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F rom the opening game in Tokyo to the Final inSan Diego, the World Baseball Classic was atrue celebration of the game. All involved with

the event, from fans to players, exhibited anunprecedented level of passion and appreciation forbaseball and dedication for their national teams. Theseven tournament venues were filled with postseason-like enthusiasm and anticipation for every pitch.

When Major League Baseball and the Major LeagueBaseball Players Association teamed up to form WorldBaseball Classic, Inc. (WBCI) – the organizing entity ofthe tournament – the goal was to establish a platform toincrease worldwide exposure for baseball by showcasingits greatest players in a premier internationalcompetition. The inaugural event went a long waytoward achieving that goal. “Anything you do for the firsttime is not going to be perfect,” Commissioner Bud Seligsaid before the tournament’s Final. “But by any stretchof the imagination, this tournament exceeded myexpectations in a myriad of ways. Absolutely!”

With 39 games over 18 days in seven cities andthree countries, the 16 competing national teamswere represented by all-star players with one goal inmind: the Championship. On March 20, Team Japanemerged as the first ever World Baseball ClassicChampion. Their hard-fought 10-6victory over a very tough andextremely talented Cubanteam, in front of a sold-outcrowd at PETCO Park,served as a thrillingclimax to the event.Right-hander DaisukeMatsuzaka, thetournament MVP, andoutfielder Ichiro Suzukiwere the respectivepitching and hitting stars forthe Champions.

“I never coached a team for atournament like this and never thoughtthat the pressure would be so high. Baseball is thebest sport. Everyone has to work together and there isnothing more wonderful than that,” said Japan TeamManager and all-time home run leader Sadaharu Ohafter his team’s Championship performance.

From Albert Pujols of the Dominican Republic toDerek Jeter of the United States, the greatest playersin the world were represented. Of the 486 players toparticipate, 235 (48%) were from Major League

Baseball organizations. The remaining players camefrom professional and amateur leagues

throughout the world.More than 740,000 fans from 48 of the

50 United States and 15 countriesshowed up to support their nationalteams at the World Baseball Classic andmillions more were able to watch gamebroadcasts in 205 different countriesaround the world. Fans collected

tournament-licensed merchandise withtheir home country logos and player

names at a rapid pace. Venue stores andoutside retailers experienced extremely strong

sell-through rates for ‘Classic’ gear.While Japan won the Championship, the ultimate

winners of the inaugural World Baseball Classic werethe sport of baseball and its fans. With the exceedinglypositive reception of the first tournament, plans for thenext World Baseball Classic, to take place in 2009, arealready underway.

WORLD BASEBALL CLASS IC ED IT IONMLB INTERNAT IONAL NEWSLETTER

Celebrating the Game

Following the Japanese tradition of “Dou age,” Manager Sadaharu Ohis tossed into the air by Team Japan after defeating Team Cuba to winthe first ever World Baseball Classic Championship at PETCO Park.

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Korean fans showed up in droves to support theirnational team in Tokyo, Anaheim and San Diego.

Thrilling Baseball and Passionate Fans Take Center Stage at the Inaugural World Baseball Classic

Albert Pujols and Adrian Beltre of TeamDom

inicana

Fanatics!Atotal of 740,451 spirited

baseball fans from around theglobe showed up to support

their home teams at the WorldBaseball Classic. Draped in theircountries' flags with faces painted innational colors, fans from each of the16 teams brought a unique dynamicto the event. Many of those inattendance danced and sang theirway through games, while othersbanged thunder sticks along to teamchants. Passionate Major LeagueBaseball fans put regular-seasonrivalries aside for a few weeks andjoined forces to support theircountries on the diamond.

“Major League Baseball has noidea how thankful we are for thisevent,” said Juan Acevedo, aVenezuelan-born fan who traveled toOrlando for Round 1. Julio Diaz cameall the way from New York to supportthe Dominican Team: “They came outfor the Dominican Republic, so I cameout for them” (March 8, NY Times). “Acompletely different kind of baseballexperience,” said Mia Kim, akindergarten teacher from SouthKorea who had never bought a ticketto a baseball game before thetournament. “This is about showingpatriotism and supporting my country”(March 10, LA Times).

T he World Baseball Classic advertising andmarketing campaign aimed to create an

overall awareness of the first-time event,encourage ticket sales and build aninternational television audience. The messagewas designed to appeal to all involved frommotivating players and coaches to reachingconsumers to spur attendance and viewership.After extensive agency reviews, GreyWorldwide was selected as agency of recordfor the campaign. Altus Entertainment providedsupport on U.S.-based Hispanic placementsand promotional activities.

