Tickets for the opening round of the 2009 World Baseball Classic on sale Nov. 17
Ticket strips for Round One available for purchase online at WorldBaseballClassic.com; full 2009 tournament schedule announced
MLB.com
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Ticket strips for Round One of the 2009 World Baseball Classic will go on sale to the public on Monday, Nov. 17, World Baseball Classic Inc. (WBCI) announced today. WBCI, the tournament's organizing entity, has also announced the complete Official 2009 Tournament Schedule, set to begin in Tokyo, Japan on Thursday, March 5, 2009.
Ticket strips for the individual pools of Round One will consist of six tickets, one to each of the six games played in one of the four international first round venues. These strips will be available for purchase online at worldbaseballclassic.com, powered by MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball, as well as online and by phone in three of the four local markets. Round One games will be played entirely outside of the United States, in the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan; Estadio Foro Sol in Mexico City, Mexico; the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada; and Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The release of the Official 2009 Tournament Schedule unveils the first-round match-ups for the second edition of the World Baseball Classic. Defending Tournament Champion Team Japan will open the 2009 event against Team China in the Tokyo Dome on March 5. The tournament's opening round will feature the following initial match-ups and will follow a double-elimination format:
| Team opening games by venue Tickets for all venues available online at www.WorldBaseballClassic.com. | ||||
| Pool A: Tokyo Dome - Tokyo, Japan | ||||
| Date | Local | ET | Match-up | Stadium |
| Thursday, March 5 | 6:30 p.m. | 4:30 a.m. | China vs. Japan | Tokyo Dome |
| Friday, March 6 | 6:30 p.m. | 4:30 a.m. | Chinese Taipei vs. Korea | Tokyo Dome |
| Pool B: Estadio Foro Sol - Mexico City, Mexico Online: www.clasicomundialdebeisbol.com and www.ticketmaster.com.mx By Phone: 5325-9000 | ||||
| Date | Local | ET | Match-up | Stadium |
| Sunday, March 8 | 1 p.m. | 3 p.m. | South Africa vs. Cuba | Estadio Foro Sol |
| Sunday, March 8 | 8 p.m. | 10 p.m. | Australia vs. Mexico | Estadio Foro Sol |
| Pool C: Rogers Centre - Toronto, Canada Online: www.bluejays.com By Phone: 416-341-1234; 1-888-654-6529 | ||||
| Date | Local | ET | Match-up | Stadium |
| Saturday, March 7 | 2 p.m. | 2 p.m. | United States vs. Canada | Rogers Centre |
| Saturday, March 7 | 8 p.m. | 8 p.m. | Italy vs. Venezuela | Rogers Centre |
| Pool D: Hiram Bithorn Stadium - San Juan, Puerto Rico Online: www.clasicomundialdebeisbol.com and www.ticketpop.com By Phone: 787-294-0001 | ||||
| Date | Local | ET | Match-up | Stadium |
| Saturday, March 7 | 12 p.m. | 11 a.m. | Netherlands vs. Dominican Republic | Hiram Bithorn Stadium |
| Saturday, March 7 | 6 p.m. | 5 p.m. | Panama vs. Puerto Rico | Hiram Bithorn Stadium |
The complete World Baseball Classic tournament schedule is attached.
Strip sales for Round Two games at PETCO Park in San Diego, California and Dolphin Stadium in Miami, Florida, and the Semi-Finals and Final at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, as well as information on single-game tickets for the entire tournament, will be announced at a later date.
About World Baseball Classic, Inc.
World Baseball Classic, Inc. is a company created at the direction of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) to operate the World Baseball Classic tournament. The tournament, which is sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF), is supported by MLB, the MLBPA, Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), their respective players associations and other leagues and players from around the world.
About the World Baseball Classic
The World Baseball Classic is the premier international baseball tournament, sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, and features the best players in the world competing for their home countries and territories. In March 2006, 486 players (235 of them from MLB organizations) representing 16 teams from across the globe competed in the inaugural event. More than 740,000 fans from 48 states and 15 countries attended games (16 of which sold out) and millions more watched on TV as Team Japan was crowned the first-ever World Baseball Classic Champion. The inaugural tournament was broadcast by 48 media outlets in 10 languages to 205 countries and territories around the world. Media members representing 25 different nations attended the 39 games in seven host venues across three countries/territories. The upcoming World Baseball Classic will be played from March 5 - 23 and will again feature 16 of the greatest baseball-playing nations in the world. The tournament will be held every four years thereafter, with plans in place to expand the participant field beginning in 2013.
This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
