World Baseball Classic Inc. (WBCI) is an organizing committee that organizes the World Baseball Classic and consists of representatives from Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA). Announcement The tournament is the first of its kind to have the national teams of IBAF's member federations feature professional players from the major leagues around the world, including Major League Baseball. In addition to providing a format for the best baseball players in the world to compete against one another while representing their home countries, the World Baseball Classic was created in order to further promote the game around the globe.
The WBC previously coexisted with Olympic baseball (until 2008) and the Baseball World Cup (until 2011) as International Baseball Federation (IBAF) sanctioned tournaments. The final men's Baseball World Cup was held in 2011. It was discontinued in 2013, after an MLB suggestion to reorganize the international baseball calendar. WBSC accepted the suggestion after an executive meeting, giving the "World Champion" title to the WBC winner on the condition that the Classic should have direct qualifications and follow international anti-doping rules.
After a three-year gap between the first two installments of the tournament, plans were made for the World Baseball Classic to be repeated every four years following the 2009 event. The third installment of the Classic was held in 2013, and the fourth was held in 2017.
The tournament is the first of its kind to have national teams featuring their best professional players from the top-level major leagues around the world, including MLB in the U.S. and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in Japan. In addition to providing a format for the best baseball players in the world to compete against one another while representing their home countries, the WBC was created in order to further promote the game around the globe.
The WBC is often compared to the WBSC Premier12 as they are the only two adult international baseball tournaments. However, the WBC is the only one which grants to the winner the title of "World Champion".
Rules In addition to the standard rules of baseball, the World Baseball Classic employs the following additional rules:
Pitching A pitcher cannot pitch more than: 85 pitches per game in the Qualifying Round (all tournaments since 2013, when this round was introduced) 65 pitches per game in the First Round (all tournaments except 2009, in which the limit was 70) 80 pitches per game in the Second Round (all tournaments except 2009, in which the limit was 85) 95 pitches per game in the Championship Round (all tournaments except 2009, in which the limit was 100)
A pitcher can finish a batter's plate appearance even if the pitch limit is reached, but must come out after completing the plate appearance.
In addition, these "rest" requirements are in place after a pitcher is used in a game: If a pitcher throws 50 or more pitches, at least four days must pass until he pitches again If a pitcher throws 30 or more pitches, at least one day must pass until he pitches again If a pitcher pitches on consecutive days, at least one day must pass until he pitches again
A pitcher can finish a batter's plate appearance once each threshold is reached and not have to sit out the required amount of days if he is removed after this plate appearance.
Mercy rules To prevent one-sided contests, games are ended early if one team is ahead by a certain amount. These mercy rules do not apply during the semi-finals or final. A game will end if either team is leading by at least 15 runs after the completion of an inning, beginning with the fifth inning. A game will end if either team is leading by at least 10 runs after the completion of an inning, beginning with the seventh inning.
Designated hitter The designated hitter rule applies for all games.
Extra innings From 2009 through 2017, starting with the 11th inning, teams automatically start with runners on first and second base. The baserunners are the players in the two batting order positions previous to the leadoff batter for the inning (or substitutes called in to pinch-run for those players). Organizers put this rule in place starting with the 2009 tournament, although originally, it did not come into effect until the 13th inning. The intention behind the rule is to help ensure extra-inning games end in as timely a manner as possible, reducing the chance of seeing marathon extra-inning games that place undue strain on players, particularly pitchers. As no extra-inning games in either the 2009 or 2013 WBCs reached the point where the rule came into play, it took until the 2017 WBC for it to affect a game's outcome. There were three such games in 2017, and all three were decided in the 11th inning.
In 2023, the rule was changed to bring the WBC in line with MLB extra-innings rules.
Video replay review Beginning in the 2023 WBC, video review is available for all situations as it would be during a MLB regular season game.
Pitch clock Beginning with the 2026 edition, the WBC will use a pitch clock for all games, following MLB rules. A pitcher will have 15 seconds to begin his pitching motion with no baserunners or 18 seconds if there is at least one baserunner, with an automatic ball called if the pitch clock reaches zero before a pitch is thrown.
Run differential Unlike regular season play, where the number of runs by which a team wins a game is not relevant, the number of runs by which a WBC team wins may be relevant if a tie later develops in the standings. In such cases, teams are ranked by their Team Quality Balance, which rewards them for scoring by as many runs as possible, and for winning with as few of their batters as possible making outs when batting in the bottom of the inning. This caused problems during the 2013 WBC, where one game led to a bench-clearing brawl between Canada and Mexico: Canadian hitter Chris Robinson had bunted for a base hit after Canada had already taken a large lead, causing Mexican pitcher Arnold León to throw three consecutive pitches at the next hitter, Rene Tosoni.
