Although Team USA has yet to play a game, serious baseball fans already know, the World Baseball Classic has begun. Games for the WBC have been being played since last Friday morning and thus far most of the teams represent eastern nations.
Those unfamiliar with WBC let me quick explain to you the set up and this year's WBC.
The first round is set up is round robin where teams are placed into a pool with four other teams. Currently there are four pools as well. The pools are as follows:
Pool A
Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome - Fukuoka, Japan
March 2-6
Japan
Cuba
China
Brazil
Pool B
Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium - Taichung, Taiwan
March 1-5
South Korea
Kingdom of the Netherlands
Australia
Chinese Taipei
Pool C
Hiram Bithorn Stadium - San Juan, Puerto Rico
March 7-10
Venezuela
Puerto Rico
Dominican Republic
Spain
Pool D
Salt River Fields at Talking Stick - Phoenix, Arizona
March 7-10
United States
Mexico
Canada
Italy
For those who do not know how a round robin tournament operates its quite simple. Each team will play the other three teams in their pool once. From that, the two in each pool with the best record will qualify to move on to the next round. So for instance, if Pool C finished as Venezuela 3-0, Puerto Rico 2-1, Dominican Republic 1-2, and Spain 0-3 then Venezuela and Puerto Rice would move on to the second round.
If there are any two teams tied in the rankings, the team that won the head-to-head match wins the tie breaker. It is not so simple for tie breaking procedures for a three team tie. If three teams are tied after Pool play then the winner of the tie-breaker will be decided by who ever has the highest Teams Quality Balance ((i.e., the sum of runs scored divided by the number of innings played on
offense, minus the number of runs allowed, divided by the number of
innings played on defense (RS/IPO)-(RA/IPD)=TQB)). For the purpose of the tiebreaker, only games that were played between the teams in the tie will be included. If all teams remained tied, then the calculation of the Earned Runs Team's Quality Balance ("ER-TQB", i.e., the sum of earned runs scored divided by the number of
innings played on offense, minus the number of earned runs allowed,
divided by the number of innings played on defense
(ERS/IPO)-(ERA/IPD)=ER-TQB)). If all three teams remained tied after the TQB and the ERTQB then the tie will be decided by the teams batting averages. And in the very unlikely event that all teams remained tied after all previous tie breakers then the tie will be decided upon a coin toss. Also, again, ALL head to head tie breakers are decided by the head to head meeting during pool play.
So once all Pool Winners and Runner-ups have been decided they move on to the next round, which is a modified double elimination. The four Pools in the first round will now be lessened to two pools; Pool 1 and Pool 2. Pool 1 will be the Winner and Runner-up from both Pool A and B. Pool 2 will consist of the Winner and Runner-up from both Pool C and D. Here is an example of the schedule of this round:
Game 1: Pool A Runner-up vs. Pool B Winner
Game 2: Pool B Runner-up vs. Pool A Winner
Game 3: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Winner
Game 4: Game 2 Loser vs: Game 1 Winner
Game 5: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser
Game 6: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 3 Loser
The way this is set up while defiantly force two teams to lose two games. However, there is still a possibility of a tie for first place But, again, that will be decided on head-to-head match-ups. Pool 1 will be played at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan during March 8-12 and Pool 2 will be played at Marlins Park in Miami, Florida between during March 12-16.
Now that only two teams remain after the First and Second rounds, the Championship round begins and its the most simply of the three. Here is the set-up:
AT&T Park - San Fransisco, California
Semi-Final 1: Pool 1 Winner vs. Pool 2 Runner-up (Sun, March 17)
Semi-Final 2: Pool 2 Winner vs. Pool 1 Runner-up (Mon, March 18)
CHAMPIONSHIP: Semi-Final 1 Winner vs. Semi-Final 2 Winner (Tue, March 19)
Some other random rules around the WBC are:
- Designated Hitter will be used.
- There are very specific rules regarding how much and how often a pitcher can pitch.
- There are Slaughter Rules:
- such Federation Team is ahead by 10 or more runs after any complete
inning, beginning with the completion of the seventh inning; or
- such Federation Team is ahead by 15 or more runs after any complete inning, beginning with the completion of the fifth inning.
- Extra Inning Rules:
- For any inning beginning with the 13th inning, the Federation Team at
bat shall begin the inning with runners on first and second base.
- Runner on 1st = Player Immediately Preceding the batter due up
- Runner on 2nd = Player Immediate preceding runner on 1st
- Video Replay Rules:
- a home run/no home run "boundary" calls involving a decision regarding:
- whether a ball left the playing field or struck an object;
- whether
a ball struck the top of the fence, hit a railing or otherwise stayed
within the field of play (including "yellow line" calls); or
- whether a ball was interfered with by a fan reaching over the fence.
- a decision regarding whether a potential home run ball traveling over either side of the foul pole was fair or foul.
- Only initiated by the Umpiring Crew Chief.
So there is it. There are the basics of the World Baseball Classic. I am hoping to, in the next few days, do a report on Team USA roster before they play their first game. Until then, ENJOY THE OTHER WBC GAMES, MAY THE BEST TEAM WIN!
BASEBALL IS BACK!!
-JM
For More Information on the WBC visit: http://web.worldbaseballclassic.com/index.jsp
