2009 World Baseball Classic

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2009 World Baseball Classic
2009 World Baseball Classic logo.gif
Tournament details
CountriesCanada
Japan
Mexico
Puerto Rico
United States
DatesMarch 5–23, 2009
Teams16
Final positions
ChampionsFlag of Japan.svg  Japan (2nd title)
Runner-upFlag of South Korea.svg  South Korea
Third placeFlag of the United States.svg  United States
Fourth placeFlag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela
Tournament statistics
Games played39
Attendance801,408 (20,549 per game)
MVP Flag of Japan.svg Daisuke Matsuzaka
  2006
2013  
Jumbotron ad for the 2009 WBC at Rogers Centre 2009 wbc at rogers centre.jpg
Jumbotron ad for the 2009 WBC at Rogers Centre

The 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international baseball competition. It began on March 5 and finished March 23.

Contents

Unlike in 2006, when the round-robin format of the first two rounds led to some eliminations being decided by run-difference tiebreakers, the first two rounds of the 2009 edition were modified double-elimination format. The modification was that the final game of each bracket was winner-take-all, even if won by the team emerging from the loser's bracket, although that game only affected seeding, as two teams always advanced from each bracket.

The biggest surprise in the first round was the Netherlands, which twice defeated the Dominican Republic in Pool D to advance. The second round saw the two Pool A teams (South Korea and Japan) defeat the two Pool B teams (Cuba and Mexico) while the two Pool C teams (Venezuela and the United States) defeated the two Pool D teams (Puerto Rico and the Netherlands). South Korea and Japan then advanced to the final game, playing each other for the fifth time in the tournament (split 2–2 up to that time), and Japan emerged victorious for the second straight Classic, winning the final game 5–3 in 10 innings.

For the second straight Classic, Daisuke Matsuzaka was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.

Format

As was the case for the 2006 tournament, the sixteen teams were split into four pools of four teams each. [1] Whereas previously the teams played in round-robin competition in the first two rounds, this time they took part in a double-elimination format, similar to the U.S. College World Series sponsored by the NCAA. Under the new format, teams were only guaranteed to play two games. This change was made to eliminate the complicated tiebreaking procedures, [2] which were required for one of the pools in each of the first two rounds in 2006.

After the first round, the tournament was held in the U.S. The top two teams from each of the four poolsseeded from the final game in their respective poolswent to the second round, with the teams from Pools A and B meeting at Petco Park in San Diego for Pool 1, and the teams in Pools C and D playing at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens for Pool 2. [3] Again, both pools made use of double-elimination to determine the teams qualifying for the semifinals. In another change from 2006, the four qualifying teams crossed over for the semifinals, with the winner of each pool playing against the runner-up from the other pool. [2] The championship round process was otherwise unchanged, with each semifinal being a single elimination match, the victors meeting in the final to determine the tournament champion. All three championship round games were held at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. [3]

In the final, the team with the higher winning percentage of games in the tournament were to be the home team. If the teams competing in the final had identical winning percentages in the tournament, then World Baseball Classic, Inc. (WBCI) would conduct a coin flip or draw to determine the home team.

Rosters

Each participating national federation had a deadline of January 19, 2009, to submit a 45-man provisional roster. Final rosters of 28 players, which was required to include a minimum of 13 pitchers and two catchers, were submitted on February 24. If a player on the submitted roster was unable to play, usually due to injury, he could be substituted at any time before the start of the tournament. While rosters could not be changed during a round of competition, a team that advanced to a later round could change its roster for the later round.

