alnorth
05-11-2005, 09:53 AM
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/news/050510worldcup.html
MLB and the International baseball federation has just announced that the first baseball world cup will be held next year in March, with 16 nations invited to participate. (To be named "the World Baseball Classic")
The first pool will be Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China playing round-robin games at Japan's Tokyo dome.
The second pool will be Puerto Rico, Cuba (for now, pending US State Dept approval and clearance from Fidel Castro), Panama and likely Italy (Italians play baseball?) playing their prelim games in Puerto Rico.
The Third pool will be the United States, Canada, Mexico and likely South Africa. The Fourth pool will be the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Australia and the Netherlands (they play baseball up there?). The final two pools will both play in sites throughout Arizona and Florida.
The top two teams in each pool will advance to the 2nd round to play another round-robin in major league baseball parks throughout the US. The top 4 teams will advance to a semifinal on March 18, with the final to be played on March 20, again at various MLB stadiums throughout the US.
No details yet on how often they plan on playing this baseball world cup, if itll be every 4 years, and where future world cups will be played.
MLB and the International baseball federation has just announced that the first baseball world cup will be held next year in March, with 16 nations invited to participate. (To be named "the World Baseball Classic")
The first pool will be Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China playing round-robin games at Japan's Tokyo dome.
The second pool will be Puerto Rico, Cuba (for now, pending US State Dept approval and clearance from Fidel Castro), Panama and likely Italy (Italians play baseball?) playing their prelim games in Puerto Rico.
The Third pool will be the United States, Canada, Mexico and likely South Africa. The Fourth pool will be the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Australia and the Netherlands (they play baseball up there?). The final two pools will both play in sites throughout Arizona and Florida.
The top two teams in each pool will advance to the 2nd round to play another round-robin in major league baseball parks throughout the US. The top 4 teams will advance to a semifinal on March 18, with the final to be played on March 20, again at various MLB stadiums throughout the US.
No details yet on how often they plan on playing this baseball world cup, if itll be every 4 years, and where future world cups will be played.