Using the “face-the-world” concept,featuring player faces over-layed with theirnational flags, the campaign creative was apoignant message promoting national identity.The cross-cultural theme relied on emotion

and creative appeal rather than text-heavy,market-specific messaging. In this way, thecolorful, eye-catching ads were adaptable toall languages and participating countries andterritories. “Face-the-world” was a globalcreative concept that retained its meaning andimpact with international, national, regionaland local executions.

The campaign included three forms ofmedia: print, radio and television. Ads were alsoposted on the mlb.com web portal, which sentperiodic email blasts to subscribers and providedvideo downloads of the ads for viewers. Thetagline “Baseball Spoken Here” provided theoverall theme. Ads also included a call-to-actionline - “I’ll be there for my country. Will you bethere for yours?” - designed to resonate withplayers and fans alike.

T elevision placements were designed to hit sportsand baseball enthusiasts in specific locations,

particularly in markets where tournament gameswould be played. Ads ran during sports programmingincluding the Olympics, MLB Spring Training games,NBA games, the Caribbean World Series and NCAAbasketball. Non-traditional sports media was alsoutilized in individual markets, such as Los Angeles,with a regionally-placed spot during the AcademyAwards and Grammy broadcasts.

The most prominent non-traditional baseball adplacement was activated during the NFL’s SuperBowl. Featuring the “face-the-world” concept, thespot was a dramatic awareness message to anextensive and diverse audience. Overall, TV spotsfeatured superstars such as Roger Clemens, CarlosDelgado, Ichiro Suzuki, Derek Jeter, Mike Piazza, Albert Pujols, and Dontrelle Willis. TV ads,in both English and Spanish, broke on January 23 and continued through the tournament.

National broadcast partner ESPN created a series of tune-in spots for viewers on theESPN and ESPN2 channels, ESPN Deportes, DOS and ESPN’s Atlantic and Pacificnetworks. These spots featured Miguel Cabrera, Jorge Cantu, Derek Jeter, David Ortiz,Akinori Otsuka, and Ivan Rodriquez. The TV rotation was supplemented with print inESPN The Magazine, ESPN Deportes, USA Today and online at espn.com. Outdooradvertising included billboards in the Phoenix area, bus kiosks and vehicles in Orlandoand Miami, and subway cars in New York City.

On the RadioE nglish and Spanish language radio spots featuring

international superstars from Major League Baseballbroke on December 12 and continued to run through thetournament. Sixty and 30-second spots included the“Baseball Spoken Here” tagline as players reminiscedabout their baseball beginnings and shared theirenthusiasm about playing in the World Baseball Classic.Another creative wave of radio focused on ticket salesand provided consumers with the information theyneeded to attend games. Radio spot buys included hotadult contemporary, oldies, sports, talk radio, news/traffic,and sporting events.

In key Hispanic markets, radio was the media of choice.Radio ads informed listeners about the ground-breakinginternational event and listeners responded positively to on-air sweepstakes ticket contests and on-location eventsat malls and other heavily-trafficked consumer locations.Airing spots featuring Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominicanand Venezuelan players helped promote the patriotic natureof the event with Hispanic communities.

‘Baseball Spoken Here’

TV Ad Spots Reach Millions

M A R K E T I N G

Players in PrintP rint ads were used both nationally and locally to

foster awareness of the event and createexcitement about the high-caliber players that wouldbe participating in the tournament. As this was afirst-time event, including superstar MLB players likeAlbert Pujols, Ichiro Suzuki, Ivan Rodriquez, RogerClemens, Vinny Castilla and Andruw Jones in thecampaign helped to give the tournament a sense oflegitimacy in the eyes of both players and fans.National placements included sports magazines suchas Sports Illustrated – most notably, in the highly-circulated Swimsuit Edition in February – ESPN TheMagazine, and USA Today. Major U.S. markets suchas New York, Boston, Chicago, Houston and Dallaswere included in the awareness phase of thecampaign. More than 120 print insertions weredelivered in the U.S. market alone.

As March approached and the relevant messageshifted more intensely in the direction of game ticketsales, placements focused on the World BaseballClassic ballpark venue markets of San Diego,Anaheim/Los Angeles, Phoenix/Scottsdale andOrlando. Specific ads for retail consumer productswere produced to support licensed good sales andads were translated into languages as needed forinternational use by WBCI partners.

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M ore than 25 sponsors partnered with World Baseball Classic, Inc. in Japan,helping ensure that the event was a success both on and off the field.

