History
Organized in large part as a response to the International Olympic Committee's decision to remove baseball as an Olympic sport in 2005, the event has grown into a major sporting event worldwide, though to a lesser extent in the United States. In fact, the final series in 2006 and 2009 rank among the highest rated sporting events of all time in Japanese television history.
In the 2006 tournament, a surprising South Korea advanced to the semifinals with an undefeated 6–0 record but was defeated by Japan (which had lost twice to South Korea in the earlier rounds) for a berth in the final game. Meanwhile, Cuba defeated the Dominican Republic for the other berth in the final game. Japan then defeated Cuba 10–6 to be crowned the first champion of the World Baseball Classic.
In the 2009 tournament, the controversial round-robin format from 2006 was replaced by a modified double-elimination format for the first two rounds (the semifinals and final game remained single-elimination). The eight teams advancing from the first round were the same as in 2006, except for a "Cinderella" performance by the Netherlands, which twice defeated the Dominican Republic to reach the second round. In the semifinals, South Korea defeated Venezuela while Japan defeated the United States, and Japan then emerged victorious for the second straight Classic, winning the final game over South Korea 5–3 in 10 innings.
Although the 2006 and 2009 editions of the World Baseball Classic were contested by the same pre-selected field of 16 teams, for the 2013 tournament only the 12 teams that won at least one game in 2009 were guaranteed a berth in the main tournament. The other four contested a qualifying round in late 2012 along with 12 additional teams. As a result, two new teams will compete for the first time (Brazil and Spain, respectively replacing Panama and South Africa). The main tournament will take place in March 2013.
Although Japan is the only team to have been crowned champion, earning the title both in 2006 and 2009, South Korea owns the best win-loss record at 12–4, with all four of its losses coming at the hands of Japan. Japan's win-loss record is 12–5, with four of its five losses coming at the hands of South Korea.
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