The first round in Pool A at the 2013 World Baseball Classic ended on Wednesday. Cuba and Japan qualified for the second round in first and second, joining Chinese Taipei and the Netherlands. A modified double elimination format will be used at the Tokyo Dome, starting on Friday. Brazil and China got eliminated from Pool A.
Results First Round Pool A:
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Brazil – Japan 3-5
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Brazil – Cuba 2-5
Japan – China 5-2
Monday, March 4, 2013
Cuba – China 12-0 (7)
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
China – Brazil 5-2
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Cuba – Japan 6-3
Complete Schedule at www.worldbaseballclassic.com
Final Standings First Round Pool A:
- Cuba 3-0
- Japan 2-1
- China 1-2
- Brazil 0-3
The Dutch beat Cuba again and the Italians beat Mexico. Europe can compete at the top level. Admittedly we have to use players born in the USA but this give Europe a stepping stone to the top. Baseball in Europe must now look to going “European”. Maybe a European league. Obviously the Italainas and the Dutch would dominate at first. I see two leagues that would give us a European Series. 4 Dutch teams (two in each league) and 4 Italian teams (2 in each league). Then a team from GB,Spain,CzechRepublic,Belgium,France,GermanySweden,Russia(?,Austria,Switzerland. The 4 Dutch and Italian teams would play in their home cities but the “new” nations would have teams that toured their home country and playing in stadiums that could advertise top class baseball and give people the opportunity to see top class baseball. These new nations could use players from Netherlands and Italy that are not playing in a European team or players from other parts of the world. There would have to be a limit on numbers etc so that native players could get a chance to progress. It would be stimulus to younger players,a stimulus to produce umpires and coaches. It would advertise baseball in Europe and help the standard of the game to improve. I belive baseball is ready for this move to a new level. IIt would need sponsorship either from industry,MLB, and Government sorts funding.