2017 World Baseball Classic

2017 World Baseball Classic
Tournament details
Host countries  Japan
 Mexico
 South Korea
 United States
Dates March 6–22
Teams 16 (from 5 continents)
Defending champions  Dominican Republic (2013)
Final positions
Champions
  United States (1st title)
Runner-up
  Puerto Rico
Third place
  Japan
Fourth place  Netherlands
Tournament statistics
Games played 40
Attendance 1,086,720 (27,168 per game)
Most Valuable Player United States Marcus Stroman
← 2013
2021 →

The 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, composed of 16 competing nations, held from March 6 to March 22, 2017. It was the fourth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. The first-round hosts were Seoul, Tokyo, Miami and Zapopan. The second-round hosts were Tokyo and San Diego, and the championship round was played in Los Angeles.[1]

Twelve of the sixteen competing nations qualified based on their performance during the first round of the 2013 tournament; the remaining four nations are the winners of four qualification tournaments that took place in February, March and September 2016.[2] Two of the four qualifiers, Colombia and Israel, each made their first appearance in the WBC, and both have secured their positions for the 2021 World Baseball Classic.

The Netherlands, Japan, Puerto Rico, and the United States advanced to the championship round. Defending champion Dominican Republic was eliminated in the second round. The United States defeated Puerto Rico to win the championship game, 8–0. Marcus Stroman was named tournament MVP. He made three starts for Team USA, and posted a 2.35 ERA in 15​1⁄3 total innings, including six shutout innings in the championship game.

Qualified teams

The top three teams from each pool of the first round of the 2013 World Baseball Classic automatically qualified.

Team Method of qualification Classic appearance Previous best position WBSC Ranking
 Canada 2013 World Baseball Classic 4th Round 1 8
 China 2013 World Baseball Classic 4th Round 1 18
 Cuba 2013 World Baseball Classic 4th Runners-up (2006) 5
 Dominican Republic 2013 World Baseball Classic 4th Champions (2013) 13
 Italy 2013 World Baseball Classic 4th Round 2 (2013) 11
 Japan 2013 World Baseball Classic 4th Champions (2006, 2009) 1
 Netherlands 2013 World Baseball Classic 4th Fourth place (2013) 9
 Puerto Rico 2013 World Baseball Classic 4th Runners-up (2013) 12
 South Korea 2013 World Baseball Classic 4th Runners-up (2009) 3
 Chinese Taipei 2013 World Baseball Classic 4th Round 2 (2013) 4
 United States 2013 World Baseball Classic 4th Fourth place (2009) 2
 Venezuela 2013 World Baseball Classic 4th Third place (2009) 7
 Australia Qualifier 1 4th Round 1 10
 Mexico Qualifier 2 4th Round 2 (2006, 2009) 6
 Colombia Qualifier 3 1st — 19
 Israel Qualifier 4 1st — 41

Tournament format

The first and second rounds of the tournament were played in round-robin format, with each team playing each other team in their pool once, as was the case in 2006. However, in an effort to reduce the likelihood that a team would be eliminated on statistical tiebreakers, the tournament schedule allowed for a seventh game at each pool-play site.

  • If there is a two-way tie for first, since both teams advance, there would be no extra game. The team that won the original game between the teams would be declared the pool winner, and the other team the pool runner-up.
  • If there is a three-way tie for first (all three teams being 2–1, and the last team 0–3), head-to-head results would not help to break the tie. In this case, statistics would determine the first-place team, and the other two would play to determine the pool runner-up.
  • If there is a three-way tie for second (all three teams being 1–2, and the first team 3–0), statistics would determine the top two teams who would then play to determine the pool runner-up. The team ranked worst on the calculation would be eliminated.

In either of the latter cases, the statistics used to rank the tied teams were:

  1. Fewest runs allowed per inning of defense in head-to-head games
  2. Fewest earned runs allowed per inning of defense in head-to-head games
  3. Highest batting average in head-to-head games
  4. Drawing of lots[3][4]

Rosters

Venues

Six stadiums were used during the main tournament:

Pool A Pools B & E Pool C
South Korea Seoul, South Korea Japan Tokyo, Japan United States Miami, United States
Gocheok Sky Dome Tokyo Dome Marlins Park
Capacity: 16,813 Capacity: 42,000 Capacity: 36,742
Pool D Pool F Championship
Mexico Zapopan, Mexico United States San Diego, United States United States Los Angeles, United States
Estadio Charros de Jalisco Petco Park Dodger Stadium
Capacity: 16,000 Capacity: 40,162 Capacity: 56,000

Pools composition

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

First round

Advanced to Second Round and qualified for 2021 World Baseball Classic
Eliminated, but qualified for 2021 World Baseball Classic
Eliminated, must qualify for 2021 World Baseball Classic

Pool A

Rk
Team
 W L HTH RA IPD RA/IPD TG
1  Israel 30 −
2  Netherlands 21 −
3  South Korea 12 −
4  Chinese Taipei 03 −

NOTE: Tiebreaker notes: HTH − Head-to-head. RA − Runs against. IPD − Innings the team pitched. RA/IPD − The index of RA/IPD. TG − Tiebreaker game.

