2006 World Baseball Classic
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The 2006 World Baseball Classic was the inaugural tournament between national baseball teams that included players from Major League Baseball. It was held from March 3 - March 20 in stadiums that are in and around Tokyo (Japan), San Juan (Puerto Rico), Orlando, Phoenix, Anaheim and San Diego (United States).

A game on Mar. 13, 2006, Angel Stadium, Anaheim, USA
Countries that participated

Japan, led by Sadaharu Oh, became the first champion.

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Contents

Format

The first World Baseball Classic featured 16 teams in a round-robin tournament. Each team played the other three teams in their pool once. The top two teams of each letter-pool moved onto the second round, where the top two teams of Pools A and B (Pool 1) and the top two teams of Pools C and D (Pool 2) competed against each other in another round-robin. The top two teams from each pool entered a four-team single-elimination bracket, with the pool winners and runners-up facing each other in the semifinals. The winners of the semifinals then met to determine the World Baseball Classic champions.

Teams

The teams selected for the inaugural World Baseball Classic were chosen because they were judged to be the "best baseball-playing nations in the world and provide global representation for the event."[1] There was no official qualifying competition. Rosters for participating teams can be found here.

Pool A Pool B Pool C Pool D
 China  Canada  Cuba  Australia
 Chinese Taipei  Mexico  Netherlands  Dominican Republic
 Japan  South Africa  Panama  Italy
 South Korea  United States  Puerto Rico  Venezuela

Venues

Round 1

Pool A

Main article: 2006 World Baseball Classic - Pool A
Team W L Tiebreaker
 South Korea 3 0 -
 Japan 2 1 -
 Chinese Taipei 1 2 -
 China 0 3 -
March 3, 2006 South Korea  2 – 0  Chinese Taipei Tokyo Dome, Japan
Attendance: 5,193
March 3, 2006 Japan  18 – 2 (F/8)  China Tokyo Dome, Japan
Attendance: 15,869
March 4, 2006 China  1 – 10  South Korea Tokyo Dome, Japan
Attendance: 3,925
March 4, 2006 Japan  14 – 3 (F/7)  Chinese Taipei Tokyo Dome, Japan
Attendance: 31,047
March 5, 2006 Chinese Taipei  12 – 3  China Tokyo Dome, Japan
Attendance: 4,577
March 5, 2006 South Korea  3 – 2  Japan Tokyo Dome, Japan
Attendance: 40,353

Pool B

Main article: 2006 World Baseball Classic - Pool B
Team W L Tiebreaker
 Mexico 2 1 1-1, 1.59 RA/9
 United States 2 1 1-1, 4.00 RA/9
 Canada 2 1 1-1, 7.50 RA/9
 South Africa 0 3 -
March 7, 2006 Mexico  0 – 2  United States Chase Field, United States
Attendance: 32,727
March 7, 2006 Canada  11 – 8  South Africa Scottsdale Stadium, United States
Attendance: 5,829
March 8, 2006 Canada  8 – 6  United States Chase Field, United States
Attendance: 16,993
March 8, 2006 South Africa  4 – 10  Mexico Scottsdale Stadium, United States
Attendance: 7,937
March 9, 2006 Mexico  9 – 1  Canada Chase Field, United States
Attendance: 15,744
March 10, 2006 United States  17 – 0 (F/5)  South Africa Scottsdale Stadium, United States
Attendance: 11,975

Pool C

Main article: 2006 World Baseball Classic - Pool C
Team W L Tiebreaker
 Puerto Rico 3 0 -
 Cuba 2 1 -
 Netherlands 1 2 -
 Panama 0 3 -
March 7, 2006 Panama  1 – 2  Puerto Rico Hiram Bithorn Stadium, Puerto Rico
Attendance: 19,043
March 8, 2006 Cuba  8 – 6 (F/11)  Panama Hiram Bithorn Stadium, Puerto Rico
Attendance: 6,129
March 8, 2006 Puerto Rico  8 – 3  Netherlands Hiram Bithorn Stadium, Puerto Rico
Attendance: 15,570
March 9, 2006 Cuba  11 – 2  Netherlands Hiram Bithorn Stadium, Puerto Rico
Attendance: 7,657
March 10, 2006 Netherlands  10 – 0 (F/7)  Panama Hiram Bithorn Stadium, Puerto Rico
Attendance: 6,337
March 10, 2006 Puerto Rico  12 – 2 (F/7)  Cuba Hiram Bithorn Stadium, Puerto Rico
Attendance: 19,736

Pool D

Main article: 2006 World Baseball Classic - Pool D
Team W L Tiebreaker
 Dominican Republic 3 0 -
 Venezuela 2 1 -
 Italy 1 2 -
 Australia 0 3 -
March 7, 2006 Dominican Republic  11 – 5  Venezuela Cracker Jack Stadium, United States
Attendance: 10,645
March 7, 2006 Australia  0 – 10 (F/7)  Italy Cracker Jack Stadium, United States
Attendance: 8,099
March 8, 2006 Italy  0 – 6  Venezuela Cracker Jack Stadium, United States
Attendance: 10,101
March 9, 2006 Italy  3 – 8  Dominican Republic Cracker Jack Stadium, United States
Attendance: 9,949
March 9, 2006 Venezuela  2 – 0  Australia Cracker Jack Stadium, United States
Attendance: 10,111
March 10, 2006 Australia  4 – 6  Dominican Republic Cracker Jack Stadium, United States
Attendance: 11,083

