faba Posted May 12, 2005 Share Posted May 12, 2005 World Cup announcement madeBy Alan Schwarz Baseball America NEW YORK -- Baseball's long wait for a World Cup-style international tournament, with the game's best players representing their countries, is over. Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association jointly announced Wednesday that the "World Baseball Classic," a 16-nation tournament featuring the world's best players competing for their home countries, will be played in March 2006. "This gathering of baseball's brightest stars will be an outstanding platform to grow the game internationally," commissioner Bud Selig said. "As baseball continues to grow globally, more and more fans around the world have the opportunity to appreciate the grace and excitement of our great game. The first World Baseball Classic will bring a unique blend of enthusiasm to old and new fans alike." The tournament will be staged across three weeks next March and will be the first full-scale event involving major-league players representing their home countries. Olympic tournaments included only amateur players from 1984-96, after which professionals have been eligible. Because of scheduling conflicts, however, international competition has generally involved minor-leaguers. Though player participation will be voluntary, the prospect of having stars-and-stripes-clad Roger Clemens facing Albert Pujols and Vladimir Guerrero of the Dominican Republic, with flags waving throughout the stands, has long intrigued baseball officials, players and fans. "I would like to play in that, but the Dominican has a lot of good players," Mariners third baseman Adrian Beltre said last year. "Who knows if I would be in it? If I was [chosen] to be in it, I'd like to represent my country." According to one union official, MLB and the MLBPA will jointly run the tournament through an MLB subsidiary called World Baseball Classic Inc., which will include representatives of MLB, the union and the International Baseball Federation (IBAF), which is the governing body for international baseball. Neither official would discuss details of how money from sponsorships, television rights and the like will be distributed. Much of the tournament structure has been decided, subject to minor modifications. "The World Baseball Classic reflects and will demonstrate the continued growth of baseball's appeal worldwide," said MLBPA executive director Donald Fehr. "We thank the participating leagues, players associations and federations for agreeing to be a part of this event. Major Leaguers look forward to the World Baseball Classic with great anticipation." Organizers are in the process of formally inviting 16 nations, with the only question mark being Cuba, whose invitation must be cleared by the U.S. State Department and then subject to approval by Fidel Castro. The teams will start play in four four-team pools that will play round-robins in different countries. Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China will play March 3-5, probably at Japan's Tokyo Dome. The three other pools will play March 8-11 and consist of: Puerto Rico, Cuba (for now), Panama and likely Italy; the United States, Canada, Mexico and likely South Africa; and the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Australia and the Netherlands. The first pool will play in Puerto Rico, perhaps at Hiram Bithorn Stadium, while the other two would play at Arizona and Florida spring training sites to be determined. The two teams in each pool with the best records would advance to the second round, another round-robin, on March 13-15 at different major-league stadiums. Houston's Minute Maid Park, Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium and San Diego's Petco Park have long been considered strong candidates. The four outright winners of those pools would each advance to a single-game semifinal on March 18, again at a major-league stadium. The winners of those games will meet for a winner-take-all final March 20 -- a Monday, presumably to avoid television conflicts with the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Team rosters, currently set at 27 players, will be chosen according to Olympic eligibility guidelines by tournament organizers. According to one union official, major-league clubs will not be able to block any of their players from participating. Several teams, most vocally the Yankees, have expressed concerns both privately and publicly about their high-priced stars possibly getting injured before the season starts. The Yankees have also been reluctant to release their minor-leaguers for USA Baseball's teams in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2003. "What is [George] Steinbrenner going to say if he loses a $20 million player?" current Yankees slugger Gary Sheffield told The New York Times last year. "How is that going to sit with him?" One union official said that insurance to cover player contracts in the event of injuries during the tournament had been addressed to MLB's satisfaction. Special guidelines, to be determined by a tournament committee, will limit how pitchers can be used, probably with rules on specific pitch limits and required rest for both starters and relievers. This is to placate both clubs and insurance companies -- as one union official said last year, "We don't want [Angels closer] Frankie Rodriguez, out of national pride, to pitch two innings [for Venezuela] three days in a row." MLB and the union have talked about joining forces for a tournament of this sort since the early 1990s but only in the past several years have worked hard to make it happen. One year ago there were expectations of a tournament to be held this past March, but several complicating factors -- particularly securing sanction from IBAF, which came this March -- delayed its final formulation until now. Negotiation of an agreement regarding drug testing also contributed to the long tournament negotiations. Last year, players and owners agreed to a policy consistent with the guidelines set by the World