2009 World Baseball Classic - Los Angeles
By Bill Karz • Aug 8th, 2008 • Category: news., sport.The 2009 World Baseball Classic Semi-Final and Final games will be held at Dodger Stadium from March 21-23, 2009.
“It is fitting that Dodger Stadium, the site of many celebrated events, has been selected to host the Semi-Finals and Final of the 2009 World Baseball Classic,” said Bob Dupuy, Major League Baseball’s president and chief operating officer. “Los Angeles is one of the most international cities in the world and the Dodgers have always been on the forefront of baseball’s development as a global game.”
As in 2006, Tokyo Dome and Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico, will again host first-round games. In 2009, those venues will be joined for the first time by the Rogers Centre in Toronto and Foro Sol Stadium in Mexico City.
2006 was the first time that all Major League players were allowed to represent their native lands in an international baseball tournament. The baseball competition in the Summer Olympics, which is slated for Beijing next month, includes non-25-man roster MLB players only.
Pool A: China, Chinese Taipei, Japan and Korea, beginning on March 5 in Tokyo Dome, where the A’s and Red Sox opened the regular season in the spring.
Pool B: Australia, Cuba, Mexico and South Africa from March 8-12 in Mexico City.
Pool C: Canada, Italy, the U.S. and Venezuela from March 8-12 in Toronto.
Pool D: Dominican Republic, Netherlands, Panama and Puerto Rico March 7-11 in Puerto Rico.
Bracketology: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/news/wbc_09/brackets.jsp
Get your game face on and have some nachos and beer tonight with other Dodger fans at Chavez Ravine. They’re playing Los Mets at 7:10 p.m. Get your tickets now: