2026 World Baseball Classic

[GirlySports]

Starts this week!

Canada plays warm ups against the Jays (Tuesday) Phillies (Wednesday) in Dunedin.

Top Two in Each pool advance to the quarterfinals

Pool A (San Juan, Puerto Rico)
Puerto Rico
Panama
Cuba
Colombia
Canada

Pool B (Houston, Texas)
USA
Mexico
Italy
Great Britain
Brazil

Pool C (Tokyo, Japan)
Japan
South Korea
Chinese Taipei
Australia
Czechia

Pool D (Miami, Florida)
Venezuela
Netherlands
Domincan Republic
Israel
Nicaragua

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_W...seball_Classic

Preview:


Canada:


2023:

[GirlySports]

Michael Soroka will get the ball for Canada's first game on Saturday against Colombia, while Jameson Taillon will start Sunday against Panama,

[transplant99]

Heard on the radio yesterday (forget who exactly) that there was a bigger crowd in Tokyo yesterday to watch Ohtani and crew take BP, than there was to watch NY Jets home games last year.

No idea if true but thought it hilarious if so.

[SuperMatt18]

A bit off topic but I would highly recommend anybody who is a baseball fan (or not for that matter) to go to a Baseball game at the Tokyo Dome.

Still one of the best sporting experiences of my lifetime and even saw Okamoto hit 2 HRs that day.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

A bit off topic but I would highly recommend anybody who is a baseball fan (or not for that matter) to go to a Baseball game at the Tokyo Dome.

Still one of the best sporting experiences of my lifetime and even saw Okamoto hit 2 HRs that day.

I'm unreasonably excited about that - we're going to Japan at the end of the month and have tickets for the Yomiuri Giants home opener.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

I'm unreasonably excited about that - we're going to Japan at the end of the month and have tickets for the Yomiuri Giants home opener.

Try to grab this book before you go. Inside The Japanese Ballpark.

https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/ne...nese-ballpark/

[GirlySports]

https://twitter.com/user/status/2028866055330840838

https://twitter.com/user/status/2028873517207294421

[GirlySports]

https://twitter.com/user/status/2029315321434103989

[browna]

Tokyo Dome looks ancient because it is, but the semi field and astro turf, and the old school infield which has dirt only at the bases, like Skydome was.

[FireGilbert]

The Australian team is called the Southern Thunder and are sponsored by a meat pie company. They are now 2-0 after beating Taiwan and Czechia with good pitching and home runs. The quarter final spot will likely come down to Australia vs South Korea.

Japan vs Taiwan is on later if any Jays fans want to be triggered seeing Yamamoto and Ohtani.

Looking at the world rankings Pool C looks like the pool of death. Not sure the rankings mean much. Pool A looks tough too. Does Canada have any chance to advance?

[Jiggy_12]

Originally Posted by FireGilbert

The Australian team is called the Southern Thunder and are sponsored by a meat pie company. They are now 2-0 after beating Taiwan and Czechia with good pitching and home runs. The quarter final spot will likely come down to Australia vs South Korea.

Japan vs Taiwan is on later if any Jays fans want to be triggered seeing Yamamoto and Ohtani.

Looking at the world rankings Pool C looks like the pool of death. Not sure the rankings mean much. Pool A looks tough too. Does Canada have any chance to advance?

Canada should have a chance, projected finish in their pool is 2nd I believe. But, a short baseball tournament isn't exactly predictable

[GirlySports]

Canada's group is balanced. Meaning there is no impossible game but no gimmies either.
There is no power team, Japan, USA, Domincan, Venezuela in that group so anyone can qualify for either of the two spots.

Cuba and Panama just started. The tournament starts in earnest today, 7 games! Canada has the bye today, will play Sat, Sun, Tue, Wed