Anti-Doping Agency and the Olympic movement, which are generally considered stronger than the ones currently governing all major-league players and the subject of considerable debate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawn306 Posted May 12, 2005 Share Posted May 12, 2005 Now this is something I would LOVE to see. Baseball at its finest. Time to start picking the US team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxman Posted May 12, 2005 Share Posted May 12, 2005 This sucks. We are going to lose because everyone else will take it much more seriously. We will end up with Gabe Kapler in CF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faba Posted May 12, 2005 Author Share Posted May 12, 2005 This sucks. We are going to lose because everyone else will take it much more seriously. We will end up with Gabe Kapler in CF. Impossible Kapler will be suspended for steroids Max Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mean Papi Green Posted May 12, 2005 Share Posted May 12, 2005 I've long dreamed of this sort of thing, MLB has hit a home run with this concept..I've always imagined how my Peurto Rican team would fare against the US or Dominican team with MLB all stars on it, heres a peek at what some of the teams may look like... United States Lineup SS Derek Jeter 1B Todd Helton 3B Alex Rodriguez DH Barry Bonds LF Manny Ramirez RF Gary Sheffield CF Jim Edmonds C Jason Varitek 2B Mark Loretta Starting pitchers: Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Jason Schmidt, Ben Sheets Bullpen: Brad Lidge, Joe Nathan, Billy Wagner, Tim Hudson, Dontrelle Willis Bench: Scott Rolen, Adam Dunn, Brian Roberts, Joe Mauer Dominican Republic Lineup 2B Alfonso Soriano SS Miguel Tejada 1B Albert Pujols DH David Ortiz CF Vladimir Guerrero RF Sammy Sosa 3B Aramis Ramirez LF Jose Guillen C Miguel Olivo Starting pitchers: Pedro Martinez, Bartolo Colon, Odalis Perez, Miguel Batista Bullpen: Francisco Cordero, Guillermo Mota, Armando Benitez, Octavio Dotel, Damaso Marte Bench: Adrian Beltre, Rafael Furcal, Wily Mo Pena, Juan Brito Puerto Rico Lineup 2B Jose Vidro C Ivan Rodriguez CF Carlos Beltran 1B Carlos Delgado DH Javy Lopez 3B Mike Lowell RF Jose Cruz Jr. LF Bernie Williams SS Alex Cora Starting pitchers: Javier Vazquez, Joel Pineiro, J.C. Romero, Kiko Calero Bullpen: Roberto Hernandez, Javier Lopez, Fernando Cabrera, Pedro Feliciano, Juan Padilla Bench: Jorge Posada, Jose Valentin, Juan Gonzalez, Luis Matos Venezuela Lineup 3B Melvin Mora 2B Carlos Guillen CF Bobby Abreu LF Miguel Cabrera DH Magglio Ordonez C Victor Martinez RF Richard Hidalgo 1B Andres Galarraga SS Omar Vizquel Starting pitchers: Johan Santana, Carlos Zambrano, Freddy Garcia, Kelvim Escobar Bullpen: Francisco Rodriguez, Juan Rincon, Jorge Julio, Ugueth Urbina, Wilson Alvarez Bench: Ramon Hernandez, Edgardo Alfonzo, Cesar Izturis, Juan Rivera Canada Lineup 2B Pete Orr RF Larry Walker CF Jason Bay 1B Justin Morneau 3B Corey Koskie DH Matt Stairs LF Aaron Guiel SS Danny Klassen C Cody McKay Starting pitchers: Rich Harden, Erik Bedard, Jeff Francis, Ryan Dempster Bullpen: Eric Gagne, Jesse Crain, Paul Quantrill, Rheal Cormier, Aaron Myette Bench: Simon Pond, Pete LaForest, Stubby Clapp, Rob Ducey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faba Posted May 12, 2005 Author Share Posted May 12, 2005 Thanks for this Mean papi Looking at Dominican Republic line-up is a killer. Just to see that lineup would be great entertainment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawn306 Posted May 12, 2005 Share Posted May 12, 2005 1B) Todd Helton Mark Teixeria 2B) Marcus Giles Brian Roberts SS) Derek Jeter Nomar Garciaparra 3B) Scott Rolen A-Rod C) Jason Varitek Paul LoDuca LF) Barry Bonds Adam Dunn CF) Johnny Damon Jim Edmonds RF) Lance Berkman Gary Sheffield SP) Roger Clemens Mark Prior Ben Sheets Dontrelle Willis RP) Joe Nathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxman Posted May 12, 2005 Share Posted May 12, 2005 That Dominican team would SCORE more than TomShane at a Webmasters convention. Unfortunately that bullpen would blow it for them (insert your own TomShane joke here). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mean Papi Green Posted May 12, 2005 Share Posted May 12, 2005 1B) Todd Helton Mark Teixeria 2B) Marcus Giles Brian Roberts SS) Derek Jeter Nomar Garciaparra 3B) Scott Rolen A-Rod C) Jason Varitek Paul LoDuca LF) Barry Bonds Adam Dunn CF) Johnny Damon Jim Edmonds RF) Lance Berkman Gary Sheffield SP) Roger Clemens Mark Prior Ben Sheets Dontrelle Willis RP) Joe Nathan nbot sure why people put latin players on teh US team when I'm figuring they would just as soon play on the team of their culture/families such as Nomar and Arod who are both dominican but born here that will be interesting to watch how it turns out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mean Papi Green Posted May 12, 2005 Share Posted May 12, 2005 Thanks for this Mean papi Looking at Dominican Republic line-up is a killer. Just to see that lineup would be great entertainment. the domi team is dominant at the plate but US ptching is best Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxman Posted May 12, 2005 Share Posted May 12, 2005 nbot sure why people put latin players on teh US team when I'm figuring they would just as soon play on the team of their culture/families such as Nomar and Arod who are both dominican but born here that will be interesting to watch how it turns out No way. You play where you were born. It is really that simple. Although the Dominican team can have Nomar. It has already been proven that you can't win it all with him on your roster! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Troll Posted May 12, 2005 Share Posted May 12, 2005 No way. You play where you were born. It is really that simple. Although the Dominican team can have Nomar. It has already been proven that you can't win it all with him on your roster! He is going to dissprove that this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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