2009 World Baseball Classic
Encyclopedia
The 2009 World Baseball Classic
World Baseball Classic
The World Baseball Classic is an international baseball tournament sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation and created by Major League Baseball , the Major League Baseball Players Association , and other professional baseball leagues and their players associations around the world...

 was an international baseball
International Baseball Federation
The International Baseball Federation is the worldwide governing body recognized by the International Olympic Committee as overseeing, deciding and executing the policy of the bat-and-ball sport of baseball at the international level...

  competition. It is the only international baseball tournament to feature a large number of players from the major leagues of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

. It began on March 5, 2009, and finished March 23, 2009.

Japan
Japan national baseball team
The Japan national baseball team is the national baseball team representing Japan in international competitions. They are one of the more successful baseball teams in the world, having won the World Baseball Classic in 2006 and 2009...

 emerged victorious for the second straight Classic, defeating rival South Korea 5-3 in 10 innings in the final. Daisuke Matsuzaka
Daisuke Matsuzaka
is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher with the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball in the United States. He previously played for the Seibu Lions in Japan's Pacific League. He was selected the MVP of the inaugural and the second World Baseball Classic, and is an Olympic bronze...

 won his second World Baseball Classic MVP Award.

Format

As was the case for the 2006 tournament
2006 World Baseball Classic
---------Pool B:-------------Pool C:-------------Pool D:-------------Pool 1:-----------------Pool 2:-------------Finals:-Semifinals:-Final:-Final standings:...

, the sixteen teams were split into four pools of four teams each. Whereas previously the teams played in round-robin
Round-robin tournament
A round-robin tournament is a competition "in which each contestant meets all other contestants in turn".-Terminology:...

 competition in Rounds 1 and 2, this time they took part in a double-elimination
Double-elimination tournament
A double-elimination tournament is a type of elimination tournament competition in which a participant ceases to be eligible to win the tournament's championship upon having lost two games or matches...

 format, similar to the USA's College World Series
College World Series
The College World Series or CWS is an annual baseball tournament held in Omaha, Nebraska that is the culmination of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, which determines the NCAA Division I college baseball champion. The eight teams are split into two, four-team, double-elimination brackets,...

 sponsored by the NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...

. Under the new format, teams were only guaranteed to play two games. This change was made to eliminate the complicated tiebreaking
Tiebreaker
In games and sports, a tiebreaker or tiebreak is used to determine a winner from among players or teams that are tied at the end of a contest, or a set of contests.-In matches:In some situations, the tiebreaker may consist of another round of play...

 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
PETCO Park
Petco Park is an open-air ballpark in downtown San Diego, California, USA. It opened in 2004, replacing Qualcomm Stadium as the home park of Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres. Before then, the Padres shared Qualcomm Stadium with the NFL's San Diego Chargers...

 in San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

 for Pool 1, and the teams in Pools C and D playing at Dolphin Stadium
Dolphin Stadium
Sun Life Stadium is an American football stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, a suburb of Miami. It is the home stadium of the Miami Dolphins National Football League team, and the University of Miami Hurricanes football team. It also hosts the Orange Bowl, an annual college football bowl game. It...

 in Miami Gardens, Florida
Miami Gardens, Florida
Miami Gardens is a Miami suburban city located in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city name comes from one of the major roadways through the area, Miami Gardens Drive. According to the 2010 U.S...

 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
Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium, also sometimes called Chavez Ravine, is a stadium in Los Angeles. Located adjacent to Downtown Los Angeles, Dodger Stadium has been the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers team since 1962...

 in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

.

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.

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.

Venues

Seven stadiums were used during the tournament:
Pool A - Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

Pool B - Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

Pool C - Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

Pool D - San Juan
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...

Tokyo Dome
Tokyo Dome
Tokyo Dome is a 55,000-seat baseball stadium located in Bunkyo Ward of Tokyo, Japan.The stadium opened for business on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of the Velodrome which was next door to the site of the predecessor ballpark, Kōrakuen Stadium...

Foro Sol Stadium Rogers Centre
Rogers Centre
Rogers Centre is a multi-purpose stadium, in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated next to the CN Tower, near the shores of Lake Ontario. Opened in 1989, it is home to the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League...

Hiram Bithorn Stadium
Hiram Bithorn Stadium
Hiram Bithorn Stadium is a baseball park in San Juan, Puerto Rico, operated by the municipal government of the city of San Juan. Its name honors the first Puerto Rican to play in the major leagues, Hiram Bithorn, who first played with the Chicago Cubs in 1942...

