM EST: Spain 9 – Israel 7 (10 innings) – Israel is eliminated and Spain advances to WBC 2013
August 15, 2012: Preview of Qualifier Group 1 (Report by Sam Evans): http://mlbreports.com/2012/08/15/wbc-qualify/
SEPTEMBER 20-24, 2012
2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifier 2 in Regensburg, Germany (Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Great Britain): Armin-Wolf Baseball Arena
Game 1: Canada vs. Great Britain: Thursday September 20, 1PM EST: Canada 11 – Great Britain 1 (7 inn)
Game 2: Germany vs. Czech Republic: Friday September 21, 1PM EST: Germany 16 – Czech 1 (6 inn)
Game 3: Czech Republic vs. Great Britain: Saturday September 22, 7AM EST: Great Britain 12 – Czech 5 (eliminated)
Game 4: Germany vs. Canada: Saturday September 22, 1PM EST: Canada 16 – Germany 7
Game 5: Germany vs. Great Britain: Sunday September 23, 8AM EST: Germany 16 – Great Britain 1 (eliminated)
Game 6: Canada vs. Germany: Monday September 24, 1PM EST: Canada 11 – Germany 1 (8 inn) (Canada Advances to WBC 2013, Germany Eliminated)
September 5, 2012: Preview of Qualifier Group 2 (Report by Sam Evans): http://mlbreports.com/2012/09/05/wbc-group2/
November 14, 2012: 2013 WBC Qualifiers: Groups 3 and 4 Preview - By Sam Evans
NOVEMBER 15-19, 2012
World Baseball Classic Qualifier 3 in Panama City, Panama (Brazil, Colombia, Nicaragua, Panama)- Rod Carew National Stadium
Game 1: Panama vs. Brazil: Thursday November 15, 8PM EST: Brazil 3 – Panama 2
Game 2: Colombia vs. Nicaragua: Friday November 16, 8PM EST Colombia 8- Nicaragua 1
Game 3: Brazil vs. Columbia or Nicaragua: Saturday November 17, 2PM EST Brazil 7- Colombia 1
Game 4: Panama vs. Nicaragua: Saturday November 17, 8PM EST Panama 6- Nicaragua 2
Game 5: Panama vs. Colombia: Sunday November 18, 7pm EST Panama 9- Colombia 7
Game 6: Brazil vs. Panama: Monday November 19, 8PM EST Brazil 1- Panama 0
NOVEMBER 15-18, 2012
World Baseball Classic Qualifier 4 in New Taipei City, Taiwan (Chinese Taipei, New Zealand, Philippines, Thailand) – Xinzhuang Stadium
Game 1: Philippines vs. Thailand: Thursday November 15, 10:30PM EST: Philippines 8 – Thailand 2
Game 2: Chinese Taipei vs. New Zealand: Thursday November 15, 5:30AM EST: Chinese Taipei 10 – New Zealand 0 (7 innings)
Game 3: New Zealand vs. Philippines or Thailand: Friday November 16, 10:30PM EST New Zealand 12- Thailand 2
Game 4: Chinese Taipei vs. Philippines: Friday November 16, 5:30AM EST Chinese Taipei 16- Philippines 0
Game 5: Philippines vs. New Zealand: Saturday November 17, 1AM EST New Zealand 10- Philippines 6
Game 6: Chinese Taipei vs. New Zealand: Sunday November 18, 1AM EST Chinese Taipei 9- New Zealand 0
QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT ROSTERS
September 14, 2012: Rosters for all 4 countries in Group 1 (courtesy of Baseball America)
A Closer Look Into Team South Africa: http://baseballsa.com/sa_wbc.php
September 17, 2012: Rosters for all 4 countries in Group 2 (courtesy of Baseball America)
September 17, 2012: This is like a scavenger hunt! Finding information on the WBC is like looking for a needle in a haystack. We were able to track down Team Canada’s roster going out to Germany this week!
WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: NEWS LINKS
January 8th, 2013: Ryan Braun is going to play for Team USA (courtesy of MLB.com)
December 31st, 2012: Michael Young will not play in the 2013 WBC
November 15, 2012: MLB Commissioner Bud Selig Foresees Even Brighter Horizons in Coming Year (courtesy of mlb.com)
November 10, 2012: Damon Sharing Baseball Knowledge in Thailand (courtesy of worldbaseballclassic.com)
September 25, 2012: International Venues Set for 2013 Classic
September 24, 2012: Canada Routs Germany to Earn Spot in Classic
September 23, 2012: Spain Tops Israel in Extras to Advance to Classic
September 22, 2012: Spain Faces Israel in Rematch for Classic Berth (courtesy of worldbaseballclassic.com)
September 21, 2012: Freiman’s Second Two-HR Day Lifts Israel into Finals (courtesy of worldbaseballclassic.com)
September 21, 2012: Gagne Enjoying Being a Pitching Coach for France (courtesy of worldbaseballclassic.com)
September 20, 2012: Spain Shuts Down France in Qualifying Round (courtesy of worldbaseballclassic.com)
September 20, 2012: Canada Routs Britain Behind Hill, Late Surge (courtesy of worldbaseballclassic.com)
September 19, 2012: Israel Victorious in Classic Debut Over South Africa (courtesy of worldbaseballclassic.com)
September 18, 2012: Czechs Plan to Make Most of Classic Opportunity (courtesy of mlb.com)
September 17, 2012: Cody Decker Named to Team Israel (courtesy of Summer College Baseball)
September 16, 2012: France Entry in the 2013 WBC: Humble Beginnings For French Club (courtesy of MLB.com) – Interesting note is that Eric Gagne is the Pitching Coach for the French squad, but was not eligible to play for France.
September 16, 2012: Canada completes its exhibition schedule in preparing for the 2013 WBC qualifiers: http://www.baseball.ca/eng_news_story.cfm?NewsID=2240
September 16, 2012: Great Britain Announces Its WBC Roster (courtesy of britishbaseball.org)
September 14, 2012: Spain and Israel Among Final WBC Rosters Released (Courtesy of Baseball America)
September 14, 2012: Team Israel Roster is an L.A. Story (courtesy of L.A. Times)
September 13, 2012: Canada’s WBC Roster Loaded with International Experience (courtesy of cbc.ca)
September 13, 2012: Baseball in the Czech Republic (courtesy of mopupduty.com blog)
September 11, 2012: Team Canada announced its Roster for the 2013 WBC Qualifiers in Germany this month: http://www.baseball.ca/eng_news_story.cfm?NewsID=2236
September 11, 2012: Vets Highlight Canadian World Baseball Classic Qualifier Roster (courtesy of Baseball America)
September 4, 2012: Japan to Play in 2013 World Baseball Classic (NO Boycott!) (courtesy of cbc.ca) and story by ESPN.com
July 29, 2012: Canada has an August 2nd deadline to set its provisional 28 man roster for the WBC qualifiers coming in September.
