Venues set for World Baseball Classic

The first-round venues are set for the second running of the World
Baseball Classic, which will begin on March 5, 2009, in Japan.

As in 2006, Tokyo Dome and Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto
Rico, will host first-round games. In 2009, those venues will be
joined for the first time by Rogers Centre in Toronto and Foro Sol
Stadium in Mexico City.

Rogers Centre is the home ballpark of the Blue Jays, and Major League
Spring Training exhibition games have been played at the 27,940-seat
facility in Mexico City.

"The 2009 World Baseball Classic will further demonstrate the
remarkable global growth of our game," Commissioner Bud Selig said.
"There has been incredible demand to host the games of the second
World Baseball Classic, and we are pleased to have four international
destinations as our first-round venues. We are excited about the 2009
World Baseball Classic and look forward to next March."

The 16-team field is the same as '06, though an expansion of the field
to 24 countries and territories with qualifying rounds as a preface to
reach the main competition is under consideration for 2013.

Next year's brackets are as follows:

Pool A -- China, Chinese Taipei, Japan and Korea will begin play on
March 5 in Tokyo Dome, where the A's are opening the regular season
against the Red Sox this week.

Pool B -- Australia, Cuba, Mexico and South Africa, from March 8-12 in
Mexico City.

Pool C -- Canada, Italy, the U.S. and Venezuela, from March 8-12 in Toronto.

Pool D -- Dominican Republic, the Netherlands, Panama and Puerto Rico,
from March 7-11 in Puerto Rico.

Venues for the second round, plus the combined semifinals and finals
are still to be determined, although San Diego's PETCO Park seems to
be set for the second round and Dodger Stadium has the inside track
for the semifinals and finals.

The semifinals and finals were sold out at San Diego's 45,000-seat
home of the Padres in 2006. Japan vanquished Cuba, 10-6, to win the
tournament and Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, who now toils for
the Red Sox, was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

Attendance for the '06 tournament at its seven venues was 737,112
tickets sold, a major coup considering that the Asian bracket didn't
reach the 80 percent capacity in Tokyo Dome that was originally
projected.

It was the first time that all Major League players were allowed to
represent their native lands in an international baseball tournament.
The baseball competition in the Summer Olympics, which is slated for
Beijing in August, includes non-25-man roster MLB players only.
In another new wrinkle for '09, a rules change has been made in the
qualifying portion of the tournament, which will now be a
double-elimination format in the first two rounds.

In '06, there was round-robin play as teams with the top two records
in each bracket ascended to the second round and the semifinals with a
complicated formula based on runs scored used as the first tie
breaker.

The semifinals remain as single-elimination games.

Also, unlike '06, there will be a crossover of brackets in the
semifinals. In '06, Cuba defeated the Dominican and Japan ousted Korea
in the semifinals.

"The best baseball players in the world are looking forward with great
anticipation to playing in the 2009 World Baseball Classic," said Don
Fehr, the executive director of the Players' Association, who is a
partner with Major League Baseball in the venture. "Implementation of
double-elimination and crossover games to the World Baseball Classic
next year will make the games even more intense and the tournament
even more exciting for both players and fans. It will be an
unforgettable experience."