Date Local Time Road Team Score Home Team Inn. Venue Game Time Attendance Boxscore
Mar 6, 2017 18:30 Israel  2–1  South Korea 10 Gocheok Sky Dome 4:11 15,470 Boxscore
Mar 7, 2017 12:00 Israel  15–7  Chinese Taipei   Gocheok Sky Dome 3:54 3,287 Boxscore
Mar 7, 2017 18:30 South Korea  0–5  Netherlands   Gocheok Sky Dome 3:03 15,184 Boxscore
Mar 8, 2017 18:30 Chinese Taipei  5–6  Netherlands   Gocheok Sky Dome 3:21 3,606 Boxscore
Mar 9, 2017 12:00 Netherlands  2–4  Israel   Gocheok Sky Dome 3:12 2,739 Boxscore
Mar 9, 2017 18:30 South Korea  11–8  Chinese Taipei 10 Gocheok Sky Dome 4:40 12,000 Boxscore

Pool A of the First Round of the 2017 World Baseball Classic was held at Gocheok Sky Dome, Seoul, South Korea from March 6 to 10, 2017, between Team Israel, the Netherlands, South Korea, and Taiwan. Pool A was a round-robin tournament. Prior to the start of the tournament, ESPN considered Team Israel, ranked 41st in the world, to be the biggest underdog in the tournament, referring to them as the "Jamaican bobsled team of the WBC".[5][6]

Team Israel (3–0) and Team Netherlands (2–1) qualified for the second round, in Japan.[7] Israel became the first baseball team to go undefeated in the first round of the WBC’s main draw after entering the main draw by winning in a qualifying round.[8][9] In what NBC reported was thought to be the tallest batter-pitcher matchup in baseball history, the Dutch team’s 7-foot-1-inch (2.16 m) Loek van Mil walked Israel's 6-foot-8-inch (2.03 m) Nate Freiman.[10] Israel's catcher, Ryan Lavarnway, was named Pool A MVP, after going 5-for-9 (.556/.692/.889), with four walks, a home run, and three RBIs.[11][12]

Pool B

Rk
Team
 W L HTH RA IPD RA/IPD TG
1  Japan 30 −
2  Cuba 21 −
3  Australia 12 −
4  China 03 −

NOTE: Tiebreaker notes: HTH − Head-to-head. RA − Runs against. IPD − Innings the team pitched. RA/IPD − The index of RA/IPD. TG − Tiebreaker game.

Date Local Time Road Team Score Home Team Inn. Venue Game Time Attendance Boxscore
Mar 7, 2017 19:00 Cuba  6–11  Japan   Tokyo Dome 3:56 44,908 Boxscore
Mar 8, 2017 12:00 China  0–6  Cuba   Tokyo Dome 3:14 39,102 Boxscore
Mar 8, 2017 19:00 Japan  4–1  Australia   Tokyo Dome 3:18 41,408 Boxscore
Mar 9, 2017 19:00 Australia  11–0  China 8 Tokyo Dome 2:59 3,013 Boxscore
Mar 10, 2017 12:00 Australia  3–4  Cuba   Tokyo Dome 3:36 38,050 Boxscore
Mar 10, 2017 19:00 China  1–7  Japan   Tokyo Dome 2:41 40,053 Boxscore

Two-time champion Japan concluded Pool B with a 3–0 record, whereas China lost all three games and must now qualify for the 2021 World Baseball Classic. Cuba defeated Australia to advance to the second round.[13] In the first round, after batting .364 Japanese outfielder Yoshitomo Tsutsugoh was named the Pool B MVP.[14]

Pool C

Rk
Team
 W L HTH RA IPD RA/IPD TG
1  Dominican Republic 30 −
2  United States 21 −
3  Colombia 12 −
4  Canada 03 −

NOTE: Tiebreaker notes: HTH − Head-to-head. RA − Runs against. IPD − Innings the team pitched. RA/IPD − The index of RA/IPD. TG − Tiebreaker game.