Capacity: 42,000 Capacity: 26,000 Capacity: 49,539 Capacity: 18,000
Pool 1 - San Diego Pool 2 - Miami Finals - Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

PETCO Park
PETCO Park
Petco Park is an open-air ballpark in downtown San Diego, California, USA. It opened in 2004, replacing Qualcomm Stadium as the home park of Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres. Before then, the Padres shared Qualcomm Stadium with the NFL's San Diego Chargers...

Dolphin Stadium Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium, also sometimes called Chavez Ravine, is a stadium in Los Angeles. Located adjacent to Downtown Los Angeles, Dodger Stadium has been the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers team since 1962...

Capacity: 42,685 Capacity: 38,560 Capacity: 56,000

Pools composition

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.
Pool A Pool B Pool C Pool D

Pool A

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Pool B

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Pool C

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Pool D

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Pool 1

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Pool 2

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Finals

Semifinals

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Final

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Final standings

Rk Team W L Tiebreaker
1 7 2
Lost in Final
2 6 3
Lost in Semifinals
3 6 2
4 4 4
Failed to qualify for Semifinals
5 4 2 1.75 RA/9
6 4 2 4.15 RA/9
7 2 4 3.98 RA/9
8 2 4 10.10 RA/9
Failed to qualify for Round 2
9 1 2 1.57 RA/9
10 1 2 6.84 RA/9
11 1 2 7.43 RA/9
12 1 2 10.96 RA/9
13 0 2 6.35 RA/9
14 0 2 7.31 RA/9
15 0 2 9.00 RA/9
16 0 2 11.65 RA/9

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%)

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%)

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%)


All-WBC team

PositionPlayer
C   Ivan Rodriguez
Iván Rodríguez
Iván Rodríguez Torres , nicknamed "Pudge" and "I-Rod", is a Major League Baseball catcher...

1B   Tae-Kyun Kim
2B   José López
SS   Jimmy Rollins
Jimmy Rollins
James Calvin "Jimmy" Rollins , nicknamed "J-Roll", is an All-Star and former MVP shortstop, who most recently played for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball's National League....

3B   Bum-Ho Lee
OF   Norichika Aoki
Norichika Aoki
is a Japanese professional baseball player. He is currently an outfielder for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.Aoki is one of only four players to amass 200 or more hits in a single season in Japanese professional baseball...

  Frederich Cepeda
Frederich Cepeda
Frederich Cepeda Cruz is an outfielder for the Cuban national baseball team and Sancti Spíritus of the Cuban National Series. Cepeda was part of the Cuban team that won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and second place at the 2006 World Baseball Classic and 2008 Summer Olympics...

  Yoennis Cespedes
Yoennis Céspedes
Yoennis Céspedes Milanés is a Cuban professional baseball outfielder. He was a member of the Cuban national baseball team before defecting.-Cuban career:...

DH   Hyun-Soo Kim
P   Jung-Keun Bong
  Hisashi Iwakuma
Hisashi Iwakuma
is a Japanese professional baseball player. He is currently the starting pitcher for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.As the Eagles' reigning staff ace, Iwakuma won the Eiji Sawamura Award in and played in the 2004 Athens Olympics as well as the 2009 World Baseball Classic for the Japanese...

  Daisuke Matsuzaka
Daisuke Matsuzaka
is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher with the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball in the United States. He previously played for the Seibu Lions in Japan's Pacific League. He was selected the MVP of the inaugural and the second World Baseball Classic, and is an Olympic bronze...


Batting

Statistic Name Total/Avg
Batting average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...

 
  Brett Roneberg
Brett Roneberg
.Brett Roneberg is an Australian baseball player.He spent 11 seasons playing minor league baseball, most recently in 2007 was with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, playing for their Double-A affiliate, the Altoona Curve.In 2004, he was part of the Australian Olympic baseball team, who achieved...

 
.714
Hit
Hit (baseball)
In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....

s
  Norichika Aoki
Norichika Aoki
is a Japanese professional baseball player. He is currently an outfielder for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.Aoki is one of only four players to amass 200 or more hits in a single season in Japanese professional baseball...


  Frederich Cepeda
Frederich Cepeda
Frederich Cepeda Cruz is an outfielder for the Cuban national baseball team and Sancti Spíritus of the Cuban National Series. Cepeda was part of the Cuban team that won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and second place at the 2006 World Baseball Classic and 2008 Summer Olympics...


  Ichiro Suzuki
Ichiro Suzuki
, usually known simply as is a Major League Baseball right fielder for the Seattle Mariners. Ichiro has established a number of batting records, including the sport's single-season record for hits with 262...

 
12
Run
Run (baseball)
In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...

s
  Adam Dunn
Adam Dunn
Adam Troy Dunn , nicknamed "Big Donkey", is an American Major League Baseball first baseman, outfielder, and designated hitter for the Chicago White Sox. He bats left-handed and throws right-handed....


