The 5th World Baseball Classic to be held in 2023. It is the first World Baseball Classic in six years since the 2017 World Baseball Classic, and the first ever competition in which five countries participate in each group. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said, “WBC is one of our important programs” ahead of the 2019 London Series.From 2020, Major League Baseball’s on-field sponsor will be changed from Majestic to Nike. Therefore, the 2023 World Baseball Classic is also likely to be produced by Nike, except for South Korea, Japan, and Puerto Rico. Majestic may continue to produce it, but it seems unlikely. If this happens, Nike will return to WBC for the first time in 10 years. However, several countries came out with different uniform sponsors.Due to COVID-19, the 5th WBC, which was scheduled to be held in 2021, is likely to be postponed until 2023, and in fact, the postponement has been confirmed to 2023.When it is reported that it has been postponed by two years to 2023, many baseball fans are worried that the tournament will be possible because it overlaps with Premier 12 in the same year. Although it is the same number of years and the duration is different, it seems inevitable that major baseball powerhouses will be tired with international competitions before the start of their own league and international competitions as soon as they are finished.
However, according to the WBSC website, there is a possibility that Premier 12 will be postponed to 2024. There’s no Premier 12 on the 2023 schedule right now… In addition, the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, postponed due to COVID-19, will be held in the second half of the year, and as the Asian Professional Baseball Championship has been confirmed for the first time in six years, the possibility of Premier 12 being postponed unless Japan’s influential WBSC shows its willingness to push ahead with Major League Baseball. Currently, professional baseball is gaining huge popularity and fans in the U.S., Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, and some European countries (Netherland, Czech Republic, Italy, Britain), the U.S., Canada, Australia, South America, Asia (Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan), and Kuma are in Group A, Group B (location: Japan, Tokyo Dome), C, and D (location: U.S.The semifinals will be held at Rondipo Park in the U.S. after the first round and the quarterfinals.
South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and the U.S., which have their own professional leagues, show considerable expectations and confidence, but the nature of the tournament between countries is not easy to predict the results, unlike long-term races.In particular, South Korea and Japan will play fierce competition and pride. Expectations are high on whether Japan, the strongest ever, will save its pride at the Tokyo Dome on the 10th of this qualifying round.I think it’ll come out once in 100 years.Attention is focused on Ohtani’s performance, which also serves as a batter.And how will the major league players participating as representatives of each country perform in the Gannara team, and will the match between the strongest U.S. and Japan take place in the final?
KS CHOI
US ASIA JOURNAL