Venues

Seven stadiums were used during the tournament:

Pool APool BPool CPool D
Flag of Japan.svg Tokyo, Japan Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico City, Mexico Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Toronto, Canada Flag of Puerto Rico.svg San Juan, Puerto Rico
Tokyo Dome Foro Sol Rogers Centre Hiram Bithorn Stadium
Capacity: 42,000Capacity: 26,000Capacity: 49,539Capacity: 18,264
TokyoDome GiantsFighters.jpg Foro Sol baseball 2007.jpg Tigersbluejaysapril2008.jpg Hiram Bithorn Stadium.jpg
Pool 1Pool 2Championship
Flag of the United States.svg San Diego, United States Flag of the United States.svg Miami Gardens, United States Flag of the United States.svg Los Angeles, United States
Petco Park Dolphin Stadium Dodger Stadium
Capacity: 42,685Capacity: 38,560Capacity: 56,000
Petco Park Interior.JPG Marlins 2008 001.jpg Dodger-Stadium-Panorama-052707.jpg

Pools composition

The 16 teams that participated in the 2006 World Baseball Classic were all invited back for the 2009 tournament. The World Baseball Classic, Inc. (WBCI) changed the members of each pool as compared with the 2006 Classic, however, except for Pool A. There was no official qualifying competition.

Note: Numbers in parentheses indicate positions in the IBAF World Rankings at the time of the tournament. [4] [5]

Pool APool BPool CPool D
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China (14)Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia (10)Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada (7)Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg  Dominican Republic (17)
Flag of Chinese Taipei for Olympic games.svg  Chinese Taipei (5)Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba (1)Flag of Italy.svg  Italy (13)Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands (6)
Flag of Japan.svg  Japan (4)Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico (8)Flag of the United States.svg  United States (2)Flag of Panama.svg  Panama (9)
Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea (3)Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa (20)Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela (15)Flag of Puerto Rico.svg  Puerto Rico (11)

First round

Pool A

PreliminariesQualifiersSeeding
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 0
Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 4
W1Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 14
W2Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea 2
Flag of Chinese Taipei for Olympic games.svg  Chinese Taipei 0
Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea 9
W4Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 0
W5Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea 1
Lower round 1Lower final
W3Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 0
L1Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 4L4Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea 14
L2Flag of Chinese Taipei for Olympic games.svg  Chinese Taipei 1
DateLocal timeRoad teamScoreHome teamInn.VenueGame durationAttendanceBoxscore
Mar 5, 200918:30 China  Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg0–4Flag of Japan.svg  Japan   Tokyo Dome 2:5543,428 Boxscore
Mar 6, 200918:30 Chinese Taipei  Flag of Chinese Taipei for Olympic games.svg0–9Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea   Tokyo Dome 2:4812,704 Boxscore
Mar 7, 200912:30 Chinese Taipei  Flag of Chinese Taipei for Olympic games.svg1–4Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China   Tokyo Dome 2:5112,890 Boxscore
Mar 7, 200919:00 Japan  Flag of Japan.svg14–2Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea 7 Tokyo Dome 2:4845,640 Boxscore
Mar 8, 200918:30 China  Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg0–14Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea 7 Tokyo Dome 2:1312,571 Boxscore
Mar 9, 200918:30 South Korea  Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg1–0Flag of Japan.svg  Japan   Tokyo Dome 3:0242,879 Boxscore

Pool B

PreliminariesQualifiersSeeding
Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 1
Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba 8
W1Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba 5
W2Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 4
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 17
Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 7
W4Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba 16
W5Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 4
Lower round 1Lower final
W3Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 16
L1Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 3L4Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 1
L2Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 14
DateLocal timeRoad teamScoreHome teamInn.VenueGame durationAttendanceBoxscore
Mar 8, 200912:00 South Africa  Flag of South Africa.svg1–8Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba   Foro Sol 2:3711,270 Boxscore
Mar 8, 200919:00 Australia  Flag of Australia (converted).svg17–7Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 8 Foro Sol 3:4320,821 Boxscore
Mar 9, 200920:00 Mexico  Flag of Mexico.svg14–3Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa   Foro Sol 3:3310,311 Boxscore
Mar 10, 200920:00 Cuba  Flag of Cuba.svg5–4Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia   Foro Sol 3:2913,396 Boxscore
Mar 11, 200920:00 Mexico  Flag of Mexico.svg16–1Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 6 Foro Sol 2:3116,718 Boxscore
Mar 12, 200919:00 Mexico  Flag of Mexico.svg4–16Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba 7 Foro Sol 3:3320,149 Boxscore

Pool C

PreliminariesQualifiersSeeding
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 5
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 6
W1Flag of the United States.svg  United States 15
W2Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela 6
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 0
Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela 7
W3Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3
W5Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela 5
Lower round 1Lower final
W4Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1
L1Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 2L3Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela 10
L2Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 6
DateLocal timeRoad teamScoreHome teamInn.VenueGame durationAttendanceBoxscore
Mar 7, 200914:00 Canada  Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg5–6Flag of the United States.svg  United States   Rogers Centre 2:5542,314 Boxscore
Mar 7, 200920:00 Italy  Flag of Italy.svg0–7Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela   Rogers Centre 3:0013,272 Boxscore
Mar 8, 200920:00 United States  Flag of the United States.svg15–6Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela   Rogers Centre 3:3913,094 Boxscore
Mar 9, 200918:30 Italy  Flag of Italy.svg6–2Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada   Rogers Centre 3:3612,411 Boxscore
Mar 10, 200917:00 Italy  Flag of Italy.svg1–10Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela   Rogers Centre 3:0410,450 Boxscore
Mar 11, 200918:30 Venezuela  Flag of Venezuela.svg5–3Flag of the United States.svg  United States   Rogers Centre 3:0812,358 Boxscore

Pool D

PreliminariesQualifiersSeeding
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 3
Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg  Dominican Rep. 2
W1Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 1
W2Flag of Puerto Rico.svg  Puerto Rico 3
Flag of Panama.svg  Panama 0
Flag of Puerto Rico.svg  Puerto Rico 7
W4Flag of Puerto Rico.svg  Puerto Rico 5
W5Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 0
Lower round 1Lower final
W3Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg  Dominican Rep. 1
L1Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg  Dominican Rep. 9L4Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 2
L2Flag of Panama.svg  Panama 0
DateLocal timeRoad teamScoreHome teamInn.VenueGame durationAttendanceBoxscore
Mar 7, 200912:00 Netherlands  Flag of the Netherlands.svg3–2Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg  Dominican Republic   Hiram Bithorn Stadium 3:019,335 Boxscore
Mar 7, 200918:00 Panama  Flag of Panama.svg0–7Flag of Puerto Rico.svg  Puerto Rico   Hiram Bithorn Stadium 2:5717,348 Boxscore
Mar 8, 200916:30 Panama  Flag of Panama.svg0–9Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg  Dominican Republic   Hiram Bithorn Stadium 2:469,221 Boxscore
Mar 9, 200918:30 Netherlands  Flag of the Netherlands.svg1–3Flag of Puerto Rico.svg  Puerto Rico   Hiram Bithorn Stadium 3:1119,479 Boxscore
Mar 10, 200918:30 Dominican Republic  Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg1–2Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 11 Hiram Bithorn Stadium 3:3811,814 Boxscore
Mar 11, 200917:30 Netherlands  Flag of the Netherlands.svg0–5Flag of Puerto Rico.svg  Puerto Rico   Hiram Bithorn Stadium 2:5519,501 Boxscore

Second round

Pool 1

PreliminariesQualifiersSeeding
ARFlag of Japan.svg  Japan 6
BWFlag of Cuba.svg  Cuba 0
W1Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 1
W2Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea 4
BRFlag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 2
AWFlag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea 8
W4Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea 2
W5Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 6
Lower round 1Lower final
W3Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba 0
L1Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba 7L4Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 5
L2Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 4
DateLocal timeRoad teamScoreHome teamInn.VenueGame durationAttendanceBoxscore
Mar 15, 200913:00 Japan  Flag of Japan.svg6–0Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba   Petco Park 3:3320,179 Boxscore
Mar 15, 200920:00 Mexico  Flag of Mexico.svg2–8Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea   Petco Park 3:4322,337 Boxscore
Mar 16, 200920:00 Cuba  Flag of Cuba.svg7–4Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico   Petco Park 3:099,329 Boxscore
Mar 17, 200920:00 Japan  Flag of Japan.svg1–4Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea   Petco Park 3:2115,332 Boxscore
Mar 18, 200920:00 Japan  Flag of Japan.svg5–0Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba   Petco Park 3:269,774 Boxscore
Mar 19, 200918:00 Japan  Flag of Japan.svg6–2Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea   Petco Park 3:4214,832 Boxscore

