World Baseball Classic Gets Under Way

The World Baseball Classic will provide a showcase for the sport to promote its bid for reinstatement in the Olympics as the second edition of the international competition begins on Thursday.

Tokyo, Mexico City, Toronto and San Juan will host first-round pool play through March 12, with Miami and San Diego hosting second-round action March 14-19. The final round is slated for Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles March 21-23.

A total of 16 countries will compete in the Classic, the same number as the inaugural competition in 2006.

International Baseball Federation President Harvey Schiller tells Around the Rings he is encouraged by how the tournament has built on the success that it enjoyed in its debut in 2006.

"It has certainly grown in interest," Schiller said. "It shows how baseball has grown globally. The ticket sales have exceeded anybody’s expectations."

The growth of the Classic is reflected in the prize money offered this year, increasing to $14 million from $7.8 million in 2006. The tournament champion will receive $2.7 million and the runner-up $1.7 million.

This year's tournament will give baseball a chance to showcase itself as the IOC considers its campaign, along with those of six other sports, for inclusion in the Olympic program for the 2016 Summer Games. The committee will decide which sports will be added at its Congress in Lausanne, Switzerland in October.

"Baseball is becoming more of a global sport," Schiller said. "We have games in Toronto, Mexico City, Tokyo and San Juan and those cities have shown a lot of interest in this tournament. The global interest in the sport is stronger than ever."

Baseball was introduced as an official Olympic sport at the 1992 Games in Barcelona but was removed from the program after the Beijing Games in 2008 after being voted out by the IOC in 2005.

New York Yankees stars Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez will once again be among the Major League Baseball standouts competing in the tournament. Jeter will play for the U.S. and Rodriguez, who played for the Americans in 2006, will be on the Dominican Republic team.

Chipper Jones of the Atlanta Braves will join Jeter on the U.S. team, while Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners and Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Boston Red Sox lead the way for 2006 champions Japan. David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox is playing for Venezuela.

A number of World Classic teams are playing exhibition games against major league teams at their spring training sites in Florida and Arizona, while Asian squads are playing Japanese league squads in Tokyo, in preparation for the tournament this week.

World Baseball Classic, Inc. will contribute more than $15 million in proceeds from this year’s tournament to the participating federations and the IBAF, which will also get over $1 million to invest in the global development of the game.

"Baseball is a sport for all and the money raised by the World Baseball Classic will go to our 127 member federations on six continents to continue the growth of the game," Schiller said. "The World Baseball Classic doesn't just raise the awareness of baseball, it enhances programs that teaches healthy living, teamwork and social equality. We are grateful to all involved for their assistance."

The World Baseball Classic will receive comprehensive television coverage, with ESPN, ESPN2 and Spanish-language network ESPN Deportes showing 23 games, including the semifinals and finals. Games will also be shown on worldbaseballclassic.com.

Written by Greg Oshust.