Beginning Thursday at 1 p.m. ET, Team Canada’s quest to qualify for the 2013 World Baseball Classic begins in the unlikely setting of Regensburg, Germany.
The WBC has grown significantly in size and stature since the first event was held back in 2006 and as a result, Canada will have to play their way in this time after going winless on home soil three years ago.
To set the scene and to hopefully answer some questions, here’s a quick 411 on Team Canada and the WBC qualifying tournament.
WBC ON SPORTSNET: All Team Canada games will be carried live on Sportsnet ONE and sportsnet.ca will carry a live stream that you can watch here.
WHAT: The qualifying round for the 2013 World Baseball Classic. The tournament itself will be played next March in Phoenix, Miami and San Francisco.
WHO: Twenty-eight nations. Sixteen including Canada, Spain, France, Israel, South Africa, Czech Republic, Germany, Great Britain, Brazil, Columbia, Nicaragua, Panama, New Zealand, Philipinnes, Thailand and Chinese Tapei must qualify for next spring’s event. Four of those teams: Canada, Chinese Taipei, Panama and South Africa participated in the 2009 WBC, but must now qualify after failing to win a game in the last edition.
The other 12 nations from the 2009 WBC — Australia, China, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Kingdom of the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, United States and Venezuela — have automatically qualfied for the 2013 tournament based on their performance last time.
WHERE:
Qualifier Pool 1: (Spain, France, Israel, South Africa) will be played at Jupiter, Florida.
Qualifier Pool 2: (Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Great Britain) will be played at Regensburg, Germany.
Qualifier Pool 3: (Brazil, Columbia, Nicaragua, Panama) will be played at Panama City, Panama.
Qualifier Pool 4: (New Zealand, Philippines, Thailand, Chinese Tapei) will be played at New Tapei, Taiwan.
WHEN: Qualifer Pools 1 and 2 will take place Sept. 19-24, while pools 3 and 4 will be played Nov. 15-18. Canada’s first game is Sept. 20 at 1 p.m. ET vs. Great Britain. You can watch it live on Sportsnet ONE, or at sportsnet.ca at our WBC live stream page linked to above.
HOW: With the 2013 WBC expanding from 16 to 28 teams, a qualifying tournament was needed. The tournament format is double knockout, but if one team meets an undefeated team in the final, the winner will advance. Canada — despite being ranked No. 5 in the world — must qualify because it did not win a game in the 2009 event.
TEAM CANADA: | Shi David’s Team Canada Profile
The Canadian squad will feature 13 players who won bronze at last year’s IBAF World Championship and later won the gold medal at the Pan Am Games.
Georgetown, ON native and Toronto Blue Jays minor leaguer Shawn Hill will start for Canada Thursday against Great Britain. The winner of that game will face the winner of Saturday’s Germany/Czech Republic game.
“Anything can happen in a certain game,” Whitt told Baseball Canada’s web site. “With the way the tournament is set-up even if you win your first two games and lose the final you are out.
“So it can basically come down to a one game elimination.”
The roster: With Canada’s best players still busy with their respective MLB clubs, Team Canada’s 28-man roster will be comprised of six players from triple-A, 13 from double-A, and five from single-A. Three players have spent 2012 with an independent league team, including two from Quebec in the Can Am League. According to Baseball Canada, Edmonton’s Mike Johnson has not been affiliated with any professional team in 2012.
Some names you might know: Blue Jays minor league pitchers Trystan Magnuson and Shawn Hill; former Blue Jays outfielder Adam Loewen; Minnesota Twins minor league outfielder Rene Tosoni.
The coahces: Ernie Whitt (manager); Larry Walker (hitting coach); Denis Boucher (pitching coach); Tim Leiper (coach).
Earlier this week MLB.com ran this story detailing Walker’s dedication to Team Canada.
For a full breakdown of Team Canada’s roster and coaching staff, click here.
WHO TO FOLLOW ON TWITTER:
Sportsnet: @sportsnet
World Baseball Classic: @WBCBaseball
Baseball Canada: @BaseballCanada
Canadian Baseball Network: @CDNBaseball
Cal Quantrill (Team Canada pitcher): @Cal_quantrill47
Tom Boleska (Team Canada pitcher): @tombo_1986
Trystan Magnuson (Team Canada pitcher): @TrystanMagnuson
Tim Smith (Team Canada outfielder): @TSmitty9
Tyson Gilles (Team Canada outfielder): @TysonGillies21
Rene Tosoni (Team Canada outfielder): @Tosoni08
