Press Release International Baseball Federation, www.ibaf.org
BASEBALL WORLD CUP BEGINS WEDNESDAY ACROSS EUROPE
With the 38th Baseball World Cup set to being on 9 September in four European cities, the IBAF will provide daily updates, notes and facts from the event over the next three weeks, up until the final game in Nettuno. Italy on 27 September. Wednesday’s opening games will include the Czech Republic meeting Australia in Prague, Spain meeting South Africa in Barcelona, Sweden meeting the Netherlands Antilles in Stockholm and Germany meeting China in Regensburg, Germany. The rest of the 22 nation field will play their first round games on 10 September, including two additional games in Zagreb, Croatia with the first round to be completed by 12 September. For all the details on rosters and up to the minute updates, visit the official website www.2009baseballworldcup.com
BASEBALL WORLD CUP QUICK NOTES
CUP HISTORY: This will be the 38th time the Baseball World Cup has been played…it was an annual event from 1938 until 1953 and then was discontinued until 1961 in Costa Rica…it went to an event every four years in 1965 and 1969 and then back to an annual event from 1969-1976…the format then moved to every other year from 1978-1990, became a four year event in ’94 and ’98, and starting in 2001 has been played every other year…two World Cups were also played in 1973, one hosted and won by Cuba and the other hosted by Nicaragua and won by the United States.
RECORD SIZE OF FIELD: This year’s World Cup will have 22 countries participating, making in the largest World Championship in the sport’s history…the 2005 Cup in the Netherlands had 18 nations participate, while several other Cups had 16 nations participate…over 100 athletes currently under professional contracts will be playing in this year’s World Cup, the most in the events history.
CUBAN DOMINANCE: Cuba has medaled in 29 of the 37 tournaments and leads all countries in gold medal finishes with 25…the United States and Venezuela are tied for second with gold medals with three each…Cuba had its string of 20 straight Gold medals when they participated stopped in Chinese Taipei in 2007, with the United States taking the title with a 6-3 win in the final.
HOST COUNTRIES: This is the first time the Baseball World Cup will be held in multiple nations since its formation in 1938…Italy will host the final for the fourth time, after hosting it in 1978, 1988, and 1998…Cuba has won all three times Italy has hosted the World Cup.
THE WORLD CUP IN EUROPE: This is the seventh time Europe has hosted the World Cup…Great Britain hosted and won the inaugural Cup in 1938, defeating the United States…other than Italy (three times), the Netherlands hosted the World Cup in 1986 and 2005…other than the win by Great Britain in 1938, all of the other six World Cups held in Europe have been won by Cuba.
GLOBAL HOSTS OF THE CUP: Cuba has hosted the Cup the most times (10), while Nicaragua (5) and Colombia (4) have been the hosts the second and third most. Each of the three North American countries…the United States (’74) , Mexico (’51) and Canada (’90) have hosted the event once…Japan (’80), Korea (’82) and Chinese Taipei (2001 and ’07) have been Asian hosts…Venezuela has hosted the event three times and the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica have hosted the Cup once.
HOST DOES NOT USUALLY FIND GOLD: The host country won eight of the first nine titles (Great Britain, Cuba four times, Venezuela twice, Columbia), but since 1948 the host team has only won the Gold Medal eight times…Cuba (’52, ’71,’73, ’84,’03) Columbia (’65), USA (’74), and Korea (’82)…Cuba’s win in 2003 was the only time in the last nine events the World Cup has been won by the host country and was also one of two times in the last nine the host country won a medal (host Chinese Taipei won Bronze in 2001).
EUROPEAN NATIONS LOOK FOR SUCCESS: Not since Great Britain defeated the United States in the first World Cup in 1938 has a European nation taken a medal in World Cup play…however the Netherlands has finished a close fourth in each of the last two World Cups, and Italy took fourth in the last World Cup they hosted, in 1998…Europe will have a record nine nations participating in the event.
JAPAN LOOKS TO CONTINUE CONSISTENCY: Despite never winning the World Cup, Japan will be looking to continue its string of top five finishes in the event…the Japanese have never finished lower than fifth in the 15 times they have played in the event, winning five Bronze medals and one silver.
THE SMALLEST NATION IN THE FIELD: The Netherlands Antilles is the smallest nation in the field, and will represent the Caribbean along with Puerto Rio…the Netherlands Antilles is making their sixth World Cup appearance, their first since 1998 in Italy when they finished 11th.
NEW FACES: Croatia will be making their first ever World Cup appearance, while Great Britain will make their first appearance since winning the inaugural Cup in 1938…the Czech Republic is making their second appearance following a 17th finish in 2005…Sweden is making their third appearance following a 15th place finish in 1994 and a 16th place finish in 2005…Germany is making their fourth appearance after making the Cup in 1972, 1973 and 2007…China will also make their fourth appearance, following ’98. ’03 and ’05.