Seventeen years have passed since the first edition of the World Baseball Classic, which was held between March 3 and 20, 2006 in the cities of Tokyo (Japan), San Juan (Puerto Rico), and the US cities of Orlando, Phoenix, Anaheim and San Diego.
Thus, a collective dream of promoting a tournament that brought together Major League players and emerging figures from more local leagues came true.
Japan began to build its legend above nations in America that claim to this day to have the most exquisite tradition around the practice of ‘hot ball’.
The Japanese team was unaware of such boasts and, with a great fireworks game, beat Cuba 10-6 in the final.
The conquest of that March 20, 2006 was no coincidence.
Japan is the country with the most victories in the history of the tournament: accumulate twenty-three and treasure two consecutive titles: 2006 and 2009.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC AND PUERTO RICO IN THE TASTE OF Gamblers
For the fifth edition of the Clásico, which will begin on March 8, the ninth team from Oriente shares favoritism with those of Dominican Republic, winner of the 2013 edition; Puerto Rico, which is seeking its first consecration in the tournament despite its great record; and the United States, champion of the Clásico past.
In the second place of the countries with the most victories is Puerto Rico with twenty The ironic thing is that none of the teams summoned by ‘la isla del Encanto’ to play the four versions has won the tournament. On the contrary, this country lost two consecutive finals.
Dominican Republic, which won the Clásico edition in 2013, he has already won eighteen games in four appearances.
USA, champion of the last edition played in 2017, he has won sixteen times so far.
Cuba, runner-up in the 2006 version, won 15 games. Also South Korea, which finished on the second step of the podium in the 2009 version.
In the four editions that have been played, Venezuela accumulated twelve victories.
THE FIFTH FINAL WILL ALSO BE IN THE UNITED STATES
After the first edition of the World Classic in 2006, the second was played three years later and then an interval of four years was scheduled: 2013 and 2017.
The final four games of the World Classic were played in American cities, dTwo of these in the same: San Diego (2006), Los Angeles (2009), San Francisco 2013 and Los Angeles (2017).
Taichung, Tokyo, Phoenix and Miami They will be the venues for the fifth edition of the World Classic, which could not be played in 2021 due to the covid-19 pandemic.
This year’s competition will have a record 20 participating countries and the title game has been scheduled for March 21 at LoanDepot Stadium, stronghold of the Major League Baseball Marlins.
The group stage, which will be played until March 15, It has Taiwan, the Netherlands, Cuba, Italy and Panama in the A.
In Group B, Japan, South Korea, Australia, China and the Czech Republic will meet. In C the United States, Mexico, Colombia, Canada and Great Britain were paired.
And in zone D the teams from Puerto Rico, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Israel and Nicaragua.
A WORLD CLASSIC WITH SWEET TASTE FOR 7 COUNTRIES
After Japan’s 10-6 win over Cuba in the 2006 final, the two-time championship came in 2009 with a 5-3 win over South Korea, that three years before had been in third place.
In the third edition of the Classic, that of 2013, the Dominican Republic beat Puerto Rico 3-0, which four years later touched glory again, but was devastated 8-0 by the United States, the current champion.
The furthest Venezuela has come in the tournament of nations was third place in 2009 at the expense of the United States, which finished fourth.
The campaigns of Japan and the Netherlands They had the same outcome in the 2013 and 2017 World Cups, as they were screwed in third and fourth place.
FROM THE CUBAN CEPEDA TO THE JAPANESE MATZUSAKA
The 2023 World Classic will miss hitter Frederich Cepeda, appears in the four previous editions.
The man from Sancti Spíritus was not called up by Cuba, despite being in top form and already a legend in the history of the tournament with 19 runs scored, 23 RBIs, 32 hits and 8 doubles.
From the mound, the leading role in the history of the World Classic is held by the Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matzusaka with 23 ‘strkikeouts’ in two appearances.
Best performance by a Red Sox player It was in the second round of the 2009 Clásico, precisely against the Cuba of Frederich Cepeda. The pitcher struck out eight after keeping a shutout through six innings.
However, Matzusaka’s supremacy is in jeopardy because his compatriot of Iranian origin Yu Darvish will be among those called up from Japan and has already accumulated 20 strikeouts.
Matzusaka, 42, shares the record for starts, six, with Dominican Edinson Vólquez. But the Japanese right-hander fulfilled them in 2006 and 2009 and each one ended with a victory for the Samurais, while the Caribbean did it in 2009, 2013 and 2017.
