The World Baseball Classic is awesome. Did you realize there was a guy named Sneideer Santos playing for France? Of course there is. There’s also a guy pitching for Spain who was born in 1963 -- the same year as Mike Greenwell, Bobby Bonilla, and Cecil Fielder. He throws 89.
World Baseball Classic sets venues, dates
The World Baseball Classic announced the dates and venues for the 2013 tournament.
Junko Kimura - Getty Images
You know you want to watch. And now the schedule is out, confirming that the bulk of the action will be in March, when you’re already baseball-starved, you probably will watch. The schedule, along with the venues:
First Round
Pool A
| Dates | Location | Teams |
| Sat, March 2 - Wed. March 6 | Fukuoka Yahoo! Dome, Japan | China, Cuba, Japan, Qualifier TBD |
Pool B
| Dates | Location | Teams |
| Sun. March 2 - Tues. March 5 | Taichung, Taiwan | Australia, Korea, Netherlands, Qualifier TBD |
Pool C
| Dates | Location | Teams |
| Thurs. March 7 - Sun. March 10 | San Juan, Puerto Rico | Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Qualifier TBD |
Pool D
| Dates | Location | Teams |
| Thurs. March 7 - Sun. March 10 | Chase Field, Phoenix | Italy, Mexico, United States, Qualifier TBD |
Second Round
Pool 1
| Dates | Location | Teams |
| Fri. March 8 - Tues. March 12 | Tokyo, Japan | Pool A winner, Pool A runner-up, Pool B winner, Pool B runner-up |
Pool 2
| Dates | Location | Teams |
| Tues. March 12 - Sat. March 16 | Marlins Park, Miami | Pool C winner, Pool C runner-up, Pool D winner, Pool D runner-up |
Championship
| Dates | Location | Teams |
| Sun. March 17 - Tues. March 19 | AT&T Park, San Francisco | Pool 1 winner, Pool 1 runner-up Pool 2 winner, Pool 2 runner-up |
Two of the last qualifiers are already known: Spain and Canada. The last two qualifiers are yet to be determined, per a WBC press release:
The four teams competing in Taiwan include host Chinese Taipei, New Zealand, the Philippines and Thailand, while the teams competing to advance from Panama include host Panama, Brazil, Colombia and Nicaragua.Good luck to the team that fills out Pool C. Yeesh.
See More:
