Post by mainstreet on Dec 9, 2016 23:48:14 GMT
Unlike soccer's globally famous FIFA World Cup, the World Baseball Classic is still in its beginning stages of realization. The format continues to change with each successive tournament, and even most baseball fans are not exactly familiar with how this tournament works, and what it is. I have always wanted to have international baseball since I was little, and was so grateful in my teenage years to see the Classic enter as a thing. I was 13 years old when I attended the first-ever World Baseball Classic Final, a thrilling event in which Japan defeated Cuba to take home the crown at Petco Park in San Diego. This year, I will be attending games in the second round of competition, yet again returning to San Diego.
I will attempt to explain what the tournament is and is not, draw comparisons to other events for people to grasp, and attempt to crystallize knowledge as to what it is. I will also briefly discuss the various participants and what we can expect from them. I will also make a very preliminary prediction, but it can change throughout the months leading up to the tournament in March.
First, some background:
The World Baseball Classic has been run 3 times before, in 2006, 2009, and 2013. 16 nations participate, and host sites are spread throughout the Americas and Asia (the rest of the world does not really have any suitable sites for the main tournament). The Final is (or rather, has been to date) always held in California, in part because it's a central location between the East Asian sites and the sites scattered throughout the Americas. It takes place during Major League Baseball's Spring Training, where players traditionally work on mechanics and prepare for the upcoming regular season. This time is chosen as the time when the most MLB players will be capable of participating.
Participation is by no means mandatory. There is no equivalent to FIFA's International Windows where players have to be released to play at the national team level, and indeed, the national teams are not exactly functioning entities outside of specific tournaments, and are reconstructed. One goal of the WBC is to eventually build a culture where it is expected to play for country. Most players are seeing it as an honor, but many (especially pitchers) are quite hesitant about participation, and many stars can miss the Classic. This is presumed to be one significant reason for the poor performance of the United States in the tournament, despite having by far the best-paying baseball league in the world.
Trick trivia question: When was the last time a team from outside Europe or South America made the final of the FIFA (Men's) World Cup? (Answer: Never)
Baseball's version: When was the last time a team from outside East Asia or the Caribbean made the final of the World Baseball Classic? (Answer: Never)
This all being said, participation appears, at first glance, to be up. Many star players including Max Scherzer and Nolan Arenado have already committed to play for the United States in 2017, and teams in the Caribbean continue to have high participation declaration rates. Japan did not use any MLB players in 2013, leading to their worst-ever result in the Classic, yielding much speculation as to a possible reversal of this decision for 2017.
The Format/Participants in 2017:
The 12 teams from 2013 that participated and did not finish last in their group return automatically to the Classic in 2017. Teams that finished last had to compete against 3 other teams in an attempt to re-qualify. Australia and Mexico's re-qualification attempts were successful. The attempts of Brazil and Spain to return were unsuccessful, and Israel and Colombia have qualified in their places respectively. (Historical note: Australia and Mexico have participated in every tournament. 2013 was the first to introduce the qualifying phase for poorly performing teams, and Brazil and Spain themselves qualified over Panama and South Africa, who had participated in the first two tournaments.)
The 16 teams are seeded based on their standing (or lack thereof) in the 2013 World Baseball Classic and split into 4 groups, referred to as "Pools" officially. Each group has:
The First Round and Second Round will both use the same format. 4 teams participate in a pool, 2 advance to the next round. It starts as a traditional group stage, with each team playing each other team once for a total of three games. Baseball does not allow for draws in any fashion, so there are 4 ways a group can finish in terms of win totals for teams, 3;2;1;0, 2;2;1;1, 2;2;2;0, and 3;1;1;1. In the first two cases, the teams with 2 wins or more advance and the pool ends. In the other two cases, the tied teams will be ranked based on their Team Quality Balance, calculated by run differential per inning played, with only the games amongst the tied teams being used in the calculation. Once that ranking is set, the 2nd and 3rd place teams will play a one-game playoff to determine who advances to the next round.
The Semifinals and Final are single-elimination playoffs.
The Host Sites: As mentioned, the World Baseball Classic does not host in a single country (only 2 countries would be even remotely capable of hosting the entire event), and each individual pool is at a different city. In 2017, the First Round Pools are played in: Tokyo, Japan; Seoul, South Korea; Miami, United States; and Jalisco, Mexico. Curiously, a 1-seed, a 2-seed, a 3-seed, and a 4-seed each earned a hosting bid. The Second Round Pools will be in Tokyo (feeding from the Tokyo and Seoul First Round Pools) and San Diego (feeding from the Miami and Jalisco First Round Pools). The Semifinals and Final will be played in Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium.
Special Rules:
The next post will have an analysis of the pools, their participants, etc.
I will attempt to explain what the tournament is and is not, draw comparisons to other events for people to grasp, and attempt to crystallize knowledge as to what it is. I will also briefly discuss the various participants and what we can expect from them. I will also make a very preliminary prediction, but it can change throughout the months leading up to the tournament in March.