July 25, 2012: HUGE news delivered today! For the first time the WBC finals will not be held at Dodger Stadium or Petco Park. San Francisco’s AT&T Park will be he host venue for the semi-finals and finals of the 2013 WBC tournament. The Marlins will be hosting 2nd round WBC games at their new ballpark in Miami, while the Diamondbacks are hosting 1st round games at Chase Field and spring training site in Scottsdale.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120725&content_id=35537502&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb
July 21, 2012: American Jews Suit Up For Team Israel in Baseball (courtesy of L.A. Times)
July 20, 2012: Japanese Pros Threaten to Boycott the 2013 World Baseball Classic. This is bad people. Very very bad. Japan is the two-time defending WBC champion. If Japan doesn’t send its pros, the tournament will definitely be tainted. Let’s hope that a quick resolution is found to this one. Courtesy of mlb.com
June 20, 2012: Ernie Whitt is back as manager of the Canadian WBC team. He is hoping the team will qualify for the 2013 tournament:
http://www.lfpress.com/sports/othersports/2012/06/20/19901586.html
June 15, 2012: Joe Torre named manager of Team USA in the 2013 WBC. Buck Martinez and Davey Johnson were the managers of the 2006 and 2009 USA WBC teams respectively. Team USA has not yet made it to a WBC final and hoping that Torre can take them to the promised land:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/joe_lemire/06/15/joe.torre.team.usa.wbc/index.html
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120614&content_id=33292874&vkey=pr_mlb&c_id=mlb
May 21, 2012: Team Israel has named Brad Ausmus as its coach for the 2013 WBC, with Shawn Green and Gabe Kapler committed to play. The team is still trying to recruit many more Jewish MLB players, including Kevin Youkilis, Ian Kinsler, Ryan Braun and many more. Read about Brad’s trip to Israel and the progress of baseball in Israel:
May 11, 2012: Cuba Prepares for the 2013 World Baseball Classic:
http://www.cubaheadlines.com/2012/05/11/35211/cuba_is_ready_for_3rd_world_baseball_classic.html
March 22, 2012: Big announcement of the day. More information became available today on the big WBC qualifying tournament to be held later in 2012. The qualifying tournament breaks down as follows:
- Four venues have been selected to host the qualifying round: Armin-Wolf-Baseball-Arena in Regensburg, Germany; Rod Carew Stadium in Panama City, Panama; XinZuang Stadium in Taipei, Taiwan; and Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fla.
- The winner from each group will move on to the 2013 WBC tournament
- Each qualifier group will play 6 games- modified double elimination
- In September 20-24th, taking place in Regensburg, Germany: the group of four is Canada, Great Britain, Germany and the Czech Republic. Tickets will cost between 15-75 Euros and go on sale April 27th, 2012. Click here to buy tickets
- In September, taking place in Jupiter, Florida: the group of four is France, Spain, Israel and South Africa
- Group three (dates TBD), in Taipei Taiwan, will feature a group of four: Chinese Taipei, Taiwan, New Zealand and the Philippines
- Group four (dates TBD) will face-off in Panama City, Panama, featuring a group of four: Panama, Nicaragua, Brazil and Colombia
Originally, the World Baseball Classic in 2006 and 2009 consisted of 16 Countries. From those 16 countries, 12 of the original WBC representatives received automatic byes to play in the tournament commencing March 2013. The automatic entries into the tournament are the following 12 countries:
- Australia
- China
- Cuba
- Dominican Republic
- Italy
- Japan
- Korea
- Mexico
- Netherlands
- Puerto Rico
- United States
- Venezuela
So all the original countries will be back in the WBC…but with a twist. For the third edition of the tournament, there will now be 28 total countries that will be competing. From the original 16 WBC countries, 4 of those countries must now enter into a qualifying tournament in the fall of 2012 to gain entry to the WBC. Poor showings in the 2009 means those countries must now qualify for the WBC. Baseball then added 12 new countries for the qualifying tournament for a total of 16 teams competing in the qualifiers. From the qualifying tournament, the top 4 countries will advance to join the remaining 12 holdover teams for a complete field of 16 teams that will compete in the 2013 WBC. The 16 countries competing in the qualifying tournament are as follows:
- Brazil (new)
- Canada (holdover- needs to qualify)
- Chinese Tapai (Taiwan) (holdover- needs to qualify)
- Colombia (new)
- Czech Republic (new)
- France (new)
- Germany (new)
- Great Britain (new)
- Israel (new)
- New Zealand (new)
- Nicaragua (new)
- Panama (hold0ver- needs to qualify)
- Phillipines (new)
- South Africa (holdover- needs to qualify)
- Spain (new)
- Thailand (new)
Stay tuned for more 2013 WBC news, including the venues for the qualifying rounds and WBC tournament. Team rosters will need to be set and the competition in the qualifying tournament will be fierce to advance to the WBC. In the finals of the 2006 WBC, played on March 20, 2006, Japan beat Cuba by a score of 10-6. On March 23, 2009, Japan beat Korea 5-3 to win its 2nd straight WBC title. Will Japan three-peat in 2013? With 12 new countries on board, there will be even more competition to make it to the finals. The upcoming edition of the WBC promises to be the most exciting ever!
