World Cup of Baseball
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The World Cup of Baseball (abbreviated to WCB) is an annual international baseball tournament involving the Bull League's major level and AAA-level players representing their respective nations.
Contents
History
The WCB tournament was established in 2017, and played its first round-robin games starting on October 16 of that year. The tournament was established to allow players from the Bull Baseball League representing the top 16 countries for baseball markets to compete for the title of the best international team.
Qualifications are restricted to professional players at the major level (Bull League) and the AAA-level (Cow League). If insufficient numbers of players are found within the Bull League, then teams may fill rosters with unaffiliated players for the duration of the tournament.
In the inaugural tournament England (now Great Britain) emerged as the winningest team, after holding a 5-1 record against other Group B teams, Italy, Germany and Netherlands. Their only loss came in their second game against Italy, a 5-2 loss in which Italy's first baseman, Buonaiuti, went 3-for-3 and homered twice. England remained the favorite going into the knock-out round, handily defeating New Zealand and earning a berth in the semifinal. But Venezuela, who had advanced past Dominican Republic 2-1, proved too strong for England.
Meanwhile, Australia defeated Italy, the other Group B qualifier, and faced the United States, which had joined Dominican Republic out of Group C. USA dispatched Puerto Rico in three games, and went on to greet the Aussies in the semifinals. Both Venezuela and Australia would prevail in the semifinal round, and then the Aussies swept Venezuela in the championship. England, with the best tournament record, was awarded the Bronze while the two championship teams took the Gold and Silver.
2021 Tournament
The location for the 2021 tournament has not yet been selected.
Colombia was removed from Group C after 2019, and was replaced with Panama.
Current teams
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Medal table
| Rank | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia  |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1 | United States  |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Italy | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Venezuela | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Canada  |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | Great Britain  |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Results
| Year | Host City | Final | Semifinalists | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions | Score | Runners-up | 3rd place | 4th place | |||||
| 2017 | London, England |
Australia Manager: S. Ellis |
2-0 (6-0, 6-0) |
Venezuela Manager: L. Tabachnick |
Great Britain |
New Zealand
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| 2019 | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | United States |
2-0 (4-2, 3-3) |
Italy | Canada |
Japan
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Tournament Awards
| Year | Player | Position | Team | Pro Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017[1] | Everett Weisensel | Pitcher | Germany | Battle Creek |
| 2019 | Steve Rollins | Pitcher | United States | New York |
| 2021 | Eizan Nishida | Third baseman | Japan | Arizona |
| 2023 | Dwayne Norris | Left fielder | England | Minneapolis |
References
- ↑ Battle Creek's Weisensel Named Top Tourney Player. BNN. http://bullleague.org/highlights/battle-creeks-weisensel-named-top-tourney-player/. 6 November 2017. Accessed: 12 May 2018.
