The World Baseball Classic (WBC), which serves as the worldwide championship tournament for Major League Baseball (MLB), was scheduled to be contested in 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the game was postponed indefinitely.
The competition takes place once every four years during the Spring Training season, with qualifier games being held the year before. Players from all over the world compete for the honor of representing their nation in this tournament, which is structured like a playoff and takes place in a number of different nations.
The 2023 World Baseball Classic calendar has been finalized, and qualifying games will take place this weekend in Germany and at the end of the month in Panama. At this point, the number of COVID-19 cases is quite close to reaching an all-time low.
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World Baseball Classic history
The first World Baseball Classic was held in 2006, culminating in Japan’s 10-6 victory over Cuba at Petco Park. The event was also contested in 2009 at Dodger Stadium, where Japan successfully defended their title with a victory over South Korea that ended with a score of 5-3 after ten innings.
Following the conclusion of the 2009 tournament, Major League Baseball decided to hold the World Baseball Classic once every four seasons rather than once every three seasons. This change brought the event closer in format to the Olympics. At AT&T Park, the Dominican Republic prevailed over Puerto Rico by a score of 3-0 to emerge victorious in the World Baseball Classic in 2013.
The World Baseball Classic was hosted for the final time in 2017, and the championship game was staged again at Dodger Stadium. However, the United States defeated Puerto Rico by a score of 8-0 to claim the title.
Marcus Stroman earned the victory by tossing six innings of shutout baseball, allowing only one hit while striking out seven batters. Ian Kinsler was responsible for the game’s lone home run. Seth Lugo was responsible for the defeat because he barely lasted four innings and allowed four runs.
Kiké Hernández was the lone player from the Los Angeles Dodgers to take the field during the game. He began the contest playing center field for Puerto Rico.
How to Watch all World Baseball Classic qualifier games?
No matter where you are in the world, you will always be able to log on to WorldBaseballClassic.com and watch each and every second of the Qualifiers live and without charge. You will also be able to watch on MLB.TV, MLB.com, the World Baseball Classic’s brand-new channel on YouTube, and the World Baseball Classic’s page on Facebook.
Dodgers will compete in the World Baseball Classic in 2023.
The Los Angeles Dodgers will have three players on Team USA’s roster for the 2023 World Baseball Classic: Mookie Betts, Will Smith, and Trea Turner.
In addition, Dino Ebel is a member of the coaching staff for the United States. Later, the whole Team USA lineup will be presented in an official announcement.
During this time, Julio Uras announced that he would be playing for Team Mexico.
