Plot Synopsis

First played in March 2006, the World Baseball Classic (WBC) determines a world champion from 16 national teams that feature professional and amateur baseball players. After a three-year duration between the first and second WBC tournaments, the world championship is now held every four years, similar to most international championships, like soccer's World Cup and the Rugby World Cup. The 2006 opening game was broadast by ESPN Deportes, featuring a game between Korea and Chinese Taipei. During its inaugural tournament, all 39 games were telecast by ESPN Deportes, while ESPN and ESPN2 covered 16 games. In 2009, ESPN Deportes again broadcast all 39 games, while ESPN and ESPN2 presented 23 games. For the 2013 event, MLB Network was scheduled to broadcast 38 of the 39 games -- all games except for the Round 1/Pool B game between Korea and the Netherlands. Japan is the two-time defending WBC World Champion after beating Cuba 10-6 in 2006 and outlasting Korea 5-3 in 2009.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Tuesday, March 21, 2023 at 7pm ET/4pm PT, FS1 presented the championship game of the 2023 World Baseball Classic, featuring Samurai Japan vs. Team USA. Japan is looking for its third title while Team USA is hoping to go back-to-back after winning in 2017. Merrill Kelly takes the bump for Team USA, and Shota Imanaga starts the game for Japan. Shohei Ohtani says he's ready to go as a reliever, while Team USA has most of its bullpen available after Sunday's blowout in the semifinal.