Asahi Beverages was the most active sponsor in Japan. In addition to beingthe Asia Round’s presenting sponsor, Asahi supported the Japan national teamand had its patch displayed on team uniforms throughout the tournament.

Under the campaign title “Asahi Number One,” Asahi leveraged its rights throughtelevision, print, POP advertising and activated sweepstakes and premiums.

A 30-second television spot featuring Team Japan Manager Sadaharu Ohbroke nationwide in early February and was supported by in-store promotions,

including nearly 17 million pieces of Asahi product bearing thetournament marks sold in stores throughout Japan.

Konami, a global partner for the event, was also a Japan national team sponsor and had itslogo displayed on the team’s batting helmet throughout the competition (see photo above). Konamiused its sponsorship in part to support the launch of their PowerPro game, released in April 2006.Additionally, Konami and MasterCard received virtual signage rights, hospitality rights in both theU.S. and Japan, and outfield wall signage in tournament venues in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

AbleAeonAnheuser-BuschAsahiAsahi HomesBanco MercantilBanco PopularBurger KingCable & WirelessCafé AkonaCanonCANTVChrysler/DodgeCitgoCity of San JuanDaichi SankyoDandy HouseEizaiEl Nuevo DíaFedExGatoradeGood YearHitachiIto HamJACCSJapan AgricultureKDDI TelephoneKelloggKonami (Global)LibertyLotteMaltín PolarMasterCard International (Global)MBNAMCSMitsubishi BankNihon TochiNikon (Global)NTT CommunicationsPepsiPresidentePuerto Rico TourismRums of Puerto RicoSky Perfect TVSunComToto TV MAXVerizon WirelessYanaseXebio Sports

Tournament Sponsors Active in Japan

TOURNAMENT RECORD: 0-3 (Round 1)

STAR PLAYER: Wang Wei, Catcher

FAST FACT: Former Major League managerJim Lefebvre was Team China’s managerand has worked with MLB to grow thegame in China for the past four years.


STAR PLAYER: Yung Chi Chen, Third Base

FAST FACT: Chinese Taipei established aprofessional league, the Chinese ProfessionalBaseball League (CPBL), in 1989.

TOURNAMENT RECORD: 5-3 (Champion)

STAR PLAYER: Daisuke Matsuzaka, Pitcher

FAST FACT: Japan superstar Ichiro Suzukibecame only the second player in MajorLeague Baseball history to win Rookie of theYear and M.V.P. in the same season (2001).

TOURNAMENT RECORD: 6-1 (Semi-Finals)

STAR PLAYER: Seung Yeop Lee, First Base

FAST FACT: Team Korea was the only team in the tournament to be perfect on defense, committing no errors inseven games.

S P O N S O R S H I P

T he World Baseball Classic capitalized on the stronginterest in Latin America for the long-awaited global

event by securing 21 event and national teamsponsors. Sponsorship agreements included a presenceon national team uniforms, virtual signage, in-stadiumsignage, consumer-targeted promotions, mediaplacements in national broadcasts and presentingsponsor designation for various tournament awards.

With countless Latin stars representing theirnational teams, sponsors took advantage of thetremendous fan interest by creating uniquemarketing campaigns in support of the event. InVenezuela, Maltín Polar complemented its nationalteam sponsorship by creating a campaign illustratingthe rise to fame of Venezuelan heroes Omar Vizquel,Freddy Garcia, Miguel Cabrera (see above) andMagglio Ordonez. In the Dominican Republic, VerizonDominicana ran the “Vete de Bonche” promotionsending winners on an all-expense paid trip to theFinals Weekend in San Diego with Hummer H2chauffeur service. Other activations included:

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Verizon Dominicanablanketed the island nation with billboards andadvertisements supporting their promotion. Verizonwas especially active at local bars and points ofsales promoting the games. Longtime MLB sponsorPresidente also ran a promotion with television

partner CDN sending the six “biggest” baseball fans tothe second round games in San Juan.

PUERTO RICO: As San Juan was the host of 12World Baseball Classic games, companies in PuertoRico took full advantage of this unique opportunity totarget both local and international baseball fans. Allsponsors in Puerto Rico received stadium signageand promotional opportunities throughout the firstand second round of the tournament.

VENEZUELA: Maltín Polar, Banco Mercantil, CANTVand Pepsi all sponsored the Venezuelan National Team.Banco Mercantil ran a promotion in conjunction withMasterCard where over 20 lucky MasterCard usersreceived an all-expense paid trip to Orlando to attendthe first round. CANTV also rewarded subscribers witha trip to Puerto Rico and distributed event-related giftsat CANTV offices throughout the country.