Aren’t the qualifying rounds to be played in Taiwan this fall?
The qualifying tournament locations not picked yet. Will keep everyone posted!
I know the venues for the 2013 WBC haven’t been announced yet what is the hearsay where the finals will be held? I’m guessing the Miami Marlins stadium has the inside track to host this. What do you think?
I can definitely see Miami getting one of the rounds in 2013. Finals may still be in California…but you never know.
TEAM USA needs to Win we own baseball
Gotta get to the WBC finals in order to win it! Hopefully USA will come out firing in 2013!
no you dont….you dont own anything.
Far from owning Baseball….as a matter of facts…team U.S has done Terrible in both WBC….just horrible.
Who “owns” baseball? The USA? According to which standard? Spending the most money on players? Having the best marketing people? Funny, I always thought that excellence in baseball was determined on the diamond, not the blogosphere. Even with a disappointing finish in the most recent World Baseball Classic, Cuba has an UNPARALLELED record in international baseball competition dating back decades. If any one country can even think about saying it “owns” beisbol other than Cuba, it might be Japan based on the merits of there two WBC titles. Until the USA can put up titles and banners like Cuba and Japan, the Yanquis don’t own anything about baseball – except for tickets to the finals.
Hassan,for the last 50 plus years CUBA has mostly played against amateurs,not professional,their international achievemenst are exagerated,you cannot be the best by just beating amateurs,i was born in Cuba,so i know a little bit about their baseball history,are they good,yes,but not the best;now with reference to JAPAN,yes two WORLD titles make them the best in the world;U.S despite having the best players has yet to win its first WORLD title.
Cuba made it to the finals. I’m surprised they didnt win. There are a crapload of good baseball players in Cuba. (yonder alonso,jose conseco, jose contreras,yunel escobar,Kendrys Morales) and most of the really good ones are still there cuz of fidel.
is nobody’s fault that Cuba was playing until 2000 against amateurs, not 50 years like you said, the 2000 Olimpics in sidney pro players were alredy included…that’s already 12 years, Cuba still has beaten most pro best Baseball Teams…
cuba beat Panama, PRico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Mexico, Netherlands…..all formed by their best MLB players and other Venues….so pls, before you said anything else wrong, look at the real stats and Results….you have a lot of holes in your comments…seems to me you just dont know much about International Baseball.
Sir…since 2000 Team Cuba has been playing against Pro players in every tournamnet , starting with the Sidney olimpics, where have you been?
In 1999 Team Cuba beat the Orioles 12-6 in Camdem Yards , loss to them 3-2 in Havana….in 2006 Team Cuba beat PRico, Venezuela, Panama , Dominicana and loss a very good game against Japan 10-6
in 2009 Team Cuba beat RSA, Australia, Mexico Twice and loss only to Japan Twice , the world champs….in two close games…
where have you been Sir? its been over 13 years Team Cuba is been playing AAA Teams and Top Teams from top Baseball Nations…you are totally off and very mistaken…cubans players are better than Japanese players, maybe is time that MLB applies Cubans stats like they are doing to Japanese stats…example….Ichiros and Matsui stats from japan were added to their MLB stats…why dont MLB adds Morales, Cespedes, Duque, Contreras, Escobar, Ramirez, Betancourt, Martin, Chapman, Viciedo, Puig, Soler. and others Cuban stars….its only Fair…Cuban leagues are better and stronger than Japan’s, where they play in small stadiums…in Cuba they play with the same or larger distances than in the MLB..and these players mentioned have proven they hit in cuba and some of them are hitting here even more!!!
