[FuzzyRussianHat]

The fifth World Baseball Championship took place in 1951 in San Diego, California. The United States went unbeaten dominating Division 1 at 11-0, three games ahead of Argentina, Germany, and North Korea. In Division 2, Venezuela and South Korea tied for the top spot at 9-2 with Colombia one back and Spain two back. Venezuela advanced to the round robin stage on the tiebreaker. In Division 3, Brazil prevailed at 9-2, finishing a game better than Peru and two ahead of Canada, Dominican Republican, Ecuador, and England. And in Division 4, defending world champ Mexico and Japan tied for first at 8-3. Japan had the tiebreaker, sending them to the final four.

1951 would be the final season using this postseason format with the final four playing a three-round robin against each other. The Americans had the top mark at 8-1, advancing to the championship along with Japan at 5-4. Brazil was third at 3-6 and Venezuela was fourth at 2-7. In the best-of-seven World Championship, the USA defeated Japan in five games. The Americans have taken three of the first five championships. It was the first finals appearance for Japan.





Adam Lewis was tournament MVP for back-to-back seasons. The 26-year old Baltimore CF had 42 hits, 26 runs, 10 doubles, 8 home runs, 20 RBI, a .412/.465/.765 slash and 2.0 WAR over 24 games. The Best Pitcher went to Mexico’s Aaron Reyes. A 33-year old veteran currently with Seattle, he had 12.2 scoreless innings with 19 strikeouts, four hits allowed, and one walk.