21 Marketing Partners in Latin America

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Konami logo displayed on IchiroSuzuki’s batting helmet in Tokyo.

SPONSORROSTER

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Activa

Aminco

Antigua

Coopersburg Sports

F&F

Franklin Sports

Gamewear

Grace Co.

Majestic Athletic

Mizuno

New Era Cap Company

Nike

Norico

Rawlings

Rise Up

Take-Two Interactive

The Emblem Source

The Highland Mint

Upper Deck Company

Wincraft

Zett

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Nike provided the Korean National Teamwith authentic jerseys and caps. Theyalso provided 14 of the 16 nationalteams with authentic performance wear.

Mizuno completelyoutfitted the ChineseTaipei and Japan NationalTeams with authenticuniforms, headwear andperformance wear.


STAR PLAYER: Adam Stern, Outfield

FAST FACT: World Baseball ClassicAmbassador Tommy Lasorda will beinducted into the Canadian BaseballHall of Fame and Museum on June 24.


STAR PLAYER: Jorge Cantu, Second Base

FAST FACT: Mexico’s 16-team summerprofessional league celebrated its 80thanniversary in 2005. More than 100players from that league have made thejump to MLB organizations.


STAR PLAYER: Brett Willemburg, Shortstop

FAST FACT: Baseball was first introducedto South Africa in 1898 by American goldminers who played the sport for leisure atthe Crown Mines in Johannesburg.


STAR PLAYER: Ken Griffey Jr., Outfield

FAST FACT: More than 115 million fansattended Major League and MinorLeague Baseball games in the UnitedStates in 2005.

L I C E N S I N G

LICENSEEROSTER

Officially-licensed World Baseball Classic product was in high demand throughout thetournament. In stadium, fans formed long, weaving lines for the opportunity to purchase

merchandise from the event. In many venues, the demand for product exceeded the supply,resulting in sell-outs within the first hour of the game. Official concessionaire partner XPEvents worked vigorously to restock shelves and ensure that fans had the ability to show offtheir team pride by purchasing World Baseball Classic product. Modell’s and Champs wereretail partners of the event and carried World Baseball Classic products in select stores. Bothretailers experienced very successful sell-through of the products with the support of an in-store POS program and player autograph sessions. Top-selling retail products included caps,jerseys and name and number t-shirts. United States, Puerto Rico and Dominican Republicconstituted the top selling teams. At Champs in Puerto Rico, fans received a limited editionWorld Baseball Classic ball with the purchase of officially-licensed product, which came inhandy during tournament player signings (see page 5).

Tournament Merchandise in High Demand

Majestic Athletic Outfits Teams

M ajestic Athletic was granted an exclusive license forthe manufacturing and

distribution of the authentic on-fielduniforms for 12 of the 16participating national teams.Majestic produced uniforms for entire30-man rosters, managers andcoaches. In addition, Majestic Athleticprovided all 16 World Baseball Classic national teams withbatting practice jerseys. The product offered at retail and inconcessions included authentic and replica team jerseysand an extensive selection of screen-printed t-shirts,including the official World Baseball Classic championship t-shirt for the tournament winner, the Japan National Team.

New Era Puts a Capon Inaugural Event

N ew Era Cap Company was theexclusive headwear

manufacturer for the 2006 World Baseball Classictournament. New Era produced and supplied theAuthentic 5950 on-field cap to 15 of the 16participating national teams and retailers worldwide.Each on-field cap incorporated the country flag,emphasizing the patriotic theme of the event. Duringeach round of the tournament, the authentic on-fieldcap was exchanged among players and managers as agesture of good faith and sportsmanship. In addition tothe on-field products, New Era produced replica caps of all 16 teams and the official World Baseball ClassicChampionship cap for retail outlets.

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Promotional Giveaway Campaignsat Retail Throughout Tokyo

T o support the opening games of the inaugural WorldBaseball Classic held at the Tokyo Dome March 3-

5, select sports shops in the Tokyo area implemented aticket and prize giveaway campaign featuring speciallydesigned merchandise unavailable outside thepromotion. Participating stores included The SportsAuthority (Fuchuu, Tsudanuma, and Narita), Sports Depo(Saitama Kitamoto), and Prospark, a sports fan shoplocated inside Ikspiari mall next to Tokyo Disneyland.This was a must-buy, closed campaign where the luckygrand prize winner received tickets to attend JapanTeam games throughout the Asia Round, the first of ‘theClassic’. Customers also attempted to win WorldBaseball Classic logo polo shirts and caps and theofficial tournament baseball, produced by Rawlings.

