The fifth edition of the World Baseball Classic will have a distinct Miami flavor. The Miami Marlins and their home, Marlins Park, will be the first major league team and venue to host all rounds of the round-robin pool in next year’s classic to be played from March 9-23, 2021.
Other locations for the 2021 Classic are Chase Field in Phoenix, home of the Diamondbacks, Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taichung, Taiwan, the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan and Taoyaun International Baseball Stadium also in Taiwan.
The USA will enter as the defending champions having won the tournament for the first time in 2017, following titles by Japan in 2006 and 2009 and the Dominican Republic in 2013.
The format of the event includes increasing the number of teams that will play from the 2017 edition from 16 to 20. The 20 teams consist of the 16 participants in the 2017 tournament plus four qualifiers to be determined during a 12-nation tournament this March 13-25 at Tucson, Arizona. That will leave four pools of five teams that will play a round-robin to determine the top two countries in each group. They will be known as Pools A, B, C and D.
The top two teams in each of the four first-round pools will advance to the quarterfinals, while the top two teams from each quarterfinal pool will advance to the Championship Round.
Marlins Park, the home of the Marlins since 2012, has hosted games in each of the last two tournaments. It will host pool D of the first round which will run March 14-18. The North American quarterfinals, including the teams advancing from Pools C and D, will take place March 19-20. The semifinals and finals will be played from March 21-23. So Marlins Park will host games in each round of the Classic.
Derek Jeter, CEO and part-owner of the Marlins, was instrumental in getting the Classic to South Florida. Jeter played in two WBCs in 2006 and 2009 and though he didn’t win either one, was proud of the experience. “The only uniform that I had worn throughout my professional career was a Yankee uniform,” Jeter told the media when announcing the event on Tuesday.
“It was the first time I had put another uniform on. When you put on the uniform that’s representing your country, it’s a pretty good feeling. Ultimately, we didn’t come out on top, but it was a fun experience just to play teams from other countries — countries you didn’t even know played baseball coming in and showing up. It was a fun atmosphere, and it’s just grown bigger and better since then.”
Jeter wants the excitement of international play to become a daily ritual at Marlins Park. He continued, “The energy and the passion in the building was electric. Numerous visitors from around the world [were there], but quite a few from South Florida. That’s the passion of the game that we know exists in this market. And we want to grow, and that’s what we’re building toward. To get to the point where every day here at Marlins Park is a WBC Championship Game-type atmosphere. As many cheering section and musical instruments we can get in the building.”
The building has not been a strong home-field advantage for the Marlins in the past. Jeter is counting on the World Baseball Classic to ignite a fan base that is passionate about baseball and hope it carries over to the Miami Marlins.