  Tae-Kyun Kim
  Kevin Youkilis
Kevin Youkilis
Kevin Edmund Youkilis , also known as "Youk" , is an American professional baseball player with the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball...

 
9
Home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...

s
7 players 3
RBI    Tae-Kyun Kim  11
Walks   Adam Dunn
Adam Dunn
Adam Troy Dunn , nicknamed "Big Donkey", is an American Major League Baseball first baseman, outfielder, and designated hitter for the Chicago White Sox. He bats left-handed and throws right-handed....

 
9
Strikeout
Strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout or strike-out occurs when a batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters....

s
  Adam Dunn
Adam Dunn
Adam Troy Dunn , nicknamed "Big Donkey", is an American Major League Baseball first baseman, outfielder, and designated hitter for the Chicago White Sox. He bats left-handed and throws right-handed....


  Michihiro Ogasawara
Michihiro Ogasawara
Michihiro Ogasawara is a Japanese professional baseball player. He currently plays first base for the Yomiuri Giants in Japan's Central League . He played with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters from to .-Career:Ogasawara is one of the most consistent hitters in Japanese baseball...

 
10
Stolen base
Stolen base
In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a baserunner successfully advances to the next base while the pitcher is delivering the ball to home plate...

s
  Yasuyuki Kataoka
Yasuyuki Kataoka
is a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball player with the Saitama Seibu Lions in Japan's Pacific League.-External links:...


  Jimmy Rollins
Jimmy Rollins
James Calvin "Jimmy" Rollins , nicknamed "J-Roll", is an All-Star and former MVP shortstop, who most recently played for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball's National League....

 
4
On base percentage
On base percentage
In baseball statistics, on-base percentage is a measure of how often a batter reaches base for any reason other than a fielding error, fielder's choice, dropped/uncaught third strike, fielder's obstruction, or catcher's interference In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) (sometimes...

 
  Jason Bay
Jason Bay
Jason Raymond Bay is a Canadian professional baseball player. An outfielder, he currently plays for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball...

 
.778
Slugging percentage    Brett Roneberg
Brett Roneberg
.Brett Roneberg is an Australian baseball player.He spent 11 seasons playing minor league baseball, most recently in 2007 was with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, playing for their Double-A affiliate, the Altoona Curve.In 2004, he was part of the Australian Olympic baseball team, who achieved...

 
1.286
OPS    Brett Roneberg
Brett Roneberg
.Brett Roneberg is an Australian baseball player.He spent 11 seasons playing minor league baseball, most recently in 2007 was with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, playing for their Double-A affiliate, the Altoona Curve.In 2004, he was part of the Australian Olympic baseball team, who achieved...

 
2.036


Pitching

Statistic Name Total/Avg
Win
Win (baseball)
In professional baseball, there are two types of decisions: a win and a loss . In each game, one pitcher on the winning team is awarded a win and one pitcher on the losing team is given a loss in their respective statistics. These pitchers are collectively known as the pitchers of record. Only...

s
  Daisuke Matsuzaka
Daisuke Matsuzaka
is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher with the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball in the United States. He previously played for the Seibu Lions in Japan's Pacific League. He was selected the MVP of the inaugural and the second World Baseball Classic, and is an Olympic bronze...

 
3
Losses   Jeremy Guthrie
Jeremy Guthrie
Jeremy Shane Guthrie is a Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles.-Early life and education:...

 
2
Saves   Francisco Rodríguez  3
Innings pitched
Innings pitched
In baseball, innings pitched are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one inning pitched. One out counts as one-third of an inning, and two...

 
  Hisashi Iwakuma
Hisashi Iwakuma
is a Japanese professional baseball player. He is currently the starting pitcher for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.As the Eagles' reigning staff ace, Iwakuma won the Eiji Sawamura Award in and played in the 2004 Athens Olympics as well as the 2009 World Baseball Classic for the Japanese...

 
20
Hits allowed
Hit (baseball)
In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....

 
  Roy Oswalt
Roy Oswalt
Roy Edward Oswalt is an American Major League Baseball pitcher and Olympic gold medalist who is currently a free agent. Oswalt, a slender six-foot right-handed starting pitcher, is currently in his eleventh major league season...

 
17
Runs allowed
Run (baseball)
In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...

 
  Jeremy Guthrie
Jeremy Guthrie
Jeremy Shane Guthrie is a Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles.-Early life and education:...

 
10
Earned runs allowed
Earned run
In baseball, an earned run is any run for which the pitcher is held accountable . Any runner who tags his base and reaches home plate is scored against the pitcher as an earned run...