Korea Fans Shop at F&F for ‘Classic’ Product

F &F, MLB’s apparel licensee in Korea since1997, launched Korean National Team products

in conjunction with the World Baseball Classic. Theirproduct line included baseball jackets, replicajerseys, t-shirts, and replica caps, which were soldat ten of the primary MLB Stores located acrossKorea. The replica jerseys and t-shirts weredeveloped using the names and numbers of sixpopular Korean players, including #61 Chan HoPark and #26 Jae Seo. Mannequins wearing WorldBaseball Classic products were on display in storewindows and special corners were allocated to sellingNew Era national team caps.

F&F also produced special supporting t-shirts and caps upon request of the KoreanBaseball Organization for Korean fans attending the World Baseball Classic games in bothJapan and the United States. Fans wearing these products were immediately noticeable atevery stadium because their seats were blocked together and they coordinated simultaneousand harmonious chants in support of their home team.

Fans Line Up at Retail Outlets forTheir Favorite Major League Stars

T hroughout the World Baseball Classic, participatingMajor League Baseball players signed merchandise

and memorabilia at both retail and stadium shops. DuringRounds 1 and 2 of the event, players visited fans at theChase Field Stadium Store in Phoenix, Arizona, theChamps flagship store in the Plaza Las Américas Mall inSan Juan, Puerto Rico, and Angel Stadium in Anaheim,California. At all venues, fans with World Baseball Classicfever lined up outside and around stores to meet theirfavorite national team players. The signings generatedincremental World Baseball Classic merchandise sales,bringing the fans closer to their favorite stars of theinaugural tournament.

TOURNAMENT RECORD: 5-3 (Final)

STAR PLAYER: Pedro Luis Lazo, Pitcher

FAST FACT: Cuba has now advanced to atleast the Championship Game of aninternational tournament for the 37thstraight time.


STAR PLAYER: Shairon Martis, Pitcher

FAST FACT: 18-year old right-hander, ShaironMartis of Curacao threw the first ever WorldBaseball Classic no-hitter in a 10-0 victoryover Panama. Remarkably he accomplishedthe task without the benefit of a strikeout.


STAR PLAYER: Bruce Chen, Pitcher

FAST FACT: Hall of Famer Rod Carew,who compiled 3,053 hits en route toseven American League batting titles,was born in Panama.


STAR PLAYER: Carlos Beltran, Outfield

FAST FACT: Hiram Bithorn Stadium inSan Juan, Puerto Rico was the onlyvenue to host two rounds of WorldBaseball Classic games.

L I C E N S I N G

Authentication ProgramT housands of items were authenticated as part of the World

Baseball Classic authentication program. The program utilizes astate-of-the-art hologram and serialnumbering system giving fans theassurance that items purporting tobe game-used are in factauthentic. Authenticators wereon hand at every venuecollecting such items as game-used balls, bases, jerseys, line-up cards and on-deck circles.Items have a tamper-proofhologram created by Optical Security,Inc., featuring a unique identificationnumber denoting authenticity. Some World Baseball Classicauthenticated items will be on display at the National Baseball Hallof Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y. this summer. Fans havean opportunity to obtain World Baseball Classic authenticated itemsthat are incorporated into products from the Highland Mint and theUpper Deck Company.

Team U.S.A. members Al Leiter, Brian Schneider, and Jason Varitek greetfans and sign autographs at Angel Stadium in Anaheim during Round 2.

Auth

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ticWorld Baseball Classic baseball signedby

TeamJapan.

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W ith Japan crowned champions of the 2006 WorldBaseball Classic, fans were eager to purchase

national team items. Approximately 250 retail outlets,ranging from nationwide sporting good stores to stadiumdome shops, and mail-order advertisements in newspaper,magazine and on radio, offered product for fans wanting amemento to remember the historic achievement.

At the dome shops, which included Tokyo Dome, OsakaDome, Fukuoka Dome, Nagoya Dome, Kobe SkyMarkStadium, Yokohama Stadium, and Fullcast Stadium Miyagi,top-selling items were the official program, Majestic nameand number Ichiro Suzuki t-shirts, and Japan National Teamphone straps. At the sports stores, sell-through for appareland headwear was strong and popular items included New Era authentic caps and name andnumber t-shirts and batting practice jerseys of Ichiro and tournament MVP Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Sales of World Baseball Classic product increased 25% after Japan won the championshipand consumer demand caused retailers to constantly re-stock their shelves. Mizuno Corporation,the official uniform supplier of the Japan National Team, which developed authentic and replicajerseys, name and number t-shirts, and supporting t-shirts for retail, worked hard to produceadditional units of product to keep up with fast-growing consumer demand.

