The World Baseball Classic is an event in which twenty countries compete to be the best in the world. This event occurs every four years and this year, in 2023, it will be held mostly in these for stadiums: Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taichung, Taiwan; Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan; Chase Field in Phoenix, USA; and the championship will be held in Loan Depot Park in Miami, USA. The highest ranked team in the world baseball tournament is the team from Japan, who have Shohei Ohtani, who currently plays for the Anaheim Angels. He is both a batter and a pitcher.
The US is currently ranked number three in the world and they are the reigning champions because they won in 2017. Team USA is playing their first game on March 11 at Chase Field when they play Great Britain. (Fun fact, is Great Britain’s first World Baseball Classic appearance!) After the Brits, team USA plays Mexico at Chase Field the next day. If you’re wondering, the United States’ lineup includes Trea Turner (Phillies), Will Smith and Mookie Betts (Dodgers), and many more.
Let’s go USA!
Here are the World Baseball rankings:
1 Japan
2 USA
3 Cuba
4 Chinese Taipei
5 Netherlands
6 Canada
7 Dominican Republic
8 Korea
9 Puerto Rico
10 Venezuela
11 Italy
12 Panama
13 Australia
14 Mexico
15 Brazil
16 Spain
17 Germany
18 Nicaragua
19 Colombia
20 Czech Republic
21 China
22 Israel
23 Philippines
25 Great Britain
26 New Zealand
27 France
28 Argentina
29 South Africa
30 Thailand
nice - hacker
Great job Elliot! I did not know about the World Baseball Classic. I am excited to watch the US in the tournament.