I had either forgotten about the expanded field in the upcoming WBC or I don't recall reading about it. Patriot has a rundown of some of the rule changes in this article about lots of different things.
For the first time, four spots in the sixteen team field will be up for grabs. The twelve countries that won games in the 2009 WBC are automatic qualifiers (Japan, Korea, China, United States, Mexico, Italy, Netherlands, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Cuba, Australia, and Puerto Rico). The first two qualifiers open up next week.
The qualifiers are four-team double elimination tournaments, the format of which will be familiar to those who watched the 2009 WBC or follow the NCAA Tournament. In Jupiter, FL, South Africa will play Israel and Spain will play France. In Regensburg, Germany, Canada will play Great Britain and Germany will play the Czech Republic. In November, the other two spots will be decided. In Panama City, Panama will play Brazil and Colombia will play Nicaragua. In Taipei City, the Philippines will play Thailand and Taiwan will play New Zealand.
Baseball America wrote about these changes last summer.
Comments
I’d like to see France, GB, Germany or the Czech Republic take the place of South Africa this time.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
Puerto RIco is not a country.
SVBQuote Reply
Israel is going to have one hell of a team. Youkilis has already said he’s going to play for them, should they qualify. This means others will follow. And, they WILL qualify because there is a whole slew of incredibly talented minor leaguers and recently retired players with Jewish roots. As a Hebrew myself, I am proud to be able to root for Israel in the WBC.
Jed Jam BandQuote Reply
@ SVB:
Does PR have its own team in Olympics or FIFA? What about the Caribbean baseball tournaments with national teams? Or is it just the WBC?
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ Jed Jam Band:
That’s cool about the American professionals willing to play for Israel, that will clearly help it along. I have more interest in the European teams because they have been playing a lot longer than Israel and yet they are pure amateurs for the most part. As an athlete in Europe you REALLY have to love the game of baseball to bother playing it.
It was awesome seeing the Netherlands beat the DR and I’d love to see another upset like that.
Suburban kidQuote Reply