Mizuno also developed a special Japan National Team Champion t-shirt that containedthe game schedule on the front and the roster of players, coaches, and manager on theback. Other commemorative championship products developed by local licensees includeda limited edition Zippo lighter and a championship t-shirt for kids.

Due to the enormous media coverage of the player locker room and champagnecelebration following Japan’s victory, the locker-room t-shirts and caps by Majestic andNew Era became two of the most popular overall items sold.

Sales Soar in Japan with Championship

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COUNTRY BROADCASTERCanada Rogers Sportsnet

Cuba RTV

China CCTV

Chinese Taipei Videoland and TVBS

Curacao UTS

Dominican Republic CDN

Guatemala Canal 3

Italy Europa TV

Japan J Sports, TV Asahi, NTV, TBS

Korea Xport, KBS, SBS, MBC

Mexico Televisa

Netherlands NOS

Nicaragua Ratensa

Panama TV Max

Pan European NASN

Pan Latin America ESPN International

Pan Pacific Rim ESPN International

Puerto Rico Deportes 13

Sweden/Norway Viasat

USA ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes

Venezuela Meridiano, VTV

Worldwide American Forces Network

CLASSIC CROWDS: South Koreansgather to watch the televisionbroadcast of the World BaseballClassic Semi-Final game betweenKorea and Japan in front of theSeoul City Hall, March 19, 2006.The game attracted so muchinterest that it was shown on bigscreens in 15 different locations inKorea including baseball stadiumsand World Cup Soccer venues. (Photo by Getty Images)

Television and Radio Broadcasts Worldwide

T he inaugural World Baseball Classic was broadcast in seven different languages to 205countries around the world. In total, 48 different broadcasters covered the tournament on

television, terrestrial and satellite radio and the Internet; 20 had announcers call the action livefrom game sites. The TV coverage of the first-time event exceeded ratings expectations in virtuallyevery market (see highlights below).

In the United States, ESPN and ESPN2 offered 17 live telecasts, highlighted by the March 18Semi-Finals and March 20 Final from PETCO Park. ESPN Deportes, ESPN's Spanish-languagenetwork in the U.S., televised all 39 games of the inaugural tournament live. Additionally, 14Games were shown in syndication on various channels within the United States. (See right forcomplete list of TV broadcasters.)

International radio broadcast partners included: Rogers Radio (Canada), RTV (Cuba), BCC(Chinese Taipei), UTS (Curacao), CDN (D.R.), Jolf and TBS (Japan), KBS (Korea), Grupo EGSA(Panama), Radio WOSO and Noti Uno (P.R.), ESPN Radio, XM Satellite Radio and Radio Korea(U.S.), Union Radio, Circuito FM Center and Radio Nacional de Venezuela (Venezuela), andAmerican Forces Network Radio (worldwide).


STAR PLAYER: Peter Moylan, Pitcher

FAST FACT: There are currently 85Australian-born players on rosters in Major League and Minor LeagueBaseball.

TOURNAMENT RECORD: 5-2 (Semi-Finals)

STAR PLAYER: Adrian Beltre, Third Base

FAST FACT: The winner of the DominicanWinter Professional League has won theCaribbean World Series a remarkable 14times since 1970.


STAR PLAYER: Jason Grilli, Pitcher

FAST FACT: Professional baseball in Italywas first played in Milan circa 1948.


STAR PLAYER: Freddy Garcia, Pitcher

FAST FACT: Venezuela’s Leones deCaracas won the 2006 Caribbean WorldSeries, defeating the Tigres de Licey ofthe Dominican Republic.

B R O A D C A S T I N G

Global TV Ratings Highlights:CANADA – For the live broadcast on Rogers Sportsnet, 369,000 viewers tuned in to theCanada vs. U.S. game on March 8. An additional 160,000 watched the replay that night.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – The World Baseball Classic was the highest rated among all sportsprogramming in the D.R. for the first three weeks in March. Three games represented the highest-rated programs on their respective dates and eight others were rated first in their time slots.

JAPAN – The Japan vs. Cuba Final received a 43.4 rating, equaling 20.8 million households(approximately 52 million viewers). It was the best ever rating for a Nippon Television Networkbroadcast of a baseball game.

