2017 WBC Tournament

Originally written by BWBarefoot

"Here I go ahead, back to where it all began" - "Here I Go Again," Alex Z. Johnson

On Dec. 24, 2008, my first ever posting had to do with the WBC.  And it's that time once again.

Four qualifying tournaments took place throughout 2016, with the winners of each joining the main, 16-team field.  The format was double-elimination until two teams were left; those teams played a single championship game.

The main tournament will take place in March 2017 at cities around the world.  In the first two rounds, play is on a pool basis.  The top two teams in the first round advance to the second round, and the top two in the second round go on to the final round. In case of a tie for second place at the end of either of the first two rounds, a tie-breaker game will be played between the teams; they would be played the day after pool play is scheduled to end.  The final round is single-elimination.

This is the complete schedule for all games.  In the United States, MLB Network holds the English-language rights, and ESPN Deportes holds the Spanish-language rights.  

In the preliminary round, any games not shown live by MLBN were streamed for free at WorldBaseballClassic.com in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.  During the main tournament, MLB.tv holds the streaming rights, so only paid subscribers could access the feeds, including live coverage of some games that MLBN had to delay until later due to time conflicts.  The delayed times are shown throughout the post.

All days and times are expressed in the Eastern Time Zone.

Qualifying tournaments

Sydney (Qualifier 1)

Feb. 10 - South Africa vs. New Zealand, 9 p.m.

Feb. 11 - Philippines vs. Australia, 3:30 a.m., MLBN - Andrew Reynolds, Dave Nilsson

Feb. 11 - New Zealand vs. Philippines, 9 p.m.

Feb. 12 - Australia vs. South Africa, 3:30 a.m., MLBN - Andrew Reynolds, Dave Nilsson

Feb. 13 - New Zealand vs. South Africa, 2:30 a.m., MLBN - Andrew Reynolds, Dave Nilsson

Feb. 13 - South Africa vs. Australia, 10 p.m., MLBN - Andrew Reynolds, Dave Nilsson

Mexicali (Qualifier 2)

Mar. 17 - Germany vs. Nicaragua, 3:30 p.m. - Paul Severino, Alex Cora

Mar. 17 - Czech Republic vs. Mexico, 10:30 p.m. - Scott Braun, Alex Cora

Mar. 18 - Germany vs. Czech Republic, 3:30 p.m. - Paul Severino, Alex Cora

Mar. 18 - Mexico vs. Nicaragua, 10:30 p.m. - Scott Braun, ?

Mar. 19 - Czech Republic vs. Nicaragua, 10 p.m., MLBN - Paul Severino, Alex Cora

Mar. 20 - Nicaragua vs. Mexico, 11 p.m., MLBN - Paul Severino, Alex Cora

Panama City (Qualifier 3)

Mar. 17 - Colombia vs. Spain, 2 p.m. - Matt Yallof, José Mota

Mar. 17 - France vs. Panama, 9 p.m. - Matt Yallof, José Mota

Mar. 18 - France vs. Spain, 2 p.m. - Matt Yallof, José Mota

Mar. 18 - Panama vs. Colombia, 9 p.m. - Matt Yallof, José Mota

Mar. 19 - France vs. Panama, 9 p.m. (MLBN, 6 a.m. 3/20) - Matt Yallof, José Mota

Mar. 20 - Panama vs. Colombia, 8 p.m., MLBN - Matt Yallof, José Mota

Brooklyn (Qualifier 4)

Sep. 22 - Pakistan vs. Brazil, noon - Paul Severino, Joe Magrane

Sep. 22 - Great Britain vs. Israel, 7 p.m. - Paul Severino, Joe Magrane

Sep. 23 - Brazil vs. Israel, noon - Paul Severino, Joe Magrane

Sep. 23 - Pakistan vs. Great Britain, 7 p.m. - Paul Severino, Joe Magrane

Sep. 24 - Brazil vs. Great Britain, 8 p.m. - Paul Severino, Joe Magrane

Sep. 25 - Great Britain vs. Israel, 8 p.m., MLBN - Paul Severino, Joe Magrane

Main tournament

(Thanks to mphdc15 for the schedule and marack99 for the commentators)

