Post by Yoon on Sept 9, 2005 12:22:57 GMT -5
Earlier this year, the U.S.'s MLB, Japan's NPB, and Korea's KBO have organized the first "real" world cup-style tournament for baseball, now known as World Baseball Classic. The official website (hosted by MLB.com) for the World Baseball Classic can be found here:
www.worldbaseballclassic.com/
The first World Baseball Classic is to be held March 3-20, 2006, with 16 nations participating in the event. According to this article, the MLB, NPB, and KBO plan to hold a World Baseball Classic in 2006, 2009 and every four years after that.
And to those doubters who say MLB pros will not be able to participate in the WBC:
[/U]
SOURCE: WBC title on line, US stars confident
[/QUOTE]
I believe that settles the question of whether or not MLB pros will be able to participate in the WBC.
Now I'm not a hardcore baseball fan, but the WBC sounds interesting, since it will be the first international baseball tournament where REAL MLB pros will be able to participate in. Here are some rumored line-ups that I found from several articles from the official World Baseball Classic website:
RUMORED LINE-UPS:
AUSTRALIA:
CANADA:
CHINA:
CHINESE TAIPEI (TAIWAN):
CUBA:
Not too surprising, I guess.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC:
ITALY:
JAPAN:
MEXICO:
NETHERLANDS:
PANAMA:
PUERTO RICO:
SOUTH AFRICA:
SOUTH KOREA:
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
VENEZUELA:
Man, Venezuela's rumored line-up looks scary.
Twins' star player, Santana, will be in the Venezuela team if he participates in the WBC.
www.worldbaseballclassic.com/
The first World Baseball Classic is to be held March 3-20, 2006, with 16 nations participating in the event. According to this article, the MLB, NPB, and KBO plan to hold a World Baseball Classic in 2006, 2009 and every four years after that.
And to those doubters who say MLB pros will not be able to participate in the WBC:
....this is the first time that Major League Baseball is clearing out a portion of the schedule -- albeit Spring Training -- to send its best players into the international arena.
SOURCE: WBC title on line, US stars confident
[/QUOTE]
I believe that settles the question of whether or not MLB pros will be able to participate in the WBC.
Now I'm not a hardcore baseball fan, but the WBC sounds interesting, since it will be the first international baseball tournament where REAL MLB pros will be able to participate in. Here are some rumored line-ups that I found from several articles from the official World Baseball Classic website:
RUMORED LINE-UPS:
AUSTRALIA:
The tournament gives the Aussies a chance to again establish their growing baseball reputation on an international stage. Their lineup could have a Major League flavor to it, as more and more players from Australia stock the 40-man rosters of Major League teams. Trent Durrington of the Milwaukee Brewers and Justin Huber -- who was recently up for two weeks with the Kansas City Royals -- are prominent names eligible for the team.
SOURCE: Australia looks to build in WBC
SOURCE: Australia looks to build in WBC
CANADA:
The tournament gives the Canadians a chance to again strut their stuff on the international stage with a roster that could include Major Leaguers Larry Walker of the St. Louis Cardinals, Jason Bay of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins and Rich Harden of the Oakland A's. They'll miss closer Eric Gagne of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who is out for this season and indefinite for the start of 2006 with an elbow injury.
SOURCE: Canada enters WBC hungry for more
SOURCE: Canada enters WBC hungry for more
CHINA:
Chinese nationals haven't played the game for a generation, but the hope is that players like shortstop Zheng Yu Feng, catcher Wang Wei, center fielder Sun Ling-Feng, and pitchers Wang Chao and Zhang Jian Wang will become household names in the world's most populated country once the first World Baseball Classic and the Olympics are through.
SOURCE: China unproven, but eager for WBC
SOURCE: China unproven, but eager for WBC
CHINESE TAIPEI (TAIWAN):
A good showing in the World Baseball Classic would be another huge step for Chinese Taipei toward the goal of establishing themselves in their own region. The Chinese Taipei roster will not include many Major Leaguers, but will be similar to the one that finished fifth in the 2004 Summer Olympics, including Chin-Feng Chen, with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Chien-Ming Wang, a right-handed pitcher who has made a major splash this year as a rookie with the New York Yankees and was 5-3 with a 3.87 ERA through the games of July 3.
SOURCE: WBC offers Chinese Taipei world stage
SOURCE: WBC offers Chinese Taipei world stage
CUBA:
Cuba doesn't need Major Leaguers on its roster and won't have any. Its professional players who have left the country to seek political asylum elsewhere and play Major League ball in the U.S. are not invited back.
SOURCE: Powerful Cubans seek WBC crown
SOURCE: Powerful Cubans seek WBC crown
Not too surprising, I guess.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC:
The tournament gives the Dominicans a chance to strut their stuff for the first time on the international stage with a roster that could include such top Major Leaguer sluggers as Vladimir Guerrero of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez of the Boston Red Sox, Sammy Sosa and Miguel Tejada of the Baltimore Orioles and Adrian Beltre of the Seattle Mariners. The pitching staff could include Pedro Martinez of the New York Mets and Bartolo Colon of the Angels.