KOREA – Of the 25 games aired by Xports, 11 received the highest share of audience for allsports programming of the day, and six received second highest shares.

PUERTO RICO — Four games involving Team Puerto Rico on Deportes 13 earned the highestTV rating in their prime time spots, beating out programming on leading Puerto Rico networks.

UNITED STATES – Classic games posted four of the top five largest household audiences forany telecast on ESPN2 in 2006.

UNITED STATES – Mexico’s second round victory over the United States on March 16 was themost watched program among Men 18-49 and Men 25-54 on cable television that day.

Demand for Virtual Signage atAll-Time High for Tournament

W orld Baseball Classic, Inc. distributed 132 virtualsignage feeds and attracted more than 20 worldwide

advertisers. At least three different feeds were distributedfor every game played in the U.S. and Puerto Rico and arecord six feeds were needed to meet the demand for theSemi-Finals and Final game. In addition to the global virtualfeed, customized feeds were developed for the U.S., Japan,Venezuela, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Thesefeeds enabled WBCI to attract both global and country-specificadvertisers to the event, including Asahi, Budweiser, CANTV,Konami, Citgo, Mastercard, Nikon, Maltín Polar, VerizonDominicana, Presidente, Chrysler/Dodge, Banco Mercantil andBurger King.

Virtual signage boards will continue to be availableduring the MLB season, for both the MLB All-Star Game andevery game of the World Series.

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The HardwareT he World Baseball Classic

Championship Trophy (photo right),created by Tiffany & Co., is made ofsterling silver, stands 25-inches talland weighs 30 pounds. The design,inspired by the tournament logo,features a 'global baseball' as thecenterpiece. The Trophy was taken ona 12-team tour of Japan's NipponProfessional Baseball this spring andwill be on display at the league's Hallof Fame this summer. The award waspresented to the Japan Team after theirMarch 20 victory over Cuba in theFinal. The Japan Team also receivedindividual gold medals for theirChampionship run, while Team Cubawas presented with sterling silvermedals for their runner-up finish.

World FamousW ith the world watching, no player was better

than Daisuke Matsuzaka. As his Japan teamcelebrated the first ever World Baseball ClassicChampionship, Matsuzaka was awarded thetournament’s Most Valuable Player Award for hismasterful performances throughout. The flame-throwing right-hander was credited with three ofJapan’s five wins including a brilliant performanceagainst Cuba for the Championship in front of 42,696fans at PETCO Park. For the tournament, he held opponents to only two earned runs in13 innings, striking out 10 and allowing only eight hits. Matsuzaka, who features a blazingfastball and sharp-breaking slider, is a standout with the Seibu Lions of NipponProfessional Baseball in Japan where he is 91-55 with a 3.07 ERA in seven seasons.After receiving his MVP Award from Tournament Ambassador Tommy Lasorda, Matsuzakaexpressed his pleasure: “We all aimed at winning the championship here, and in the lastgame, with the world championship on the line, I was named as a starter of the game,and I’m really proud of the fact that I was able to start and contribute to the win.”

Hall of Fame Manager Tommy Lasorda of the Los Angeles Dodgers served as theAmbassador for the World Baseball Classic. Mr. Lasorda played an integralrole in promoting the tournament with an intense schedule of mediatours. He appeared on national television and radio programs andwas interviewed by national and international print media fromDecember through March. Ambassador Lasorda, who haseither played or managed in 14 of the16 participatingcountries, visited each tournament venue city prior to the event and appeared at the different venues, spreading good will to fans and players alike, during ‘the Classic’.The following is a note from the Ambassador:

Serving as the Ambassador-at-Large for the inaugural WorldBaseball Classic was a privilege and an honor. From the time Bob DuPuycalled my office and asked me to be the ambassador to the time we all stood athome plate at PETCO Park to congratulate Team Japan on their tremendous victory, Ihad a great time. In fact, I can't wait for the 2009 Classic!

This tournament brought the baseball world together to celebrate itsinternational growth and rallied the fans together to celebrate the passion

our game inspires. Whether it was Korea vs. Japan, Puerto Rico vs.the Dominican Republic or just the possibility of the U.S. vs. Cuba,

the fans lived the excitement of baseball rivalries. The playerspursued victory with honor and represented the game to thehighest degree of class, dignity and character.

To serve as Ambassador, I was pulled away from my firstlove, Dodger baseball; but as it has been said about me in the

past, “Dodger Stadium is his address, but every ballpark is hishome.” I feel that way now more than ever.The World Baseball Classic was a tremendous success and I

would like to congratulate Commissioner Selig and Donald Fehr forforming this partnership, all the players and coaches for their participation andlast, but certainly not least, the fans around the world who continue to makebaseball the best game on earth.