These tiebreakers were changed starting in the 2017 WBC to be "fewest runs allowed per inning of defense in head-to-head games", which places an emphasis on scoring as many runs as possible, while also allowing the fewest runs possible.
Eligibility and participation Eligibility A player is eligible to participate on a WBC team if any one of the following criteria is met: The player is a citizen of the nation the team represents. The player is qualified for citizenship or to hold a passport under the laws of a nation represented by a team, but has not been granted citizenship or been issued a passport; in this case, the player may be made eligible by World Baseball Classic Inc. upon petition by the player or team. The player is a permanent legal resident of the nation or territory the team represents. The player was born in the nation or territory the team represents. The player has one parent who is or, if deceased, was a citizen of the nation the team represents. The player has one parent who was born in the nation or territory the team represents.
Randy Arrozarena, who was born in Cuba, opted to play for Mexico, since WBC rules allowed players who legally were residents in a country to play for that country, having asked Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador to help him in his case for approval of his application as a citizen of Mexico.
Player participation Although many elite MLB pitchers do not participate due to club-imposed conditioning limits and insurance regulations, the tournament continues to feature a strong roster of top-tier position players.
In 2006, many high caliber players from both MLB and in leagues around the world participated in the WBC. Amongst the players that made the All-WBC team were Americans Derek Jeter and Ken Griffey Jr. From Japan, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Ichiro Suzuki, and Tomoya Satozaki were on the team. Other internationals included players from Cuba—Yulieski Gurriel, Yoandy Garlobo, and Yadel Martí; and from the Dominican Republic—Albert Pujols, Pedro Martínez, and José Bautista. The 2009 classic saw a similarly high-profile field, with a number of players such as future Hall of Famers Pedro Martínez, Iván Rodríguez, and Chipper Jones and the major international debuts of Cuba's Yoenis Céspedes and Aroldis Chapman.
For the 2013 tournament, Japanese players threatened to boycott the event despite its domestic popularity, before later agreeing to take part after reaching a compromise in September 2012 with tournament organizers on sharing sponsorship and licensing revenue. Nevertheless, many key players from the 2009 Japanese team such as Yu Darvish, Ichiro, and Hisashi Iwakuma did not participate. However, other prominent MLB players played, such as Miguel Cabrera, David Wright, R. A. Dickey, Joey Votto, Adrián González, Robinson Canó, and José Reyes, among many others.
In 2017, former All-Stars such as Adam Jones, Chris Archer, Buster Posey, Paul Goldschmidt, Andrew McCutchen and others played for the United States. For the Dominican Republic, former All-Stars Adrián Beltré, Robinson Canó, Manny Machado, José Reyes, Edinson Vólquez, and more participated. Adrián González returned for Mexico, and Yadier Molina and Carlos Beltrán represented Puerto Rico alongside up-and-coming stars such as Javier Báez, Carlos Correa, and Francisco Lindor. Venezuela's roster included Jose Altuve and Miguel Cabrera.
In 2023, former All-Stars on the U.S. included Mike Trout, Nolan Arenado, Pete Alonso, Adam Wainwright, Mookie Betts, Tim Anderson, Jeff McNeil, J. T. Realmuto, Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, Kyle Tucker, Ryan Pressly, Lance Lynn, Miles Mikolas, and Paul Goldschmidt. St Louis Cardinals teammates Lars Nootbaar and Tommy Edman participated as part of Japan and South Korea, respectively, in honor of their mothers' heritages. Similarly, Los Angeles Dodgers star Freddie Freeman played for Canada, in honor of his late mother. Marcus Stroman, the MVP of the 2017 WBC with the U.S., chose to play for Puerto Rico in 2023.
Involvement of professional leagues The World Baseball Classic is held during the month of March, coinciding with the spring training pre-season for most top-level professional baseball leagues such as Major League Baseball (MLB), Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). Venues are located in either indoor baseball domes or at outdoor baseball stadiums which have mild or moderately warm temperatures during early spring.
Similarly, Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and its players' association had a disagreement over participation in the tournament. While the owners initially agreed to the invitation, the players' union was concerned about the time of year the tournament was scheduled to take place, as well as their right to be better represented for the tournament. On September 16, 2005, after four months of negotiations, NPB officially notified the IBAF and MLB they had accepted the invitation.
Prior to the advent of the WBC, there was no international baseball championship of national teams that saw universal participation from players across the globe. Outside the United States, the formally-recognized "world championship" was the Baseball World Cup, sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and held 38 times from 1938 to 2011; it was known as the Amateur World Series until 1988. The inaugural 1938 Amateur World Series was contested by Great Britain and the United States over a series of five games from August 13 to 20 in England, and was won by Great Britain. Cuba was by far the most successful team at the Baseball World Cup, winning 25 of the 39 editions.