SOURCE: Dominicans highlight WBC field
SOURCE: Dominicans highlight WBC field
ITALY:
The tournament will offer Italy a chance to continue its development on the international scene with a roster that could include a number of Italian-Americans who are able to play for Italy because it is their country of origin even though they may not be citizens. One such player Italy may rely on quite heavily is former Major Leaguer Jason Simontacchi, who last year compiled a 5.28 ERA in 13 games for the St. Louis Cardinals.
SOURCE: Italy to showcase development in WBC
SOURCE: Italy to showcase development in WBC
JAPAN:
A good showing in the World Baseball Classic would be another huge step in Japan's ascent to Major League parity. The Japanese will be able to bring with them many of their best players from the Nippon Professional League pending the July 22 vote, but for the first time in international play they will also be able to utilize former stars who have crossed over into the Major Leagues like Hideki Matsui of the New York Yankees, Kaz Matsui of the New York Mets, Hideo Nomo of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Suzuki and Hasegawa.
SOURCE: Japan a major player in WBC field
SOURCE: Japan a major player in WBC field
MEXICO:
The tournament gives Mexico a chance to cause trouble in its pool if they get the help of such Major Leaguers as Castilla, Erubiel Durazo of the Oakland A's and a pitching staff that could be stocked with great arms -- Rodrigo Lopez of the Baltimore Orioles, Oliver Perez of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Esteban Loaiza, also of the Nationals.
SOURCE: Upstart Mexico eyes WBC title
SOURCE: Upstart Mexico eyes WBC title
NETHERLANDS:
Fortunately for the Dutch team, players from the Netherlands Antilles, a group of islands in the Caribbean including Curaçao and Aruba, are eligible. Thus, there's the potential Curaçao's Andruw Jones from the Atlanta Braves and Aruba's Sidney Ponson of the Baltimore Orioles could be added to the roster. Former Major Leaguers like Randall Simon (Curaçao) and Calvin Maduro (Aruba) are also available.
SOURCE: Dutch to meet world's best in WBC
SOURCE: Dutch to meet world's best in WBC
PANAMA:
The tournament gives the Panamanians a chance to showcase their talent on the international stage with a roster that could include such top current and former Major Leaguers as Rivera of the New York Yankees, Carlos Lee of the Milwaukee Brewers, Ruben Rivera -- who once played for the Yankees and was a member of Panama's Olympic Qualifying team in 2003 -- and Olmedo Saenz of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
SOURCE: Ever-improving Panama gets WBC shot
SOURCE: Ever-improving Panama gets WBC shot
PUERTO RICO:
With home-field advantage, the tournament also gives the Puerto Ricans a chance to stock their lineup with such native Major League stars as Carlos Beltran of the New York Mets, Pudge Rodriguez of the Detroit Tigers, Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada of the New York Yankees, Carlos Delgado of the Florida Marlins and Javier Vazquez of the Arizona Diamondbacks -- just to name a few.
SOURCE: Talent-rich Puerto Rico tackles WBC
SOURCE: Talent-rich Puerto Rico tackles WBC
SOUTH AFRICA:
A few South African players have been signed by Major League teams and have had short looks in the Minor Leagues. But this team will go into the tournament with names like Brett Willemberg, Jonathan Phillips, Jason Jonathan, Ian Holness and Nick Dempsey. Holness and Dempsey were once Los Angeles Dodgers prospects who played on the 2000 South African national team that qualified for the Olympics.
SOURCE: Interest growing, South Africa eyes WBC
SOURCE: Interest growing, South Africa eyes WBC
SOUTH KOREA:
The Korean lineup could have a distinctly Major League, Dream Team flair to it as stars like Choi, along with Chan Ho Park of the Texas Rangers and Byung-Hyun Kim of the Colorado Rockies, are eligible to join the roster for the 18-day tournament.
SOURCE: Tradition-rich Korea has WBC dreams
SOURCE: Tradition-rich Korea has WBC dreams
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
The possibilities are mind-boggling -- Randy Johnson of the New York Yankees and Roger Clemens of the Houston Astros on the mound; Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter of the Yankees playing the left side of the infield. Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants smacking a few balls out.
SOURCE: WBC title on line, US stars confident
SOURCE: WBC title on line, US stars confident
VENEZUELA:
The tournament gives the Venezuelans a chance to emerge on the international scene with a roster that could include such top Major Leaguers as Cesar Izturis of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Freddy Garcia of the Chicago White Sox, Kelvim Escobar of the Los Angeles Angels, Victor Martinez of the Cleveland Indians, Magglio Ordonez of the Detroit Tigers, Abreu of the Philadelphia Phillies, Cabrera of the Florida Marlins, Santana of the Minnesota Twins, and the Zambranos -- Carlos of the Chicago Cubs and Victor of the New York Mets. The list of notables seems to go on and on.
SOURCE: Star-studded Venezuela WBC threat
SOURCE: Star-studded Venezuela WBC threat
Man, Venezuela's rumored line-up looks scary.
Twins' star player, Santana, will be in the Venezuela team if he participates in the WBC.
. All that means is... Go Santana!