Cuba owned amateur baseball using essentially professionals. The USA, Japan, and S. Korea all have their own professional leagues as I am sure you know. Players from the Dominican, Canada, etc all play in these pro leagues. Since Cuban players obviously were not allowed to play outside their own country, they have an amateur status. Cuba therefore was able to utilize their amatuer players for the Pan Am games and the Olympics and all tourneys between. Now, with that said I am not stating Cuba is not currently better than the USA at baseball. I was simply commenting on the “unparalleled record”. As for the Japanese and S. Korean teams… there is no arguing their excellence. Team USA does need to step up.
there is someone who knows his stuff…!!!! of course Cuban baseball players are pros…look at Ramirez, he came went to spring Training and say good bye to Juan Uribe…bye bye…..Leonys Martin who has not yet really really made it, did something alike in AAA..he came played AAA and say good bye to Pedro Borbon…..Cespedes..he came and he is currently a great player..and he will be even better….of course they are pros, the issue is that we dont have 1500 players in the DLS to choose from there like DR because that’s all they do, Cubans have a powerfull sports Team in many other sports, not only Baseball, and cubans have to risk their lives to come over, Dominicans dont……DR’s have many good players, but in general their quaility is low compared to their Quantity….specially now, and most of them are users of Roids….Dominicans are becoming the disgrace of baseball….going back to the original issue, the only crime that cubans players have in the last 50 years is playing against a lot of mediocre quality players,despite this they have some how kept baseball at a very high quality
still have over 80 players in Cuba currently who can play in AAA and AA, some in AAdv.many in MLB…but mostly are already Pros….whithout the $$$$
castro has totally destroyed cuba , we had our own great league…actually, Cuba as we speak have two great Teams! the one in Cuba and even better , the one here….we can put a Cuban baseball team together here that can beat anybody, with cuban and Cuban americans…just think of a team with Cespedes, Viciedo, Martin, Soler, Puig, Anderson, Ibanez, Jay, Morales, Alonso, Hechavarria, Escobar, Ramirez, Avila, Pena, Arencibia, JD Martinez, Chris Perez, chapman, Livan, Contreras, Arroyo, Gio Gonzalez, Hosmer, Valdes, Bueno, Betancourt,Sean Rodriguez, Valencia, G Sanchez, Coello, Andino, Dominguez, Cardenas…we have players to have our own 25 man roster here and good players they are……..I included soler and Puig because they can play in AAA already…and i did left out many AAA players, young AAA players ….that arent as good as them two, Soler and Puig will be in the majors next year, maybe Henry Urrutia too.
is a matter of numbers, of course if you have 1500 or more players to choose from you will probably have 50, 60, or more players in the majors…but when you onlt have 75 or 90 players (i am not including Cuban Americans) you arent going to have 50 or 60 or 70…is just impossible, because of the quality % will be then , the best in baseball….despite Cuba not having ” the amount of players” and 50 years of non-Drafting we still have 17 cuban born players in the majors and another 13 or 14 Cuban American players….and must of them are starters and very good players, I cant say the same about DR players, they do have 75 total but half of the pitchers are body bags and about only 20 are really good starters, Dr have many players that dont even belong in the majors…
Exactly…the U.S needs to step up and fast…is no surprise to anyone that if cuban players were able to be drafted from Cuba freely…we will have more good players than DR by a mile…we always did….when more than 100 Great Cubans players and over 200 cubans players had already passed by the MLB and the Negro league…no latin country had more than 5 players…as a matter of facts….in the late 60 ‘s during the golden era where most Cgreat cubans players played cuba had almost 40 players in MLB….and Ven, DR, Mex, and Panama together had 6 ….!!!!! it was not until 1977, 1980 that Dominicans started coming strong and the MLB because of the politics had to reeplace cubans with them…there was no other choice….
but like i always say…its Quality!!! not Quantity!!!
