World Baseball Classic

Medal table

After the conclusion of each WBC championship game, players from the losing team receive silver medals, followed by the winners receiving gold medals. The third-place team receives bronze medals at a separate date. The WBC does not hold a third-place playoff, so the ranking of the third- and fourth-placed teams is determined by the WBSC.

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Japan	2	0	2	4
2	Dominican Republic	1	0	0	1
	United States	1	0	0	1
4	Puerto Rico	0	2	0	2
5	South Korea	0	1	1	2
6	Cuba	0	1	0	1
7	Venezuela	0	0	1	1

Performance of nations

The countries which have participated in the WBC and their highest standing in the tournament.

A total of 20 nations have competed in the WBC proper, with 14 appearing in all four editions. Japan has been the most successful, as the only nation with multiple WBC titles (2006, 2009), the nation with the most wins in WBC play (23), and as the only nation to reach the championship round in all four WBCs. The Dominican Republic owns the best overall winning percentage in WBC games at .750 (18-6 record), bolstered by its 8-0 mark en route to the 2013 title. A surprising first-round elimination in 2009 stands out as the Dominican's only poor showing.

Along with Japan, three other nations have advanced to at least the second round in all four WBCs: Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the United States. Despite having access to more MLB talent than any other nation, Team USA posted an underwhelming 10-10 overall record through the first three WBCs, with only one appearance in the semifinals. The Americans broke through in 2017, going 6-2 on their way to their first WBC title. Cuba lived up to its history of strong international play by reaching the finals of the inaugural WBC in 2006 before losing to Japan. However, subsequent Cuban teams have failed to make a significant mark on the tournament, making three straight second-round exits and going just 2-7 in second-round games since 2009. Meanwhile, Caribbean rival Puerto Rico made consecutive appearances in the WBC finals in 2013 and 2017, albeit losing both, and stood second to Japan for the most all-time WBC wins (20) after the 2017 tournament.

The Netherlands, South Korea, and Venezuela have been other countries to reach the championship round. Other teams to have reached the second round at least once are Chinese Taipei, Israel, Italy, and Mexico. Conversely, of the 14 teams to appear in all four tournaments, three have never made the second round: Australia, Canada, and China.

Most Valuable Player

The most significant award for individual performance during the tournament is the Most Valuable Player Award. Whichever player wins it receives a trophy after the final. The inaugural winner of the award in 2006 was Japan's Daisuke Matsuzaka, who pitched 13 innings and finished with a 3–0 record. Soon after this performance, Matsuzaka received a multi–million dollar contract to join the Boston Red Sox of America's Major League Baseball.^[5] Again in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, Matsuzaka received the world classic MVP, finishing with a record of 3–0 and an ERA of 2.54. In 2013, Robinson Canó won MVP after hitting .469 with two home runs and six RBI over the course of the tournament.^[6] Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman took home the award in 2017 for the United States. Stroman posted a 2.35 ERA over three starts and no-hit Puerto Rico through six innings in an 8-0 win in the Finals.^[7]

Year	Player	Position	Nationality
2006	Daisuke Matsuzaka	Starting pitcher	Japan
2009	Daisuke Matsuzaka	Starting pitcher	Japan
2013	Robinson Canó	Second baseman	Dominican Republic
2017	Marcus Stroman	Starting pitcher	United States

All–WBC teams

At the end of each edition of the World Baseball Classic, an all-star team is selected based on their play in the tournament. Three pitchers, eight other position players (one each at each position, including three outfielders), and a designated hitter are named to the team. In the four editions of the Classic thus far, players representing 10 different countries have been named to an All-WBC team, with Japan and Puerto Rico leading the way with nine representatives each.

• 2006 All–WBC Team
• 2009 All–WBC Team
• 2013 All–WBC Team
• 2017 All–WBC Team

Statistical leaders

All-time WBC individual leaders in various statistical categories through the end of the 2017 tournament, excluding qualifier games.^[8]

Batting Statistic Player Total Hits Frederich Cepeda 32 Home runs Alfredo Despaigne 7 Runs batted in Frederich Cepeda 23 Runs scored Frederich Cepeda 19 Doubles Frederich Cepeda Justin Morneau 8 Triples Yoenis Cespedes 3 Strikeouts Carlos Beltrán 20 Stolen bases Tsuyoshi Nishioka Jimmy Rollins Ichiro Suzuki 5 Games played Carlos Beltrán 28 At-bats Carlos Beltrán 95

Pitching Statistic Player Total Wins Daisuke Matsuzaka 6 Losses Hung-wen Chen 3 Games Fernando Rodney 15 Starts Daisuke Matsuzaka Edinson Volquez 6 Saves Fernando Rodney 8 Innings pitched Diegomar Markwell 28.0 Hits allowed Diegomar Markwell 30 Runs allowed Barry Armitage 14 Earned runs allowed Barry Armitage David Bergman 12 Walks Edinson Volquez 11 Strikeouts Daisuke Matsuzaka 23

Pitch counts

A pitcher cannot pitch more than:

• 85 pitches per game in the Qualifying Round (all tournaments since 2013, when this round was introduced)
• 65 pitches per game in the First Round (all tournaments except 2009, in which the limit was 70)
• 80 pitches per game in the Second Round (all tournaments except 2009, in which the limit was 85)
• 95 pitches per game in the Championship Round (all tournaments except 2009, in which the limit was 100)

A pitcher can still finish a batter's plate appearance even if the limit is reached, but must come out after completing the plate appearance.

