World Baseball Classic

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

2013 World Baseball Classic

The 2013 World Baseball Classic will be the third World Baseball Classic. It will be held in 2013; the first to be held after a planned four-year break following the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

According to mister-baseball.com, there are plans to possibly expand the tournament to 24 teams. This would of course require a change in format and in the number of qualifying rounds. Late in 2009, the new president of the IBAF, Riccardo Fraccari, suggested that the Baseball World Cup could become a qualifier for the World Baseball Classic. MLB has not yet commented on the idea, but they are looking into expanding the tournament to 24 clubs.

2009 World Baseball Classic

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

Results

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

2006 World Baseball Classic
02/24/2006

Umpires

ALTERNATES

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

Results

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

Eligibility Rules

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

• 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, then the player may be made eligible by WBCI 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.

Rules of Play

• a minimum of three days have passed since he last pitched, if he threw 50 or more pitches when he last pitched
• a minimum of one day has passed since he last pitched, if he threw 30 or more pitches when he last pitched
• a minimum of one day has passed since any second consecutive day on which the pitcher pitched

A pitcher cannot pitch more than:

• 70 pitches per game in Round One of the tournament
• 85 pitches per game in Round Two of the tournament
• 100 pitches per game in the Semifinals and Final of the tournament

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:

• 10 or more runs when the opposing team has batted in at least seven innings
• 15 or more runs when the opposing team has batted in at least five innings

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