| 2009 World Baseball Classic |  | | Dates | March 5 to 23, 2009 | | Teams | 16 | | Finals | | Finals host(s) | Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, California | | | | Semifinalists |  Venezuela
 United States | | Round 2 | | Pool 1 host(s) | PETCO Park, San Diego, California | | Pool 2 host(s) | Dolphin Stadium, Miami, Florida | | Round 1 | | Pool A host(s) | Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan | | Pool B host(s) | Foro Sol Stadium, Mexico City, Mexico | | Pool C host(s) | Rogers Centre, Toronto, Canada | | Pool D host(s) | Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan, Puerto Rico | | Tournament statistics | | Games played | 39 | | Total attendance | 801,408 (avg. 20,548; pct. 54.6%) | | Tournament MVP |  Daisuke Matsuzaka | The 2009 World Baseball Classic was an international baseball competition. It is the only international baseball tournament to feature a large number of players from the major leagues of North America and Asia. It began on March 5, 2009, and finished March 23, 2009. Japan emerged victorious for the second straight Classic, defeating rival South Korea 5-3 in 10 innings in the final. Daisuke Matsuzaka won his second World Baseball Classic MVP Award. [edit] 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 Rounds 1 and 2, this time they took part in a double-elimination format, similar to the USA'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 Rounds 1 and 2 in 2006. After Round 1, the tournament was held on American soil. The top two teams from each of the four pools—seeded from the final game in their respective pools—went to Round 2, with the teams from Pools A and B meeting at PETCO Park in San Diego, California for Pool 1, and the teams in Pools C and D playing at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida 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 Finals 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 Final Round games were held at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California.[3] In the Final, the Team with the higher winning percentage of games in the Tournament was to be the home team. If the Teams competing in the Final had identical winning percentages in the tournament, then WBCI would conduct a coin flip or draw to determine the home team. [edit] 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 also must 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 cannot be changed during a round of competition, a team that advances to a later round can change its roster for the later round. [edit] Venues Seven stadiums were used during the tournament: [edit] Teams and pools The 16 teams that participated in the 2006 World Baseball Classic were all invited back for the 2009 tournament. The WBCI changed the members of each pool as compared with the 2006 Classic, however, except for Pool A. There was no official qualifying competition. [edit] Round 1 [edit] Pool A
[edit] Pool B
[edit] Pool C
[edit] Pool D
[edit] Round 2 [edit] Pool 1
[edit] Pool 2
[edit] Finals
[edit] Final standings | | | 2009 World Baseball Classic Champions | 
Japan
Second title | | [edit] Attendance 801,408 (avg. 20,548; pct. 54.6%) [edit] Round 1 453,374 (avg. 18,890; pct. 55.7%) - Pool A - 170,112 (avg. 28,352; pct. 67.5%)
- Pool B - 92,665 (avg. 15,444; pct. 59.4%)
- Pool C - 103,899 (avg. 17,316; pct. 35.0%)
- Pool D - 86,698 (avg. 14,449; pct. 80.3%)
[edit] Round 2 206,180 (avg. 17,181; pct. 42.3%) - Pool 1 - 91,783 (avg. 15,297; pct. 35.8%)
- Pool 2 - 114,397 (avg. 19,066; pct. 49.4%)
[edit] Finals 141,854 (avg. 47,284; pct. 84.4%) - Semifinals - 87,008 (avg. 43,504; pct. 77.7%)
- Final - 54,846 (avg. 54,846; pct. 97.9%)
[edit] All-WBC team [edit] Statistics [edit] Batting | [edit] Pitching *Gonzalez is tied with several others with a 0.00 ERA but he pitched the most innings with 9.2 | [edit] 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.[4][5] Once again there were limits on the number of pitches thrown in a game, though the limits themselves were changed from the previous tournament: - 70 pitches in Round 1 (up from 65 in 2006)
- 85 pitches in Round 2 (up from 80 in 2006)
- 100 pitches in the Semifinals and Final (up from 95 in 2006)
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. Any pitcher who made 30 or more pitches in a game was ineligible to pitch on the following day. As the Finals were 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. 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 only two extra-inning games in the tournament ended prior to a 12th 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. [edit] Television 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.[6] Spanish language telecasts in the USA were handled by ESPN Deportes telecasting all games. Internationally, it was broadcasted to 167 countries by ESPN International. In Canada, Rogers Sportsnet aired all 39 games.[7] 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%.[8]
[edit] See also [edit] References [edit] External links | 2009 World Baseball Classic | | | | | | International Baseball | | | Major World Events | | | | | Minor World Events | | | | Defunct World Events | | | | Africa | | | | Americas | | | | Asia | | | | Europe | | | | Oceania | | | | IBAF • World Rankings | | |