A pitcher cannot pitch until:

• a minimum of four days have passed since he last pitched, if he threw 50 or more pitches when he last pitched
• a minimum of one day has passed since he last pitched, if he threw 30 or more pitches when he last pitched
• a minimum of one day has passed since any second consecutive day on which the pitcher pitched

Mercy rules

Games are called if one team is ahead by:

• 10 or more runs after any complete inning, beginning with the completion of the seventh inning, or;
• 15 or more runs after any complete inning, beginning with the completion of the fifth inning^[9]

Mercy rules do not apply during the championship round.

Designated hitter

The designated hitter rule applies for all games.^[10]

Extra innings

Starting with the 11th inning, teams automatically start with runners on first and second base.^[11] These are the players in the two batting order positions previous to the leadoff batter for the inning.

Video replay review

During the first and second rounds, video review is available only for "boundary" calls, such as determining whether a potential home run ball was fair or foul, did or did not clear the fence, or was interfered with by a fan. Such reviews can only be initiated by the umpires and cannot be requested by the teams. For the championship round, video review is available for all situations it would be during a Major League Baseball regular season game.

Run differential

Unlike regular season play, where the number of runs by which a team wins a game is not relevant, the number of runs by which a WBC team wins may be relevant if a tie later develops in the standings. This caused problems during the 2013 WBC, where one game spawned a bench-clearing brawl between the Canadian and Mexican teams (Canadian hitter Chris Robinson had bunted for a base hit after Canada had already taken a large lead, causing Mexican pitcher Arnold Leon to throw three consecutive pitches at the next hitter, Rene Tosoni).

Eligibility

A player is eligible to participate on a World Baseball Classic team if any one of the following criteria is met:^[12]

• The player is a citizen of the nation the team represents.
• The player is qualified for citizenship or to hold a passport under the laws of a nation represented by a team, but has not been granted citizenship or been issued a passport; in this case, the player may be made eligible by WBCI upon petition by the player or team.
• The player is a permanent legal resident of the nation or territory the team represents.
• The player was born in the nation or territory the team represents.
• The player has one parent who is, or if deceased was, a citizen of the nation the team represents.
• The player has one parent who was born in the nation or territory the team represents.^[13]

Player participation

In 2006, many high caliber players from both Major League Baseball and in leagues around the world participated in the World Baseball Classic. Amongst the players that made the All–WBC team were Americans Derek Jeter and Ken Griffey Jr. From Japan, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Ichiro Suzuki and Tomoya Satozaki were on the team. Other internationals included players from Cuba—Yulieski Gourriel, Yoandy Garlobo and Yadel Martí; and from the Dominican Republic—Albert Pujols, Pedro Martínez and José Bautista. The 2009 Classic saw a similarly high-profile field, with a number of players such as Hall of Famers Pedro Martínez, Iván Rodríguez and Chipper Jones and the major international debuts of Cuba's Yoenis Céspedes and Aroldis Chapman.

For the 2013 tournament, many high-profile players decided not to participate, including key players from the 2009 Japanese team such as Yu Darvish, Ichiro, and Hisashi Iwakuma. However, other prominent players came, such as Miguel Cabrera, David Wright, R.A. Dickey, Joey Votto, Adrian Gonzalez, Robinson Canó, and José Reyes, among many others.

In 2017, former All-Stars such as Adam Jones, Chris Archer, Buster Posey, Paul Goldschmidt, Andrew McCutchen and others played for the United States. For the Dominican Republic, former All-Stars Adrián Beltré, Robinson Canó, Manny Machado, José Reyes, Edinson Vólquez, and more participated. Adrián González played once more for Mexico, and Yadier Molina and Carlos Beltrán represented Puerto Rico alongside up-and-coming stars such as Javier Báez, Carlos Correa, and Francisco Lindor. Venezuela's roster included José Altuve and Miguel Cabrera.

Involvement of professional leagues

The tournament was announced in May 2005 by Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig.^[14] Major League Baseball had been attempting to create such a tournament for at least two years; negotiations with the players' union (MLBPA) and with the team owners had held the plan back. Owners, notably New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, had been concerned about their star players being injured in international play before the beginning of spring training, and the professional season. This was a concern for the MLBPA as well, but their primary objection was with drug testing. MLB wanted the stricter Olympic standards in place for the tournament, while the union wanted current MLB standards in place. Eventually, a deal was reached on insurance for player contracts and a fairly tough drug testing standard. MLB teams would not be able to directly block their players from participating.

Similarly, Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and its players' association had a disagreement over participation in the tournament. While the owners initially agreed to the invitation, the players' union was concerned about the time of year the tournament was scheduled to take place, as well as their right to be better represented for the 2009 tournament. On September 16, 2005, after four months of negotiations, NPB officially notified the IBAF and MLB they had accepted the invitation. In September 2012, after having threatened to boycott the event despite its domestic popularity,^[15] Japanese players agreed to take part after reaching a compromise with tournament organizers on sharing sponsorship and licensing revenue.^[16]

Attendance

Excluding qualifier games.