Date Local Time Road Team Score Home Team Inn. Venue Game Time Attendance Boxscore
Mar 9, 2017 18:00 Canada  2–9  Dominican Republic   Marlins Park 3:14 27,388 Boxscore
Mar 10, 2017 18:00 Colombia  2–3  United States 10 Marlins Park 3:25 22,580 Boxscore
Mar 11, 2017 12:00 Colombia  4–1  Canada   Marlins Park 2:54 17,209 Boxscore
Mar 11, 2017 18:30 United States  5–7  Dominican Republic   Marlins Park 3:38 37,446 Boxscore
Mar 12, 2017 12:30 Dominican Republic  10–3  Colombia 11 Marlins Park 4:44 36,952 Boxscore
Mar 12, 2017 19:00 Canada  0–8  United States   Marlins Park 3:01 22,303 Boxscore

After falling behind 5–0 in the sixth inning, Dominican Republic rallied to defeat USA 7–5 in their second game. On the last day of the pool, Colombia tied their game against Dominican Republic 3–3 in the eighth on a Jorge Alfaro home run, and had a chance to win in the ninth inning, but Oscar Mercado was called out at home trying to score on a sacrifice fly. The game continued into extra innings, where Dominican Republic scored 7 runs in the 11th to win and finish the pool undefeated. USA then took an early lead on Canada, winning 8–0 to claim the second berth in San Diego. While debutants Colombia secured their position for the upcoming 2021 World Baseball Classic, Canada's fourth-place performance meant that they will now have go to the qualifiers in order to try and make their fifth appearance in the WBC, in 2021. Manny Machado of the Dominican Republic was named MVP for the first-round Pool C bracket of the WBC, after batting .357.[15]

Pool D

Rk
Team
 W L HTH RA IPD RA/IPD TG
1  Puerto Rico 30 −
2  Venezuela 22 1−1 21 19.0 1.105 W
3  Italy 13 1−1 20 19.0 1.053 L
4  Mexico 12 1−1 19 17.0 1.117 −

NOTE: Tiebreaker notes: HTH − Head-to-head. RA − Runs against. IPD − Innings the team pitched. RA/IPD − The index of RA/IPD. TG − Tiebreaker game.

Date Local Time Road Team Score Home Team Inn. Venue Game Time Attendance Boxscore
Mar 9, 2017 20:00 Mexico  9–10  Italy   Estadio Charros de Jalisco 3:39 14,296 Boxscore
Mar 10, 2017 20:00 Venezuela  0–11  Puerto Rico 7 Estadio Charros de Jalisco 2:43 14,806 Boxscore
Mar 11, 2017 14:00 Venezuela  11–10  Italy 10 Estadio Charros de Jalisco 4:43 12,187 Boxscore
Mar 11, 2017 20:30 Puerto Rico  9–4  Mexico   Estadio Charros de Jalisco 3:40 15,647 Boxscore
Mar 12, 2017 13:30 Italy  3–9  Puerto Rico   Estadio Charros de Jalisco 2:42 11,924 Boxscore
Mar 12, 2017 20:00 Mexico  11–9  Venezuela   Estadio Charros de Jalisco 4:44 15,489 Boxscore
Tiebreaker game
Date Local Time Road Team Score Home Team Inn. Venue Game Time Attendance Boxscore
Mar 13, 2017 19:00 Venezuela  4–3  Italy   Estadio Charros de Jalisco 3:26 1,783 Boxscore

The first tiebreaker criterion is fewest runs allowed per defensive inning played (RA/IPD) in the games between the tied teams. Mexico allowed 19 runs, Italy allowed 20 runs, and Venezuela allowed 21 runs. Italy and Venezuela played 19 innings each in the two games, therefore their RA/IPD were 1.053 and 1.105. Mexico played 18 innings, but they recorded no outs in the ninth inning of their game versus Italy, therefore the inning did not count towards their RA/IPD of 1.117; however, the five runs scored in the same half-inning by Italy counted against Mexico's RA/IPD.[16][17]

Second round

Advanced to Semifinals
Eliminated

Pool E

Rk
Team
 W L HTH RA IPD RA/IPD TG
1  Japan 30 −
2  Netherlands 21 −
3  Israel 12 −
4  Cuba 03 −

NOTE: Tiebreaker notes: HTH − Head-to-head. RA − Runs against. IPD − Innings the team pitched. RA/IPD − The index of RA/IPD. TG − Tiebreaker game.