First round

Seoul (Pool A) - Paul Severino, Joe Magrane

Mar. 6 - Israel vs. South Korea, 4:30AM

Mar. 6 - Israel vs. Chinese Taipei, 10:00

Mar. 7 - Netherlands vs. South Korea, 4:30AM (MLBN, 8AM)

Mar. 8 - Chinese Taipei vs. Netherlands, 4:30AM (MLBN, 8AM)

Mar. 8 - Netherlands vs. Israel, 10:00

Mar. 9 - South Korea vs. Chinese Taipei, 4:30AM (MLBN, 8AM)

Mar. 10 - Tiebreaker (if necessary), 4:00AM

Tokyo (Pool B) - Rich Waltz, Buck Martinez

Mar. 7 - Cuba vs. Japan, 5:00AM

Mar. 7 - China vs. Cuba, 10:00

Mar. 8 - Japan vs. Australia, 5:00AM

Mar. 9 - Australia vs. China, 5:00AM

Mar. 9 - Australia vs. Cuba, 10:00 (MLBN, 11:59)

Mar. 10 - China vs. Japan, 5:00AM

Mar. 11 - Tiebreaker (if necessary), 5:00AM

Miami (Pool C)

Mar. 9 - Canada vs. Dominican Republic, 6:00 - Matt Vasgersian, John Smoltz, J.P. Morosi

Mar. 10 - Colombia vs. United States, 6:00 - Matt Vasgersian, John Smoltz, J.P. Morosi

Mar. 11 - Colombia vs. Canada, 12:00 - Scott Braun, Cliff Floyd

Mar. 11 - USA vs. Dom. Republic, 6:30 - Matt Vasgersian, John Smoltz, J.P. Morosi

Mar. 12 - Dom. Republic vs. Colombia, 12:30 - Matt Vasgersian, John Smoltz, J.P. Morosi

Mar. 12 - Canada vs. USA, 7:00 - Matt Vasgersian, John Smoltz, J.P. Morosi

Mar. 13 - Tiebreaker (if necessary), 6:00

Guadalajara (Pool D) - Gary Thorne, José Mota

Mar. 9 - Mexico vs. Italy, 9:00

Mar. 10 - Venezuela vs. Puerto Rico, 9:00

Mar. 11 - Venezuela vs. Italy, 3:00

Mar. 11 - Puerto Rico vs. Mexico, 9:30

Mar. 12 - Italy vs. Puerto Rico, 3:30

Mar. 12 - Mexico vs. Venezuela, 10:00

Mar. 13 - Tiebreaker: Italy vs. Venezuela, 9:00

Second round

Tokyo (Pool E) - Rich Waltz, Buck Martinez

Top two teams in pools A and B

Mar. 11 - Cuba vs. Israel, 10:00 (MLBN, 12:30AM, 3/12)

Mar. 12 - Japan vs. Netherlands, 7:00AM

Mar. 13 - Netherlands vs. Israel, 6:00AM

Mar. 14 - Cuba vs. Japan, 6:00AM

Mar. 14 - Netherlands vs. Cuba, 11:00 (MLBN, 11:59)

Mar. 15 - Israel vs. Japan, 6:00AM

Mar. 16 - Tiebreaker (if necessary), 6:00AM

San Diego (Pool F) - Matt Vasgersian, John Smoltz, J.P. Morosi

Top two teams in pools C and D

Mar. 14 - Dominican Republic vs. Puerto Rico, 9:00

Mar. 15 - Venezuela vs. United States, 9:00

Mar. 16 - Venezuela vs. Dominican Republic, 10:00

Mar. 17 - USA vs. Puerto Rico, 10:00

Mar. 18 - Puerto Rico vs. Venezuela, 3:30

Mar. 18 - USA vs. Dominican Republic, 10:00

Mar. 19 - Tiebreaker (if necessary), 8:00

Championship round

Los Angeles  - Matt Vasgersian, John Smoltz, J.P. Morosi

Mar. 20 - SF: Netherlands vs. Puerto Rico, 9:00

Mar. 21 - SF: United States vs. Japan, 9:00

Mar. 22 - Final: United States vs. Puerto Rico, 9:00

ESPN2 simulcast of ESPN Deportes - Ernesto Jerez, Luis Alfredo Alvarez, Guillermo Celis

ESPN Radio - Dave Flemming, Chris Singleton

MLB International - Paul Severino, Jim Kaat