[FuzzyRussianHat]

The 1950 World Baseball Championship was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil with the fourth edition seeing significant expansion. The concept had proved a success and with the game expanding its reach in Europe and Asia; it was time to adjust the format. The field was expanded to 40 teams in four divisions of 10 teams each. The four division champs would meet in a three round robin and the top two from that round robin advanced to a best-of-seven championship. This postseason format lasted two years ultimately.



Division 1 saw the United States dominate at 10-1, three games ahead of second place Peru at 7-4. Division 2 ended up in a four-way tie between Colombia, France, Italy, and South Korea. The tiebreaker ultimately sent Colombia forward as the first South American team in the final four. Canada claimed Division 3 at 10-1, besting Venezuela by two games. Defending world champ Mexico picked up Division 4 at 9-2, one better than Bolivia and two ahead of Japan.

In the Round Robin format, the Americans were the best team at 7-2, advancing to their third championship in four years. The Mexicans were second at 6-3, while Colombia took the bronze at 3-6 and Canada was fourth at 2-7. In the championship series, Mexico prevailed for the second straight season. The Mexicans defeated the United States in five games, giving both nations two titles over the first four editions of the tournament.

Although they were the silver medalist, the MVP and Best Pitcher both went to Americans. 25-year old Baltimore CF Adam Lewis posted 42 hits, 26 runs, 10 doubles, 8 home runs, 20 RBI, and a .412 average over 24 games. Second-year Phoenix pitcher Oliver Henke, who struggled with a 5.26 ERA in his rookie season, had a 0.48 ERA over 18.2 tournament innings with 36 strikeouts.