| Baseball World Cup | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Baseball |
| Founded | 1938 |
| No. of teams | 22 (in 2009) |
| Continent | International |
| Current champions |  United States
|
The Baseball World Cup is an international tournament in which national baseball teams from around the world compete. The International Baseball Federation (IBAF) created the tournament, After the IBAF and the International Softball Federation (ISF) merged into the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in 2013, the Baseball World Cup was discontinued. The Premier12, featuring the top 12 nations in the WBSC World Rankings, became the WBSC flagship-event. The WBSC sanctions the World Baseball Classic, a tournament organized by Major League Baseball (MLB). The winners are awarded with the title of Baseball World Champions since the 2013 edition.
History[]
There have been 38 Baseball World Cups to date and the most recent World Cup was held in 2011.
The 2009 edition, played in eight countries across Europe, featured 22 teams, the most ever.
The first tournament, held in 1938, was originally called The John Moore's Trophy. England hosted the United States for a series. The tournament was later recognized as the first edition of the Amateur World Series. Before becoming the Baseball World Cup, the Amateur World Series were unofficially called Baseball World Championship starting the 1972 edition. The became the Baseball World Cup in 1988.
Until 1998 the competition was limited to amateur players. Since 1998, professional minor league players have competed, but Major League Baseball has not allowed its players to participate.
The 2006 World Baseball Classic was the first international baseball tournament to include players from the major leagues.
Medal table[]
| Rank | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  CUB
|
25 | 3 | 2 | 30 |
| 2 | USA
|
4 | 7 | 4 | 15 |
| 3 |  VEN
|
3 | 2 | 4 | 9 |
| 4 |  COL
|
2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 5 |  KOR
|
1 | 5 | 2 | 8 |
| 6 |  PUR
|
1 | 4 | 4 | 9 |
| 7 |  DOM
|
1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| 8 | Great Britain | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 |  NIC
|
0 | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| 10 |  MEX
|
0 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 11 |  JPN
|
0 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| 12 |  TPE
|
0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 13 |  PAN
|
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 14 |  CAN
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
See also[]
External links[]
| Baseball World Cup |
|---|
| Great Britain 1938 • Cuba 1939 • Cuba 1940 • Cuba 1941 • Cuba 1942 • Cuba 1943 • Venezuela 1945 • Colombia 1947 • Nicaragua 1948 • Nicaragua 1950 • Mexico 1951 • Cuba 1952 • Venezuela 1953 • Costa Rica 1961 • Colombia 1965 • Dominican Republic 1969 • Colombia 1970 • Nicaragua 1972 • Cuba 1973 • Nicaragua 1973 • United States 1974 • Colombia 1976 • Italy 1978 • Japan 1980 • South Korea 1982 • Cuba 1984 • Netherlands 1986 • Italy 1988 • Canada 1990 • Nicaragua 1994 • Italy 1998 • Chinese Taipei 2001 • Cuba 2003 • Netherlands 2005 • Chinese Taipei 2007 • Europe 2009 • Panama 2011 |
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