I will put an Exile Team Cuba with cuban players and any cuban american who wants to play for Team cuba against Anybody!!!! only with Cuban Exiles….forget Team Cuba from Cuba…we have better players here for the first time in 50 years than in Cuba…and it will get better, because the young guns are leaving cuba and on time…young!!! not at 34 like Duque or 32 like contreras..or 30 like Rojas…imagine the stats Cespedes will have right now if he had come at Livan;s age of 18…like Soler and Puig two other stars in the making…look around, Cuban players are ready to take over MLB …little by little Cubans players are taking more staring positions…like this year..Hechavarria will probably start in 2013, Escobar will do it too probably in another team….Soler, Puig, Urrutia, Iglesias, and about 5 more are making big Strides in AAA…and AA……..Leonys Martin sooner or later will start for somebody….and all this with only 120 MLB and minor leaguers!!!! Dominicana has thousands and thousands of players and they have 25 starters only …players and a whole bunch of mediocre pitchers…out of the 75 MLB players they have from about 5000 half is Crap..pure Crap..and many are Roids users.
It’s late February,and still no announcement on the WBC qualifiers,back in last December when IBAF was in Texas MLB said that in January the announcement were going to be made. Any idea when they will be made?.
Any idea on how the negotiations between MLB and NBPA is going? thanks.
Does anyone know if this will push spring training back a week or two like last time?
Trying find out where the WBC finals are going to be held in 2013 and when tickets will go on sale; anyone know?
Yesterday there was a press conference in Germany. One of the qualifiers will be held in Regensburgh on September 20 with Germany, Canada, UK and Czech Republic.
Anyone have any idea regarding the other 3 qualifiers?????
The qualifier will be played in Germany, Florida, Taiwan, and Panama City. The article gives the details. Florida will host in September and the rest will be hosted in November.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120322&content_id=27514066&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb
Columbia????? is COLOMBIA!!!! Please…be thorough on your research
Go Puerto Rico!!!!
Great catch. Thanks for the message. Go Puerto Rico!
Jose Canseco came to America when he was two years old,he learned how to play baseball here in the U.S,he is an American product.
Reason why, he cheated……..still , he was born in Cuba, he is Cuban…Palmeiro too.
currently there are over 15 MLB Cuban americans….some are of both Cuban parents , some are of 1 cuban parent , like Hosmer, Valencia, Dominguez, Coello, Jay, Gio G, Arroyo, Sean Rodriguez, Ibanez, Avila, Arencibia, Chris Perez, JD Martinez, G Sanchez, Andino, Cardenas, Castellanos,Exposito…..18 Cuban Americans as we speak in MLB Rosters….16 cuban Born.
Let me say this, To have only over 100 players in the entire minor League system and 51 years of Non-Drafting from Cuba , that’s a lot of players!!!!
For Example…DR has more than 1200 Minor league players, probably like 1500 or more…and they have 75 MLB total players…half of them body bags, specially the pitchers…and most of their ” great players” over the years are Roids users…reason why cuba still has the most HOF’s and will have more when Oliva, Tiant and Minoso go in…..DR has only 1 HOF!!!! and they have close to 500 players who had played in the MLB against like 200 Cuba…..?
You do your Math.
is not Quantity, its Quality.
the next players from Cuba to become MLB starters are Jorge soler and Yasiel Puig….probably Henry Urrutia too.
Soler is another 5 Tool player, he can be better then Cespedes, because of his age…he can be in the majors hitting homers at around 21, 22 …..
Does anyone know what the dates are for the 2013 World Baseball Classic and how it will affect the schedule for Spring Training.
Find out on Ask the Reports this weekend: http://mlbreports.com
where will the 16 teams play
anyone know what the 2013 US roster is?
Why wasnt Uganda invited? Baseball is the #1 sport there.
Is this really Pete Rose??????