Round 2

Pool 1

Main article: 2006 World Baseball Classic - Pool 1
Team W L Tiebreaker
 South Korea 3 0 -
 Japan 1 2 1-1, 2.50 RA/9
 United States 1 2 1-1, 2.64 RA/9
 Mexico 1 2 1-1, 3.50 RA/9
March 12, 2006 Japan  3 – 4  United States Angel Stadium, United States
Attendance: 32,896
March 12, 2006 Mexico  1 – 2  South Korea Angel Stadium, United States
Attendance: 42,979
March 13, 2006 United States  3 – 7  South Korea Angel Stadium, United States
Attendance: 21,288
March 14, 2006 Japan  6 – 1  Mexico Angel Stadium, United States
Attendance: 16,591
March 15, 2006 South Korea  2 – 1  Japan Angel Stadium, United States
Attendance: 39,679
March 16, 2006 United States  1 – 2  Mexico Angel Stadium, United States
Attendance: 38,284

Pool 2

Main article: 2006 World Baseball Classic - Pool 2
Team W L Tiebreaker
 Dominican Republic 2 1 1-0
 Cuba 2 1 0-1
 Venezuela 1 2 1-0
 Puerto Rico 1 2 0-1
March 12, 2006 Cuba  7 – 2  Venezuela Hiram Bithorn Stadium, Puerto Rico
Attendance: 13,697
March 12, 2006 Puerto Rico  7 – 1  Dominican Republic Hiram Bithorn Stadium, Puerto Rico
Attendance: 19,692
March 13, 2006 Dominican Republic  7 – 3  Cuba Hiram Bithorn Stadium, Puerto Rico
Attendance: 6,594
March 13, 2006 Venezuela  6 – 0  Puerto Rico Hiram Bithorn Stadium, Puerto Rico
Attendance: 19,400
March 14, 2006 Venezuela  1 – 2  Dominican Republic Hiram Bithorn Stadium, Puerto Rico
Attendance: 13,007
March 15, 2006 Cuba  4 – 3  Puerto Rico Hiram Bithorn Stadium, Puerto Rico
Attendance: 19,773

Finals

Main article: 2006 World Baseball Classic - Finals
  Semifinals Final
2006-03-18 - PETCO Park
  Cuba 3  
  Dominican Republic 1  
 
2006-03-20 - PETCO Park
      Japan 10
    Cuba 6
2006-03-18 - PETCO Park
  Japan 6
  South Korea 0  
March 18, 2006 Cuba  3 – 1  Dominican Republic PETCO Park, United States
Attendance: 41,268
March 18, 2006 Japan  6 – 0  South Korea PETCO Park, United States
Attendance: 42,639
March 20, 2006 Japan  10 – 6  Cuba PETCO Park, United States
Attendance: 42,696

Final Standings

Rk Team W L Tiebreaker
1  Japan 5 3 -
Lost in Final
2  Cuba 5 3 -
Lost in Semifinals
3  South Korea 6 1 -
4  Dominican Republic 5 2 -
Failed to qualify for Semifinals
5  Puerto Rico 4 2 -
6  Mexico 3 3 2.72 RA/9
7  Venezuela 3 3 3.40 RA/9
8  United States 3 3 3.75 RA/9
Failed to qualify for Round 2
9  Canada 2 1 -
10  Italy 1 2 5.48 RA/9
11  Netherlands 1 2 6.84 RA/9, 6.48 ERA
12  Chinese Taipei 1 2 6.84 RA/9, 6.84 ERA
13  Australia 0 3 6.85 RA/9
14  Panama 0 3 6.92 RA/9
15  China 0 3 14.40 RA/9
16  South Africa 0 3 15.55 RA/9
 2006 World Baseball Classic Champions 
Flag of Japan
Japan
First title
Championship Trophy
Gold medals

Attendance

737,112 (avg. 18,900; pct. 67.3%)

Round 1

326,629 (avg. 13,609; pct. 55.4%)

  • Pool A - 100,964 (avg. 16,827; pct. 40.1%)
  • Pool B - 91,205 (avg. 15,200; pct. 52.8%)
    • Chase Field - 65,464 (avg. 21,821; pct. 44.5%)
    • Scottsdale Stadium - 25,741 (avg. 8,580; pct. 100.9%)
  • Pool C - 74,472 (avg. 12,412; pct. 69.0%)
  • Pool D - 59,988 (avg. 9,998; pct. 105.2%)

Round 2

283,880 (avg. 23,656; pct. 75.1%)

  • Pool 1 - 191,717 (avg. 31,952; pct. 70.9%)
  • Pool 2 - 92,163 (avg. 15,360; pct. 85.3%)

Finals

126,603 (avg. 42,201; pct. 99.4%)

All-WBC team

Position Player
MVP Flag of Japan Daisuke Matsuzaka
C Flag of Japan Tomoya Satozaki
1B Flag of South Korea Seung Yeop Lee
2B Flag of Cuba Yulieski Gourriel
SS Flag of the United States Derek Jeter
3B Flag of the Dominican Republic Adrián Beltré
OF Flag of the United States Ken Griffey, Jr.