First, some background:
The World Baseball Classic has been run 3 times before, in 2006, 2009, and 2013. 16 nations participate, and host sites are spread throughout the Americas and Asia (the rest of the world does not really have any suitable sites for the main tournament). The Final is (or rather, has been to date) always held in California, in part because it's a central location between the East Asian sites and the sites scattered throughout the Americas. It takes place during Major League Baseball's Spring Training, where players traditionally work on mechanics and prepare for the upcoming regular season. This time is chosen as the time when the most MLB players will be capable of participating.
Participation is by no means mandatory. There is no equivalent to FIFA's International Windows where players have to be released to play at the national team level, and indeed, the national teams are not exactly functioning entities outside of specific tournaments, and are reconstructed. One goal of the WBC is to eventually build a culture where it is expected to play for country. Most players are seeing it as an honor, but many (especially pitchers) are quite hesitant about participation, and many stars can miss the Classic. This is presumed to be one significant reason for the poor performance of the United States in the tournament, despite having by far the best-paying baseball league in the world.
Trick trivia question: When was the last time a team from outside Europe or South America made the final of the FIFA (Men's) World Cup? (Answer: Never)
Baseball's version: When was the last time a team from outside East Asia or the Caribbean made the final of the World Baseball Classic? (Answer: Never)
This all being said, participation appears, at first glance, to be up. Many star players including Max Scherzer and Nolan Arenado have already committed to play for the United States in 2017, and teams in the Caribbean continue to have high participation declaration rates. Japan did not use any MLB players in 2013, leading to their worst-ever result in the Classic, yielding much speculation as to a possible reversal of this decision for 2017.
The Format/Participants in 2017:
The 12 teams from 2013 that participated and did not finish last in their group return automatically to the Classic in 2017. Teams that finished last had to compete against 3 other teams in an attempt to re-qualify. Australia and Mexico's re-qualification attempts were successful. The attempts of Brazil and Spain to return were unsuccessful, and Israel and Colombia have qualified in their places respectively. (Historical note: Australia and Mexico have participated in every tournament. 2013 was the first to introduce the qualifying phase for poorly performing teams, and Brazil and Spain themselves qualified over Panama and South Africa, who had participated in the first two tournaments.)
The 16 teams are seeded based on their standing (or lack thereof) in the 2013 World Baseball Classic and split into 4 groups, referred to as "Pools" officially. Each group has:
- 1 seed: Team that made the Semifinals of the 2013 World Baseball Classic (Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Japan, Netherlands)
- 2 seed: Team that made the Second Round of the 2013 World Baseball Classic (Chinese Taipei, Cuba, Italy, United States)
- 3 seed: Team that finished in 3rd place in their First Round Pool of the 2013 World Baseball Classic (Canada, China, South Korea, Venezuela)
- 4 seed: Team that had to (possibly re-)qualify for 2017 (Australia, Mexico, Colombia, Israel)
The First Round and Second Round will both use the same format. 4 teams participate in a pool, 2 advance to the next round. It starts as a traditional group stage, with each team playing each other team once for a total of three games. Baseball does not allow for draws in any fashion, so there are 4 ways a group can finish in terms of win totals for teams, 3;2;1;0, 2;2;1;1, 2;2;2;0, and 3;1;1;1. In the first two cases, the teams with 2 wins or more advance and the pool ends. In the other two cases, the tied teams will be ranked based on their Team Quality Balance, calculated by run differential per inning played, with only the games amongst the tied teams being used in the calculation. Once that ranking is set, the 2nd and 3rd place teams will play a one-game playoff to determine who advances to the next round.
The Semifinals and Final are single-elimination playoffs.
The Host Sites: As mentioned, the World Baseball Classic does not host in a single country (only 2 countries would be even remotely capable of hosting the entire event), and each individual pool is at a different city. In 2017, the First Round Pools are played in: Tokyo, Japan; Seoul, South Korea; Miami, United States; and Jalisco, Mexico. Curiously, a 1-seed, a 2-seed, a 3-seed, and a 4-seed each earned a hosting bid. The Second Round Pools will be in Tokyo (feeding from the Tokyo and Seoul First Round Pools) and San Diego (feeding from the Miami and Jalisco First Round Pools). The Semifinals and Final will be played in Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium.
Special Rules:
- Pitch limitations -- A pitcher can't throw more than 65 pitches during a First Round game, 85 pitches during a Second Round game, or 95 pitches during the Semifinal or Final. If a pitcher throws 50 or more pitches in a game, he must have 4 days rest before pitching again. If a pitcher throws 30 or more pitches in a game, or throws on consecutive days, he must have one day of rest before pitching again.
- Mercy rule -- In the First and Second Rounds, if a team leads by 15 or more runs after 5 or more complete innings, or 10 or more runs after 7 or more complete innings, the game is over.
- Free runners -- Beginning in the 13th inning, the last two batters in the order (that is, the players that would bat 8th and 9th in the inning) are placed on second base and first base respectively.
- The DH is used for all games.
The next post will have an analysis of the pools, their participants, etc.