Clubhouse Article

MLB: World Baseball Classic 2013 on ESPN America

February 4th, 2013 by Colin M Jarman

ESPN America is pleased to announce that we will be showing LIVE games from the 2013 World Baseball Classic from March 2nd to the Final on the 19th showcasing baseball on the international stage.

This is the third WBC event to be staged and it has caught the world’s imagination as well as that of many big name players from the Major Leagues. This year is no different with the likes of 2012 Triple Crown winner and AL MVP Miguel Cabrera turning out for Venezuela, the Rangers’ All-Star third base Adrian Beltre playing for the Domincan Republic, while the Brewers’ left fielder Ryan Braun will bolster the USA offense along with Marlins’ slugger Giancarlo Stanton with 2012 NL CY Young winner RA Dickey on the mound.

ESPN baseball analyst and recent Hall of Fame inductee Barry Larkin will coach the Brazilian team (one of four wild card entries).

Europe is represented by The Netherlands [pic above in WBC 2009], Italy [pic below in WBC 2006] & Spain – and these teams will feature prominently in our early round coverage.

TEAMS: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Cuba, Dominican Republic,
Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Spain, United States, Venezuela.

POOL A – Fukuoka, Japan
Brazil
China
Cuba
Japan

POOL B – Taichung, Taiwan
Australia
Chinese Taipei
Korea
Netherlands

POOL C – San Juan, Puerto Rico
Dominican Republic
Puerto Rico
Spain
Venezuela

POOL D – Phoenix, Arizona
Canada
Italy [pic below in 2006 WBC]
Mexico
United States

FIRST ROUND
March 2-6: Pool A
March 2-5: Pool B
March 7-10: Pools C & D

SECOND ROUND
March 8-12 – Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
March 12-16 – Marlins Park, Miami, Florida.

CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
March 17-19: AT&T Park, San Francisco, California

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PREVIOUS WBC CHAMPIONS

2009

Ichiro Suzuki [pic right] led Japan to its second straight title, beating Korea 5-3 in 10 innings.

2006

Daisuke Matsuzaka was the MVP as Japan defeated Cuba to win the inaugural event.