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The World Baseball Classic starts on Monday. As outofleftfield alluded to on Friday, we all have varying opinions on the tournament. Personally, I like it. This is the time of year in which I really start craving real baseball, and this provides it. Of course, I like it even better when there are as few Red Sox players involved as possible.
This year, that is mostly the case. Boston doesn’t have a ton of representatives, particularly with Hanley Ramirez withdrawing. Xander Bogaerts is the headliner from Boston’s roster, as he will be representing Team Netherlands. Besides him, Eduardo Rodriguez will be in the designated pitcher pool for Venezuela, which means he won’t appear in the first round but could appear later if they advance. Fernando Abad will be pitching for Team Dominican Republic. On the minor-league side, pitcher Daniel McGrath will pitch for Team Australia (also in the Designated Pitcher Pool), pitcher Ryan Oduber (DPP) will join Bogaerts for the Netherlands and infielder Mike Meyers will play for Team Israel.
Former Red Sox in the tournament include Craig Breslow (Israel), Ryan Lavarnway (Israel), Cody Decker (Israel), Nate Freiman (Israel), Bruce Chen (China), Andrew Miller (USA), Alex Wilson (USA), Ryan Dempster (Canada), Eric Gagne (Canada), William Cuevas (Colombia), Dayan Diaz (Colombia), Bartolo Colon (Dominican Republic), Adrian Beltre (Dominican Republic), Adrian Gonzalez (Mexico), Tommy Layne (Italy), Joel Pineiro (Puerto Rico), J.C. Romero (Puerto Rico), Mike Aviles (Puerto Rico), Franklin Moralres (Venezuela), and Victor Martinez (Venezuela). I’m sure I missed a couple, so please point it out if you find someone I excluded.
If you are interested in watching any or all of the games, MLB Network and ESPN Deportes have exclusive broadcasting rights and will televise every contest. For those in the U.S., you can also catch the games on MLB.tv. Below is the full schedule for the games.
Pool A: Seoul, South Korea
| Date | Matchup | Time (ET) |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Matchup | Time (ET) |
| 3/6 | Israel vs. South Korea | 4:30 AM |
| 3/6 | Israel vs. Chinese Taipei | 10:00 PM |
| 3/7 | Netherlands vs. South Korea | 4:30 AM |
| 3/8 | Chinese Taipei vs. Netherlands | 4:30 AM |
| 3/8 | Netherlands vs. Isreal | 10:00 PM |
| 3/9 | South Korea vs. Chinese Taipei | 4:30 AM |
| 3/10 | TBD vs. TBD* | 4:00 AM |
Pool B: Tokyo, Japan
| Date | Matchup | Time (ET) |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Matchup | Time (ET) |
| 3/7 | Cuba vs. Japan | 5:00 AM |
| 3/7 | Cuba vs. China | 10:00 PM |
| 3/8 | Japan vs. Australia | 5:00 AM |
| 3/9 | Australia vs. China | 5:00 AM |
| 3/9 | Australia vs. Cuba | 10:00 PM |
| 3/10 | China vs. Japan | 5:00 AM |
| 3/11 | TBD vs. TBD* | 5:00 AM |
Pool C: Miami, Florida
| Date | Matchup | Time (ET) |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Matchup | Time (ET) |
| 3/9 | Canada vs. Dominican Republic | 6:00 PM |
| 3/10 | Colombia vs. United States | 6:00 PM |
| 3/11 | Colombia vs. Canada | 12:00 PM |
| 3/11 | United States vs. Domiican Republic | 6:30 PM |
| 3/12 | Dominican Republic vs. Colombia | 12:30 PM |
| 3/12 | United States vs. Canada | 7:00 PM |
| 3/13 | TBD vs. TBD* |
Pool D: Jalisco, Mexico
| Date | Matchup | Time (ET) |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Matchup | Time (ET) |
| 3/9 | Mexico vs. Italy | 9:00 PM |
| 3/10 | Venezuela vs. Puerto Rico | 9:00 PM |
| 3/11 | Venezuela vs. Italy | 3:00 PM |
| 3/11 | Puerto Rico vs. Mexico | 9:30 PM |
| 3/12 | Italy vs. Puerto Rico | 3:30 PM |
| 3/12 | Mexico vs. Venezuela | 10:00 PM |
| 3/13 | TBD vs. TBD* | 9:00 PM |
Pool E: Tokyo (2nd Round)
| Date | Matchup | Time (ET) |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Matchup | Time (ET) |
| 3/11 | Pool B Runner-Up vs. Pool A Winner | 10:00 PM |
| 3/12 | Pool B Winner vs. Pool A Runner-Up | 6:00 AM |
| 3/13 | Pool A Runner-Up vs. Pool A Winner | 6:00 AM |
| 3/14 | Pool B Runner-Up vs. Pool B Winner | 6:00 AM |
| 3/14 | Pool A Runner-up vs. Pool B Runner-Up | 11:00 PM |
| 3/15 | Pool A Winner vs. Pool B Winner | 6:00 AM |
| 3/16 | TBD vs. TBD* | 6:00 AM |
Pool F: San Diego (2nd Round)
| Date | Matchup | Time (ET) |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Matchup | Time (ET) |
| 3/14 | Pool C Winner vs. Pool D Winner | 9:00 PM |
| 3/15 | Pool D Runner-Up vs. Pool C Runner-Up | 9:00 PM |
| 3/16 | Pool D Runner-Up vs. Pool C Winner | 10:00 PM |
| 3/17 | Pool C Runner-Up vs. Pool D Winner | 10:00 PM |
| 3/18 | Pool D Winner vs. Pool D Runner-Up | 3:30 PM |
| 3/18 | Pool C Runner-Up vs. Pool C Winner | 10:00 PM |
| 3/19 | TBD vs. TBD* | 6:00 PM |
Championship Bracket
| Date | Matchup | Time (ET) |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Matchup | Time (ET) |
| 3/20 | Pool F Winner vs. Pool E Runner-Up | 9:00 PM |
| 3/21 | Pool F Runner-Up vs. Pool E Winner | 9:00 PM |
| 3/22 | Semi 1 Winner vs. Semi 2 Winner | 9:00 PM |
*Denotes play-in games that will be played in the event of a tie in any pool.