T he World Baseball Classic deliveredremarkable numbers on the internet,

as MLB Advanced Media experienced greatsuccess throughout its coverage of thetournament on worldbaseballclassic.com.The website, which includes live gamecoverage, news, stats, rosters, standings,schedules and the ability to purchase merchandisefrom the inaugural event, features 16 different country sites foreach national team available in seven different languages.From its launch through the end of the event,worldbaseballclassic.com compiled more than one billion pageviews and over one million multimedia accesses. More than300,000 tickets were sold online and approximately 76,000units of tournament merchandise were purchased via theinternet. ‘worldbaseballclassic.com’ will continue to be theprimary source for developing news on the 2009 WorldBaseball Classic as it unfolds.

Unprecedented Coverage

Ambassador Lasorda Travels the World for ‘The Classic’

Team Cuba infielder Eduardo Paretspeaks to media prior to World BaseballClassic game in San Juan.

A n unprecedented 5,402 World BaseballClassic credential applications were received

from television, radio, internet and print journalistsworldwide. Media for the first-ever eventrepresented 25 different countries, including all16 participating countries and territories, andmajor international wire services and mediaoutlets throughout the world.

Dentsu, Inc., one of the world’s largestadvertising conglomerates and thepremier ad firm in Japan, was ahighly-valued partner of WBCI in Asia.Dentsu supported sponsorship andbroadcast sales throughout the regionfor the inaugural event.

MB Sports, Inc. was promoter of thegames for WBCI in Puerto Rico. TheSan Juan-based company handledmarketing, advertising, promotions,sponsorship and ticket sales for thefirst and second round games atHiram Bithorn Stadium.

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worldbaseballclassic.com

“I enjoyed everything aboutit except the result. I’drecommend that anyonewho’s asked should play in the next one.”

– Although his U.S. team did not win thechampionship, New York Yankees

All-Star shortstop Derek Jeter gives astrong endorsement for the 2009

World Baseball Classic.

For more World Baseball Classic information contact James Pearce at 212-931-7518 or [email protected].

CITY VENUE # GAMES ATTENDANCETokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome 6 games 100,964Phoenix, Arizona Chase Field 3 games 65,464Scottsdale, Arizona Scottsdale Stadium 3 games 25,741San Juan, Puerto Rico Hiram Bithorn Stadium 12 games 169,974Orlando, Florida Disney’s Wide World of Sports 6 games 59,988Anaheim, California Angel Stadium 6 games 191,717San Diego, California PETCO Park 3 games 126,603

CHAMPION

FINAL

SEMI-FINALS

ROUND 2

ROUND 1

POOL A

POOL 1 POOL 2

POOL B POOL C POOL D

Tournament Bracket Sell-Out Crowds Highlight the EventA t final count, 740,451 passionate baseball fans attended inaugural World Baseball Classic games

in three countries and territories and seven different cities. Fans from 48 of the 50 United Statesand 15 different countries purchased tickets to the tournament. Sell-out crowds were recorded inScottsdale, Orlando, San Juan and San Diego; the Semi-Finals and Final at PETCO Park were completesell-outs. The following is a venue-by-venue attendance summary.

World Baseball Classic All-World Team(AS VOTED BY A PANEL OF INTERNATIONAL BASEBALL MEDIA)

8

First Base: Seung Yeop Lee

Second Base: Yulieski Gourriel

Third Base: Adrian Beltre

Outfield: Jong Beom Lee

Outfield: Ken Griffey, Jr.

Outfield: Ichiro Suzuki

Designated Hitter: Yoandri Garlobo

Pitcher: Yadel Marti

Pitcher: Daisuke Matsuzaka

Pitcher: Chan Ho Park

Catcher: Tomoya Satozaki

Shortstop: Derek JeterShortstop: Derek Jeter

M ajor League Baseball Productions followed every team in the inauguraltournament and the result not only gives you an up-close look at all the

action but also takes you behind-the-scenes – in the clubhouse and the stands– with unprecedented access. With an inspirational pre-game speech by Cubamanager Higinio Velez, audio available in English, Japanese, Korean or Spanish,and wireless sound from many of the Major League Baseball playersparticipating in this event, this is sure to be both a commemorative keepsakeand a historical benchmark. The DVD can be purchased at shop.mlb.com.

‘Classic’ Captured on DVD

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TOTAL ATTENDANCE:

740,451

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