2009 World Baseball Classic - Format

Format

As was the case for the 2006 tournament, the sixteen teams were split into four pools of four teams each. 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, 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 for Pool 1, and the teams in Pools C and D playing at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens for Pool 2. 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. 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.

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.

In Final Standings, ties shall 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;

Note: Standings and Tiebreaking Procedures are based on International Baseball Federation rules.