EVENT

Event

2013 WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC

2013 WORLDBASEBALL CLASSIC

Beltran, Miguel Cabrera, Cano, Adrian Gonzalez, Mauer, Molina, Morneau and Wright Among Players Confirming Early to Represent their Country;

Tickets Available at www.worldbaseballclassic.com beginning Dec. 3,2012

World Baseball Classic, Inc. today announced the final pool compositions,which include Qualifier winners Brazil, Canada, Chinese Taipei and Spain, andthe full tournament schedule for the 2013 World Baseball Classic, which willbegin on Saturday, March 2nd in Fukuoka, Japan and Taichung, Taiwan. Inaddition, each of the 16 competing countries and territories announced twoplayers who have committed early to compete in the Classic.


Pool A, which will be played at the Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome from Saturday,March 2nd?Wednesday, March 6th, will include the countries of Brazil, China,Cuba and Japan. The opening game at the venue on March 2nd will featuretwo-time defending champion Japan vs. newcomer and Qualifier Round victorBrazil at 7:00 p.m. (all times local).


Pool B will feature the countries of Australia, Chinese Taipei, Korea and theNetherlands at Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taichung, Taiwan fromSaturday, March 2nd?Tuesday, March 5th. The opening game on March 2nd will beplayed at 12:30 p.m. between 2009 finalist Korea and the Netherlands.


Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico will host the DominicanRepublic, Puerto Rico, Spain and Venezuela for Pool C contests from Thursday,March 7th?Sunday, March 10th. Venezuela and the Dominican Republic will squareoff in the first game in San Juan on March 7th at 7:30 p.m.


Chase Field and Salt River Fields at Talking Stick will host games in Pool D,featuring Canada, Italy, Mexico and the United States from Thursday, March7th?Sunday, March 10th. Salt River Fields will host the opening game on March7th at 1:00 p.m. between Mexico and Italy.


The First Round will return to a round-robin format with the top two teams ateach venue advancing to one of two Second Round pools. The Second Round, whichwill be a modified double-elimination format, will be played at the Tokyo Domein Tokyo, Japan and Marlins Park in Miami, Florida. Pool 1 at the Tokyo Dome,from Friday, March 8th?Tuesday, March 12th, will feature the winners andrunners-up from Pools A and B, while Pool 2 at Marlins Park, from Tuesday,March 12th?Saturday, March 16th, will host the winners and runners-up fromPools C and D. The winners and runners-up from each of the Second Round poolswill advance to the Championship Round at AT&T Park in San Francisco fromSunday, March 17th ? Tuesday, March 19th.


Twelve Major League All-Stars are among the initial 32 players confirming earlyto represent their country in March. The players include 2012 American LeagueMVP and Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers and 2012 WorldSeries MVP presented by Chevrolet Pablo Sandoval of the San Francisco Giants(Venezuela); second baseman Robinson Cano of the New York Yankees and 2011 N.L.Batting Champion Jose Reyes of the Toronto Blue Jays (Dominican Republic);third baseman David Wright of the New York Mets and 2009 A.L. MVP Joe Mauer ofthe Minnesota Twins (United States); St. Louis Cardinals teammates CarlosBeltran and Yadier Molina (Puerto Rico); first baseman Adrian Gonzalez of theLos Angeles Dodgers (Mexico); 2006 A.L. MVP Justin Morneau of the MinnesotaTwins (Canada); free agent outfielder Andruw Jones (Netherlands); and freeagent left-handed pitcher Hong-Chih Kuo (Chinese Taipei).


“Baseball is a passion in Venezuela, and I look forward to playing for mycountry against the rest of the world,” said Cabrera.


“It’ll be great to put on a Team USA jersey again,” said Wright. “I’m honoredto play for Team USA and take another crack at winning what is clearly the mostdifficult baseball tournament in the world.”


“It was such an amazing experience to win another World Series,” addedSandoval. “I’d love to win another championship, only this time with my fellowcountrymen in the World Baseball Classic.”


“The popularity of baseball is growing in Canada, and I’m looking forward toplaying in the World Baseball Classic again,” said Morneau. “There’s somethingspecial about representing everyone back home, and proving that Canadianbaseball is among the world’s best.”


Each federation’s provisional 28-Man roster will be announced in mid-January.The entire list of 32 players confirming early to play in the 2013 World BaseballClassic, as well as the full tournament schedule can be found below.


Ticket strips, which include tickets for all games at a particular venue, areavailable for all tournament venues at www.worldbaseballclassic.com. MLBNetwork will exclusively air all 39 games of the 2013 World Baseball Classic inthe United States.


Powerhouse is the official Asian American marketing agency for 2012 WorldBaseball Classic and will closely work together with Major League Baseball tosuccessfully promote the upcoming event.



About the World Baseball Classic:

The World Baseball Classic is the premierinternational baseball tournament, sanctioned by the International BaseballFederation, and features the best players in the world competing for their homecountries and territories. More than 1.5 million fans from all over the worldhave attended the tournament games, held in March 2006 and 2009. Team Japan isthe reigning World Baseball Classic Champion, taking home both the inauguraland 2009 titles. The upcoming World Baseball Classic will be played in March2013 and will again feature the greatest baseball-playing nations in the world.The tournament will be held every four years thereafter.