The next World Baseball Classic in 2013 will have 24 teams with qualifying rounds and have top stars playing games in several nations if Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig gets his way.
Selig was at Dodger Stadium for Monday’s final of the second edition of the 16-nation global showdown, in which Japan defeated South Korea 5-3 in 10 innings.
He spoke about the legacy the event has to offer a sport that has been dropped from the Olympic calendar.
“When you see how far we’ve come in only the second time, I really feel great about where we are. This is tremendous,” Selig said.
“Long after I’m gone this is going to get bigger and bigger. You can count on that. In the evolution of the game, that’s how big this will be. It’s what we are supposed to be doing,” he said.
Selig vowed the Classic will remain in March during pre-season training for major league clubs ahead of April’s openers. Halting the season for the event or staging it in November after the World Series are not being considered.
“I know people have said it’s the wrong time,” Selig said. “It’s really the only time we can do it.”
That timing makes club general managers reluctant to release top talent for the US or other countries to participate in the Classic, but Selig has found huge support from players about competing for their homelands.
“A lot of the players said playing for the USA meant a lot to them,” Selig said. “Some general managers were reluctant. I have to work on them. This is a time to put the best interest of the game ahead of your own selfish interests.”
“You have to ask yourself, ‘Is this an event worth participating in? Will you leave a legacy?’ Some of our players understand that very well. We said we needed to do this. Now we have got to live up to that commitment,” he said.
Excitement for the event has been larger in Asia and Latin America than in US cities, where basketball dominates the attention at this time of year.
Selig praised finalists Japan and South Korea for the excitement the teams and their followers produced over five matchups from Tokyo to San Diego to the final.
“They have not only contributed on the field, they have contributed off the field with the excitement level and that’s exactly what I hoped would happen,” Selig said.
US manager Davey Johnson said he expects the Classic will grow as word spreads among American players and until the US major leaguers can capture the title after a semi-final ouster by Japan and a 2006 second-round exit.
“Players really have enjoyed playing for their country,” Johnson said. “The travel is a little tough. The competition is as little intense for this early in the season.”
“I think it’s going to grow in popularity. It’s just going to take a little time. They understand what we’re trying to do, winning a championship for our country. I think it’s only going to grow,” he said.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later