Date Local Time Road Team Score Home Team Inn. Venue Game Time Attendance Boxscore
Mar 12, 2017 12:00 Cuba  1–4  Israel   Tokyo Dome 3:14 43,153 Boxscore
Mar 12, 2017 19:00 Japan  8–6  Netherlands 11 Tokyo Dome 4:46 44,326 Boxscore
Mar 13, 2017 19:00 Netherlands  12–2  Israel 8 Tokyo Dome 3:04 5,017 Boxscore
Mar 14, 2017 19:00 Cuba  5–8  Japan   Tokyo Dome 3:25 32,717 Boxscore
Mar 15, 2017 12:00 Netherlands  14–1  Cuba 7 Tokyo Dome 2:19 40,680 Boxscore
Mar 15, 2017 19:00 Israel  3–8  Japan   Tokyo Dome 3:28 43,179 Boxscore

Undefeated Japan (3–0) and the Netherlands (2–1) advanced to the semi-final round, as Israel (1–2) came in third, and Cuba (0–3) fourth.[18]

Pool F

Rk
Team
 W L HTH RA IPD RA/IPD TG
1  Puerto Rico 30 −
2  United States 21 −
3  Dominican Republic 12 −
4  Venezuela 03 −

NOTE: Tiebreaker notes: HTH − Head-to-head. RA − Runs against. IPD − Innings the team pitched. RA/IPD − The index of RA/IPD. TG − Tiebreaker game.

Date Local Time Road Team Score Home Team Inn. Venue Game Time Attendance Boxscore
Mar 14, 2017 18:00 Dominican Republic  1−3  Puerto Rico   Petco Park 3:16 16,637 Boxscore
Mar 15, 2017 18:00 Venezuela  2−4  United States   Petco Park 3:13 16,635 Boxscore
Mar 16, 2017 19:00 Venezuela  0−3  Dominican Republic   Petco Park 4:05 16,390 Boxscore
Mar 17, 2017 19:00 United States  5−6  Puerto Rico   Petco Park 3:09 32,463 Boxscore
Mar 18, 2017 12:30 Puerto Rico  13−2  Venezuela   Petco Park 3:24 20,778 Boxscore
Mar 18, 2017 19:00 United States  6−3  Dominican Republic   Petco Park 3:40 43,002 Boxscore

Pool F concludes with Puerto Rico's winning streak unbroken, whereas Venezuela lost all three of its matches. Defending champion Dominican Republic was eliminated in a loss against the United States, which secured its position in the championship round.

Championship round

Semifinals Final
      
ER  Netherlands 3
FW  Puerto Rico 4
SF1W  Puerto Rico 0
SF2W  United States 8
FR  United States 2
EW  Japan 1

Semifinals

Date Local Time Road Team Score Home Team Inn. Venue Game Time Attendance Boxscore
Mar 20, 2017 18:00 Netherlands  3–4  Puerto Rico 11 Dodger Stadium 4:19 24,865 Boxscore
Mar 21, 2017 18:00 United States  2–1  Japan   Dodger Stadium 3:12 33,462 Boxscore

Final

Date Local Time Road Team Score Home Team Inn. Venue Game Time Attendance Boxscore
Mar 22, 2017 18:00 United States  8–0  Puerto Rico   Dodger Stadium 3:30 51,565 Boxscore

Final standings

Organizer WBCI had no interest in the final standings so did not compute them. Instead, they were calculated by WBSC for inclusion in the WBSC Men's Baseball World Rankings system.[19]

In the final standings, ties were to be broken in the following order of priority:

  1. The team with the highest Team's Quality Balance (TQB=(RS/IPO)–(RA/IPD)) in all games;
  2. The team with the highest Earned Runs Team's Quality Balance (ER–TQB=(ERS/IPO)–(ERA/IPD)) in all games;
  3. The team with the highest batting average (AVG) in all games;

2017 All-World Baseball Classic team

PositionPlayer
C Puerto Rico Yadier Molina
1B United States Eric Hosmer
2B Puerto Rico Javier Báez
3B Puerto Rico Carlos Correa
SS Puerto Rico Francisco Lindor
OF Netherlands Wladimir Balentien
Dominican Republic Gregory Polanco
United States Christian Yelich
DH Puerto Rico Carlos Beltrán
P Japan Kodai Senga
United States Marcus Stroman
Israel Josh Zeid

Source: [20]

Attendance

973,699 (avg. 24,342; pct. 72.3%)

First round

508,830 (avg. 20,353; pct. 74.3%)

  • Pool A – 52,286 (avg. 8,714; pct. 51.9%)
  • Pool B – 206,534 (avg. 34,422; pct. 82.0%)
  • Pool C – 163,878 (avg. 27,313; pct. 74.3%)
  • Pool D – 86,132 (avg. 12,305; pct. 76.9%)

Second round

354,977 (avg. 29,581; pct. 72.0%)

