For sports junkies, the month of March is synonymous with the grand finale of college hoops and the start of spring training - a shift in major sports that brings with it either euphoria or disappointment.
This year, however, Major League Baseball has decided to throw another spectacle into the mad March mix: the World Baseball Classic.
Korea and Chinese Taipei kicked off the unprecedented global baseball tournament in Tokyo Thursday night, launching what could possibly be a new era for MLB in which the league could expand its market appeal to an even larger international realm. From now until Mar. 20, teams representing 16 countries will flock to the baseball diamonds in Japan, Puerto Rico and the United States in pursuit of the World Baseball Classic title.
The squads are organized into four pools based on geography and competitive balance. Pool A includes China, Chinese Taipei, Japan and Korea. Pool B is composed of Canada, Mexico, South Africa and the United States. Pool C - made up of Cuba, the Netherlands, Panama, and Puerto Rico - and pool D - Australia, Dominican Republic, Italy and Venezuela - round out the tournament contingent.
Each group will play a round-robin in the first week. The winners and runners-up of the respective pools will square off in week two to determine the four semifinalists. All games will be broadcast on one of ESPN's networks.
Five days prior to each game, each country's 30-player roster was submitted to World Baseball Classic, Inc. (WBCI), an organization jointly governed by MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA). In order to be eligible, every player on each team must have been on the 60-man provisional roster, which was submitted on Jan. 17.
Due to the overlap with spring training, no more than 14 players from one Major League organization can participate in the tournament unless that particular team informed WBCI that it had no qualms with the enrollment of additional players.
As not all pitchers are at full strength at the beginning of March, WBCI issued restrictions on pitcher participation in order to prevent injury prior to the MLB season. A pitcher can throw no more than 65 pitches in round one, 80 in round two and 95 in round three. He must also wait to take the mound a minimum of four days after throwing 50 pitches and one day after throwing 30.
Reminiscent of the old "mercy" rule, in rounds one and two, a team holding a ten-run lead after the opposing team has batted at least seven times claims victory; similarly, a team with a 15-run lead after the opposing team has been to the plate for five innings wins.
Despite such limitations, the proximity of the tournament to the start of the Major League season has provoked concern from many owners, most prominently New York Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner, who does not want to risk an early injury to one of his multi-million dollar superstars. Although Steinbrenner has not openly forbidden his players to participate in the event, they are certainly aware of his preference that they remain in Tampa, Fla., with the rest of the squad.
For this reason, many top stars have opted to pass on the Classic to play it safe. The Boston Red Sox's Manny Ramirez and New York's Hideki Matsui and Mariano Rivera generated disappointment and criticism when they chose to abstain from representing their respective countries. Still, nearly 60 percent of the rosters (approximately 270 players) consist of players under Major League contracts.
Any major injury could threaten the likelihood of the next Classic, tentatively scheduled for 2009; however, that's a risk that Major League Baseball is willing to take, as the tournament could serve as a platform to cultivate interest in baseball in countries traditionally indifferent to the American game.