Pool 2

PreliminariesQualifiersSeeding
DRFlag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 1
CWFlag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela 3
W1Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela 2
W2Flag of Puerto Rico.svg  Puerto Rico 0
CRFlag of the United States.svg  United States 1
DWFlag of Puerto Rico.svg  Puerto Rico 11
W4Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela 10
W5Flag of the United States.svg  United States 6
Lower round 1Lower final
W3Flag of the United States.svg  United States 6
L1Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 3L4Flag of Puerto Rico.svg  Puerto Rico 5
L2Flag of the United States.svg  United States 9
DateLocal timeRoad teamScoreHome teamInn.VenueGame durationAttendanceBoxscore
Mar 14, 200913:00 Netherlands  Flag of the Netherlands.svg1–3Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela   Dolphin Stadium 2:2217,345 Boxscore
Mar 14, 200920:00 United States  Flag of the United States.svg1–11Flag of Puerto Rico.svg  Puerto Rico 7 Dolphin Stadium 2:1530,595 Boxscore
Mar 15, 200919:30 Netherlands  Flag of the Netherlands.svg3–9Flag of the United States.svg  United States   Dolphin Stadium 3:1411,059 Boxscore
Mar 16, 200920:00 Venezuela  Flag of Venezuela.svg2–0Flag of Puerto Rico.svg  Puerto Rico   Dolphin Stadium 3:2325,599 Boxscore
Mar 17, 200919:00 Puerto Rico  Flag of Puerto Rico.svg5–6Flag of the United States.svg  United States   Dolphin Stadium 3:5413,224 Boxscore
Mar 18, 200919:00 United States  Flag of the United States.svg6–10Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela   Dolphin Stadium 3:3216,575 Boxscore

Championship round

Semifinals Final
      
1R Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea 10
2W Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela 2
SF1W Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea 3
SF2W Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 5
2R Flag of the United States (Pantone).svg  United States 4
1W Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 9

Semifinals

DateLocal timeRoad teamScoreHome teamInn.VenueGame durationAttendanceBoxscore
Mar 21, 200918:00 South Korea  Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg10–2Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela   Dodger Stadium 3:2243,378 Boxscore
Mar 22, 200917:00 United States  Flag of the United States (Pantone).svg4–9Flag of Japan.svg  Japan   Dodger Stadium 3:1543,630 Boxscore

Final

DateLocal timeRoad teamScoreHome teamInn.VenueGame durationAttendanceBoxscore
Mar 23, 200918:00 Japan  Flag of Japan.svg5–3Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea 10 Dodger Stadium 4:0054,846 Boxscore

Final standings

Organizer WBCI has no interest in the final standings and did not compute. So, it was calculated by IBAF for the IBAF Men's Baseball World Rankings.

In the final standings, ties were to be broken in the following order of priority:

  1. The team allowing the fewest runs per nine innings (RA/9) in all games;
  2. The team allowing the fewest earned runs per nine innings (ERA) in all games;
  3. The team with the highest batting average (AVG) in all games;

Attendance

801,408 (avg. 20,549; pct. 54.5%)

First round

453,374 (avg. 18,891; pct. 55.6%)

Second round

206,180 (avg. 17,182; pct. 42.3%)

Championship round

141,854 (avg. 47,285; pct. 84.4%)