12 new countries were invited to the WBC, which is no small feat. More countries will be involved as the tournament progresses. But for now, 12 new countries is a new start and more will come!
Can you give us ur projections?
WBC projections….hmmm…let me think about that one. A great question for Ask the Reports….stay tuned!
The WBC is great, and I agree that the USA needs to make a strong showing! The only thing that really irks me a little is the time it is played. The tourney is held in March when most of the US players aren’t in form because of the winter break. It would be nice to have it in July or August when the players are back to form. Obviously that isn’t going to happen so the WBC is somewhat of a spring training for the players that dont play winter ball anywhere…sad.
Great to see Brazil get in on the WBC. Baseball there is less popular than is soccer in the USA, so maybe some success will help the sport infiltrate deeper into South American than just Colombia and Venezuela.
If Canada does not qualify, is there still a chance of games being played in Toronto?
gotta get india in this next time with this Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel story.
Thatss cool Torre is managing. Japan deserves to get a venue. Argentina should definitely be in this. So should Jordan and Sweden and Ukraine.
why Jordan?? how much baseball do they play there? Are there any Jordanian minor leaguers?
> looks like all the soccer countries wanna takle over baseball as well,,
what a rip,,
wheres PR, Cuba, DR, Japan, Venezuela??
you know the Real baseball playing countries??
> never mind my last comment, matter of fact, ignore it completely,,
i didnt actually read it throughly until now,,
wow i feel like such an idiot,,
it was saying the original teams would be back with more teams being added,,
i thought the original teams were being replaced by the new teams,,
never mind,,
by the way, go Puerto Rico
I think Spain should play all of its former colonies, starting with the Viceroyalty of Peru, which I expect to have a WBC team by 2017. Likewise, Great Britain should play the USA, Canada, Australia, and South Africa.
China and USA may disagree, but Chinese Teipei and Taiwan are the same country. You left out Thailand in group 3 qualifying.
The Players Association of Japanese Baseball League decided not to participate in the tournament. so Japan will either 1) not participate or 2) send amateur/college players to the tournament. still better than soccer counties though.
Japan will not participate any more. America or Korea will be able to win the championship.
Please…. We have already shown that Japan is the best.
Money, money, money. 66% share? for MLB? No fair.
Thank you for your question Popo. Find out the answer in this week’s edition of Ask the Reports: http://mlbreports.com
This is an exciting news for me being Nicaraguan which it is the number one sport in our country and having the only born Latin American player to ever throw a perfect game in the MLB. Wait, Galarraga from Venezuela did in my book too, well being that said, it’s great for the sport since there is not a chance of being played in the Olympics anymore. I find it very challenging for Nicaragua to qualify having only four big leaguers at the time and more in the minor leagues right now. Panama since is going to be home will have the edge here Colombia has grown recently and Brazil has a lot of Japanese descendant born in Brazil so this is going to be the most interesting qualifying group I hope. Go baseball, go Nicaragua and USA Baybee!!! Thanks, great day y’all….
I have nothing against the US or asian countries (great teams) , but this year the Caribbean will dominate the WBC… Cuba, DR, PR, and Venezuela… Especially Dominican Republic!!!
just found out one of the things are in Phoenix, cant wait to go!
why germany thats a terrible location they could have done so many better places venezuela,dr,japan,korea, nicaragua,phillipines, even israel or austrailia would have been better. When will we find out what is team USA? I know Grant Balfour is from Austrailia is anyone else?
Panama will be a good venue for the event.
