World Baseball Classic History
Founded in 2006, the World Baseball Classic (WBC), held at irregular intervals, is an international baseball tournament for the players of the national teams who are part of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). Since its inception, 5 tournaments have been held so far, with the latest edition hosted by Japan from 8th March to 21st March’23. The event over the years has been one of the most viewed baseball events of all time.
Inspired by the format of the FIFA World Cup, the World Baseball Classic is conducted by pitting men’s national teams against each other in a single elimination tournament to claim the most coveted World Baseball Classic Trophy. The proposal was made to the World Baseball Softball Confederation by the World Baseball Classics Inc. (WBCI) when the International Olympic Committee decided to drop baseball from the Olympic sport.
Usually, WBC is majorly hosted around March, during the pre-season spring training sessions, helping the professionals players prepare of their regular Major League Baseball (MLB), Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) or the KBO League. And while the event has been marked by the absence of notable pitchers from the MLB, mainly because of conditioning limits set by their respective clubs, the event manages to feature a star-studded line-up of batters.
The Format:
Initially, in 2006, World Baseball Classic consisted of 16 teams. But with its growing popularity among the fans, in 2023, number of teams was increased to 20. Originally, it was decided that the tournament is to be hosted every after four years. But due to several circumstances, including MLB’s suggestion to reorganize the international calendar in 2013 to better manage the players. It was during that phase that WBSC decided to award the title of “World Champion” to the WBC winner given that the Classics facilitate direct qualifications and adhere to anti-doping rules.
The current format of World Baseball Classic is made up of 4 rounds:
i. The Qualifying Round
ii. A First Round
iii. A Second Round
iv. A Championship Round
The format is simple and straight forward. 20 teams are divided into 5 pools, each consisting of four teams. Seeded nations with higher rankings determine the pools they will be placed in with Top 12 ranked teams gaining automatic qualification to the first round. The remaining 8 teams play through an extra qualifying round to earn a spot in the tournament.
After all, 20 teams are announced, the first round of the World Baseball Classic tournaments commences in a round-robin format, with every team playing against the other three teams in their pool. The top two from each pool advance to the second round, which is again held in a round-robin format.
From the second round, top two teams from each pool go through to the championship round from where knock-out round kicks in. The semi-final features the top 4 teams in a single-elimination format. The winners of the semis make it to the grand finale. The winner of the final is crowned the World Baseball Classics champion.
Winner List of World Baseball Classics
2006: The inaugural year when World Baseball Classics kicked-off. It was held in March’06 with 16 national teams participating in the tournament. The tournament was held over a period of 19 days across multiple venues comprising USA, Puerto-Rico & Japan.
The championship round was held at PETCO Park in San Diego, California. The final was between Japan & Cuba with Japan winning the first-ever World Baseball Classics championship.
2009: The 2009 World Baseball Classic was also held in various locations around the world. The tournament was played over a period of 21 days, from March 5 to March 23, 2009, with games held at several different venues.
The first round of the tournament was held in Tokyo, Mexico City, Toronto, San Juan, and Miami. The second round was held in San Diego and Miami. The championship round was held at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, with the four remaining teams playing in a single-elimination format to determine the winner of the tournament.
Japan once again won the tournament, defeating South Korea 5-3 in the championship game.
2013: The third edition of World Baseball Classic was held in March 2013 with 28 teams participating in the qualifying rounds and 16 teams participating in the main tournament. The final was between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, the latter won the championship after making an appearance in the 2006 final. The impressive feat of being unbeatable throughout the tournament made the Dominicans a force to be reckoned with in the sport. Major league players like Robinson Cano, Jose Reyes, and Edwin Encarnacion led the strong team.
2017: 2017 World Baseball Classic marked the fourth edition of the tournament. It was hosted around multiple venues including Seoul, Miami, Tokyo, and Jalisco. The final was played between United States and Puerto Rico, making it the third final appearance for the Puerto Ricans. United States went on to win the championship by 8-0 scoreline. United States featured a star-studded lineup of major league players like Marcus Stroman, Andrew McCutchen, and Christian Yelich. The tournament also saw the debut of Israel in the tournament and went on a run to finish 6th in the tournament.
2023: The 2021 World Baseball Classic tournament was halted due to the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. The tournament was finally arranged in 2023. Shohei Ohtani was named the Most Valuable Player with Japan being the champions of the tournament. Shota Imanaga was awarded as the Winning Pitcher and Masataka Yoshida featured in the All-World Baseball Classic Team. Japan was crowned the champion for the 3rd time in the history of World Baseball Classic and regained their supremacy over the sport.
Iconic Moments in World Baseball Classic
The spectacle and the fun World Baseball Classic has provided over the years is simply awe-inspiring. And while there are countless moments which would make into any highlight reels, the following five are the standout moments in the World Baseball Classic so far:
- Japan’s victory in the first ever World Baseball Classic over Cuba took the world by surprise. This victory placed Japan as the superpower in the sport of baseball.
- Adam Jones’ catch in 2017 tournament remains one of the most watched replays in the history of World Baseball Classic. The American outfielder made a spectacular catch to rob the Dominican Republic’s Manny Machado of a home run.
- Johan Santana in the second-round of 2006 tournament completed 8 strike outs with no hitter against Venezuela remains one of the most talked about pitchers in the history.
- The semi-final in 2017 tournament saw a thrilling finish for Puerto Rico against the United States and solidified Puerto Rico’s stand in the sport.
- Japan’s Ichiro Suzuki’s walk-off hit in the final of 2009 tournament pushed Ichiro to the legendary status. Ichiro helped Japan claim a 5-3 victory over the Koreans and the moment remains etched in the history of World Baseball Classic.