 
  Kwang-Hyun Kim  8
ERA
Earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...

 
  Enrique González
Enrique González
Enrique César González is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher.-Playing career:González made his first start against the Cincinnati Reds on May 28, 2006, pitching six innings for the Arizona Diamondbacks and giving up only one run...

*
0.00
Walks 5 players 6
Strikeout
Strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout or strike-out occurs when a batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters....

s
  Yu Darvish
Yu Darvish
Yu Darvish is a Japanese starting pitcher for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.Darvish pitched in the 2008 Beijing Olympics as well as the 2009 World Baseball Classic as a member of the Japanese national team...

 
20
WHIP
Walks plus hits per inning pitched
In baseball statistics, walks plus hits per inning pitched is a sabermetric measurement of the number of baserunners a pitcher has allowed per inning pitched. It is a measure of a pitcher's ability to prevent batters from reaching base...

 
  Rafael Pérez  0.00

* González is tied with several others with a 0.00 ERA but he pitched the most innings with 9.2

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
International Baseball Federation
The International Baseball Federation is the worldwide governing body recognized by the International Olympic Committee as overseeing, deciding and executing the policy of the bat-and-ball sport of baseball at the international level...

.

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
Instant replay
Instant replay is the replaying of video footage of an event or incident very soon after it has occurred. In television broadcasting of sports events, instant replay is often used during live broadcast, to show a passage of play which was important or remarkable, or which was unclear on first...

 was also available to umpires during the tournament. As was introduced in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 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
Mercy rule
A mercy rule, also well known by the slightly less polite term slaughter rule , brings a sports event to an early end when one team has a very large and presumably insurmountable lead over the other team...

 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.

Television coverage

In the United States, ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

 and the MLB Network
MLB Network
MLB Network is an American television specialty channel dedicated to professional baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball. Comcast, DirecTV, Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications have minority ownership of the new network, with MLB retaining a controlling two-thirds share...

 shared the rights, with ESPN broadcasting 23 of the games, including the Finals, while MLB Network showed the remaining 16. Spanish language telecasts in the USA were handled by ESPN Deportes
ESPN Deportes
ESPN Deportes is a cable television and radio network dedicated to broadcasting sports-related programming 24 hours a day to the Spanish-speaking community in the United States...

 telecasting all games. Internationally, it was broadcasted to 167 countries by ESPN International
ESPN International
ESPN International is a family of networks around the world. It was begun in 1989 and is operated by ESPN. It consists of:Asia: *ESPN SEA*ESPN SEA 2*ESPN China*ESPN Hong Kong*ESPN India*ESPN Malaysia...

.

In Canada, Rogers Sportsnet
Rogers Sportsnet
Sportsnet was launched on October 9, 1998 as CTV Sportsnet. The name was chosen to match the regional "Fox Sports Net" operations across the United States...

 aired all 39 games.

In the Dominican Republic, CDN (Cadena de Noticias) and CDN2 broadcast all games live (except for games played in Tokyo, shown on tape delay
Broadcast delay
In radio and television, broadcast delay refers to the practice of intentionally delaying broadcast of live material. A short delay is often used to prevent profanity, bloopers, violence, or other undesirable material from making it to air, including more mundane problems such as technical...

)

In Japan, J Sports broadcast all 39 games. TV Asahi
TV Asahi
, also known as EX and , is a Japanese television network headquartered in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The company writes its name in lower-case letters, tv asahi, in its logo and public-image materials. The company also owns All-Nippon News Network....

 (Round 1) and TBS
Tokyo Broadcasting System
, TBS Holdings, Inc. or TBSHD, is a stockholding company in Tokyo, Japan. It is a parent company of a television network named and radio network named ....

 (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%.

Videogames

World Baseball Classic 2009 has licensed three videogames
VideoGames
VideoGames may refer to:*VideoGames, a mid-1990s magazine about video games.*Video games in general....

, all made in Japan: Pro Yakyuu Spirits 6, Baseball Heroes 2009
and Jikkyou Pawafuru Major League 2009

See also

  • Baseball at the Summer Olympics
    Baseball at the Summer Olympics
    Baseball at the Summer Olympics had its unofficial debut at the 1904 Summer Games and its official sport at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Baseball has a long history as an exhibition/demonstration sport in the Olympics. However, for 1992 Barcelona the International Olympic Committee granted the sport...

  • Baseball World Cup
  • Major League Baseball
    Major League Baseball
    Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

  • International Baseball Federation
    International Baseball Federation
    The International Baseball Federation is the worldwide governing body recognized by the International Olympic Committee as overseeing, deciding and executing the policy of the bat-and-ball sport of baseball at the international level...


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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