Japan will be just killing the Tournament, if they do this.
with Cuba weak, because of the many Defections, Japan needs to be here or the WBC will be just Mediocre……Israel can really put Together a team and make things better for the Cup..and if Selig had Cojones, he will allow Cuban Exiles to make their Own Pro Team with Cubans and Cuban Americans..it will be a great Team with great players…imagine a 25 man Roster that includes Yoenis Cespedes CF, Dayan Viciedo LF -DH, Kendrys Morales IB-DH, Yunel Escobar SS, Alexei Ramirez SS, Adeyni Hechavarria 3B SS, Yuniesky Betancourt 3b 2b SS , Jorge Soler RF, Yasiel Puig CF, Raul Ibanez DH, Jon Jay CF, JD Martinez LF, Alex Avila C, JP Arencibia C, Bryan Pena C, Yonder Alonso 1B DH, Yasmany Grandal C, Leonys Martin RF CF, Gio Gonzalez, Bronson Arroyo, Livan Hdez, Jose contreras, Raul Valdes, Francisley Bueno, Y Maya, chris Perez, A chapman…R Coello………
even Eric hosmer can be in this Team….just think of Gio Gonzalez, Aroldis chapman and Bronson Arroyo as starters……with Perez and Contreras closing or chapman closing…livan can help too……Frddy Gonzalez can be the manager with Tany Perez, Oliva, Tiant, Canseco, Palmeiro, Prieto as coaches and Trainers….Cookie Rojas, Tony Taylor, A Ochoa…and C Tasca….Minoso could be the legendary carriying the Flag….this can be something to watch ladies and gents…..
Notice that i said MOSTLY,played against amateurs;in 2000 olympic games they lost to a U.S team made up mostly of minor leaguers not professionals of that team only Ben Sheets became a big star,also the first baseman cannot remember his last name(not a common last name) he too had a few decent years with the white sox,and i think the twins too,he was A Rod roommate in college,of that team the biggest star was Tommy LaSorda the manager,and they still manage to lose to the Americans,and the other countries you mentioned they are AA leaguers at best,that is why they don’t play in MLB. Look i am not putting down the Cubans,they did make me proud in ’06 WBC, after being badly beaten by the Puerto Ricans,and the Dominicans,they got up and beat those two same teams in the following games. Now speaking of more recent events,who are you picking to win the next WBC?.
Why MLB organizers placed the USA team in a such easy piece of cake group?
In Group D playing against Mexico and Italy!!!!! Please give me a break
Why the USA team was not place in a group like the death group where the organizers placed Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic?
this is totally unfair since the beginning
This totally stinks
the MLB trying to help the USA team to advance very easy and not facing real opponents
What a joke MLB
Find out our response on ATR this week. Thank you for the question Ivan!
Thanks for the update on the team rosters. You guys are awesome.
why do people say mexico is easy they got great relief and starting picthing i watch a lot of baseball froe mlb to the carribbean series mexico always plays hard no matter who they play and they beat usa in the wbc 2-1 in angel stadium!!!!! and usa is tops in the world no disrespect to any other countries that play baseball.oh yeah we aslo got ADRIAN GONZALEZ!!!!!!!!!!!! HES DANGEROUS ON ANY LEVEL AND WHERVER HE PLAYS!!!!!
when will the USA roster be announced?
Won’t be closer to march. Injuries and spring training plays huge part in decisions.
No One owns Baseball.
For the record, I’m Peruvian but grew up in the States. I’m still waiting for the 1st Peruvian to make it to the majors.
Since 1947, when the color line was finally broken, ther have been 12 pitchers who have won 300 games or more. All are Americans
During that time there have been an additional 34 American pitchers who have won over 200 games. This does not include Feller or Newhouser who won some of their games pre-1947. Also does not include Blyleven who was born in the Netherlands but grew up in California.
During this same period ther have been 6 non-native Americans who have won 200 or more games. That includes Blyleven. The others are Dennis Martinez, Juan Marichal, Luis Tiant, Pedro Martinez and Ferguson Jenkins.
If pitching is 90% of baseball then come to your own conclusions
Where can I find the rosters?
WTF!!!! I love Angel Pagan, as I am a die hard Giants fan, but that the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rican fans can blow horns and dance in OUR stadiums is absolutely ridiculous!!!!! MLB and the U.S. reps need to seriously understand that Abnor Doubleday is rolling in his grave right now…..pathetic!!!
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