2009 All-World Baseball Classic team

Ivan Rodriguez on March 11, 2007 (1).jpg
Jose Lopez on June 3, 2010 (1).jpg
Jimmy Rollins on August 1, 2012 (1).jpg
Norichika Aoki on April 3, 2010 (1).jpg
Yoenis Cespedes on April 15, 2012 (1).jpg
Hisashi Iwakuma on August 30, 2011 (1).jpg
Players named to the All-WBC Team (from left to right);
Catcher – Iván Rodríguez of Puerto Rico
Second baseman – José López of Venezuela
Shortstop – Jimmy Rollins of the United States
Outfielder – Norichika Aoki of Japan
Outfielder – Yoenis Céspedes of Cuba
Pitcher – Hisashi Iwakuma of Japan
Note: The tournament Most Valuable Player was Daisuke Matsuzaka. [6]
PositionPlayer
C Flag of Puerto Rico.svg Iván Rodríguez
1B Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg Tae-kyun Kim
2B Flag of Venezuela.svg José López
3B Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg Bum-ho Lee
SS Flag of the United States.svg Jimmy Rollins
OF Flag of Japan.svg Norichika Aoki
Flag of Cuba.svg Frederich Cepeda
Flag of Cuba.svg Yoenis Céspedes
DH Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg Hyun-soo Kim
P Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg Jung-keun Bong
Flag of Japan.svg Hisashi Iwakuma
Flag of Japan.svg Daisuke Matsuzaka

Statistics leaders

Additional rules

As was the case for the 2006 Classic, several rules were announced for the 2009 tournament that modified the existing rules for international baseball set out by the IBAF. [7] [8]

Once again there were limits on the number of pitches thrown in a game, though the limits themselves were changed from the previous tournament:

If a pitcher reached his limit during an at bat, he was allowed to finish pitching to the batter, but was removed from the game at the end of the at bat.

A 30–pitch outing needed to be followed by one day off, and a 50–pitch outing by four days off. No one would be allowed to pitch on three consecutive days. As the championship round was played over three consecutive days, a so-called "pitcher rest equalization" rule was added: a pitcher making 30 or more pitches in a semifinal was ineligible to pitch in the final. This negated an advantage the winners of the first semifinal would have had in the final.

A mercy rule came into effect when one team led by either fifteen runs after five innings, or ten runs after seven innings in the first two rounds.

Instant replay was also available to umpires during the tournament. As was introduced in Major League Baseball during the 2008 season, replays were only used to adjudicate on home run decisions, to determine whether the ball was fair or foul, over the fence or not, and the impact of fan interference.

An alternative version of the IBAF's extra inning rule was also introduced. If after 12 innings the score was still tied, each half inning thereafter would have started with runners on second and first base. The runners would have been the eighth and ninth hitters due in that inning respectively. For example, if the number five hitter was due to lead off the inning, the number three hitter would have been on second base, and the number four hitter on first base. However, this rule was never actually employed in this year's Classic, as the two extra-inning games in the tournament ended prior to a 13th inning.

All base coaches were required to wear protective helmets, in the aftermath of the death of Mike Coolbaugh and participating teams were required to announce the next day's starting pitcher. Additionally, a modified early termination rule was in effect for the first two rounds; had a team been ahead by 15 or more runs after five innings or ten or more runs after seven or eight innings, the game ended at that point.

Prize money

USD 14,000,000

By final standings

Bonus for pool winners

Media coverage

In the United States, ESPN and the MLB Network shared the rights, with ESPN broadcasting 23 of the games, including the Finals, while MLB Network showed the remaining 16. [9] Spanish language telecasts in the U.S. were handled by ESPN Deportes telecasting all games. Internationally, it was broadcast to 167 countries by ESPN International.

In Canada, Rogers Sportsnet aired all 39 games. [10]

In the Dominican Republic, CDN (Cadena de Noticias) and CDN2 broadcast all games live (except for games played in Tokyo, shown on tape delay)[ citation needed ]

In Japan, J Sports broadcast all 39 games. TV Asahi (Round 1) and TBS (Round 2 and Finals) broadcast all games featuring Japan. For all games featuring Japan, they gained viewing ratings of at least 20%. The final game gained ratings in the range 30-45%. [11]

Video games

World Baseball Classic 2009 has licensed three video games, all only released in Japan: Pro Yakyuu Spirits 6, [12] Baseball Heroes 2009 [13] and Jikkyou Pawafuru Major League 2009 [14]

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