  • Pool E – 209,072 (avg. 34,845; pct. 83.0%)
  • Pool F – 145,905 (avg. 24,318; pct. 60.5%)

Championship round

109,892 (avg. 36,631; pct. 65.4%)

  • Semifinals – 58,327 (avg. 29,164; pct. 52.1%)
  • Final – 51,565 (avg. 51,565; pct. 92.1%)

Statistics leaders

Most Valuable Players

First round

Second round

Championship round

Broadcasting

Television

Territory Rights holder
 Australia ESPN Australia
 New Zealand
 Brazil ESPN Brazil
 Canada Sportsnet/RDS
 Colombia Telecaribe/Win Sports[21]
 Cuba Tele Rebelde, Digital Channels: HD 1 y HD 2.
 Dominican Republic CDN Sports-Max[22]
 Cyprus Fox Sports Greece
 Greece
 Turkey Fox Sports Turkey
 Italy Fox Sports Italy[23]
 Malta
 San Marino
 Israel Fox Sports Israel
 Japan J Sports, TBS, TV Asahi
Latin America DirecTV Sports (es)[24]
 Mexico Televisa Deportes
 Netherlands Fox Sports Netherlands
 Philippines Sports5
 Puerto Rico Wapa 2 Deportes[25]
 Russia Viasat Sport (semifinals and final)[26]
 South Korea JTBC
 Taiwan Eleven Sports/PTS
 United States MLB Network/ESPN Deportes[27]
 Venezuela Direct TV/IVC/TLT/TVes

[21]

Radio

Territory Rights holder
 United States ESPN Radio (semifinals and finals)/ESPN Deportes Radio
SiriusXM

References

  1. ↑ "2017 World Baseball Classic schedule released".
  2. ↑ Morosi, Jon Paul (September 17, 2015). "Source: Brooklyn among four WBC qualifying sites to be named". Fox Sports. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Rules – World Baseball Classic". Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Wayback Machine" (PDF). archive.org. March 7, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Team Israel – and its mascot, Mensch on a Bench – is the Jamaican bobsled team of the WBC", ESPN.
  6. ↑ "World Baseball Classic: Israel's Cinderella Run Forges Ahead After Upsetting Taiwan", Haaretz.
  7. ↑ "Israel clinches berth in World Baseball Classic quarterfinals." The Jerusalem Post
  8. ↑ "Israel Goes to 3–0 at World Baseball Classic", The New York Times, March 9, 2017.
  9. ↑ ., The New York Times.
  10. ↑ Calcaterra, Craig (March 9, 2017). "Video: 7'1″ vs. 6'8″ — the tallest pitcher-batter matchup ever".
  11. ↑ "Israel's Lavarnway named MVP of Pool A", mlb.com.
  12. ↑ "Israel beats Netherlands to win WBC '17 Pool A," mlb.com
  13. ↑ "World Baseball Classic: Cuba, Japan advance to 2nd round".
  14. ↑ "Yoshitomo Tsutsugoh is MVP of WBC '17 Pool B". Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  15. ↑ "United States puts away Canada early, advances to second round of WBC". Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  16. ↑ Venezuela eliminates Mexico from World Baseball Classic after tiebreaker mixup – Sports Illustrated, March 13, 2017
  17. ↑ Mexico files protest after beating Venezuela, losing World Baseball Classic tiebreaker – USA Today, March 13, 2017
  18. ↑ "Japan beats Israel 8-3 to advance to World Baseball Classic semifinals". japantoday.com. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  19. ↑ "New WBSC World Rankings revealed following World Baseball Classic 2017". WBSC. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  20. ↑ "World Baseball Classic: Previous champs, results, medal count, MVPs, All-WBC teams". cbssports.com. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  21. 1 2 "International Broadcast Partners". World Baseball Classic. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  22. ↑ "CDN Sports-Max presenta su oferta para el 2017" (in Spanish). listindiario.com. January 20, 2017.
  23. ↑ "WBC 2017: tutte le partite dell'Italia in diretta su Fox Sports" (in Italian). baseball.it. February 17, 2017.
  24. ↑ Gonzalez, Juan Fernandez. "DirecTV wins World Baseball Classic rights for LATAM". Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  25. ↑ "Wapa 2 transmitirá el Clásico Mundial de Béisbol en Puerto Rico" (in Spanish). PrimeraHora.com. November 30, 2016.
  26. ↑ "едем в Лос-Анджелес на первый полуфинал Мировой Бейсбольной Классики!" (in Russian). Viasat-sport.livejournal.com. March 20, 2017.
  27. ↑ "2013 and 2017 WBC to be telecast exclusively on MLB Network". MLB.com. October 23, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
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