[FuzzyRussianHat]

The 1958 World Baseball Championship was held in Seville, Spain. In Division 1, the defending champion United States advanced to the round robin with a 7-0 record, although they had a stiff challenge from Italy at 6-1. A very competitive Division 2 went to South Korea at 5-2, finishing one game better than Bolivia, Honduras, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. Division 3 was even tighter with the top four teams all 4-3 and the bottom four all at 3-4. Belarus, France, Romania, and Ukraine each were in the upper group and the tiebreaker went to the Ukrainians. Last year’s runner-up Canada missed at 3-4. In Division 4, Belgium and Spain both finished 6-1 and the tiebreaker sent the Belgians into the next round.

Division 5 had a four-way tie for the top spot at 5-2 between Germany, Kazakhstan, Mexico, and Poland with the Germans moving forward on the tiebreaker. Division 6 had a three-way tie at 5-2 between Brazil, the Czech Republic, and Peru; the Brazilians advanced on the tiebreaker In Division 7, North Korea won outright at 6-1, a game ahead of both Russia and Switzerland. And in Division 8, Chile and Colombia tied for first at 6-1 with the Colombians going to the Round Robin on the tiebreaker.

In the Double Round Robin Group A, the Americans and Ukrainians moved forward with 4-2 records, while Germany and Belgium both were ousted at 2-4. This sends Ukraine to the semifinal for the first time. Meanwhile, Group B had Brazil on top at 5-1 to earn their second semifinal appearance. South Korea and Colombia were 3-3 and North Korea was 1-5. The Colombians took the tiebreaker to advance to the semi for the third time.

Ukraine handled Colombia 4-1 to advance to the championship for the first time, while the United States downed Brazil in five games. The World Championship saw the Americans prevail 4-1, giving the US back-to-back titles, three in four years, and seven in the tournament’s first 12 years.





Tournament MVP went to American Ross Strickland. A 24-year old centerfielder playing for Minneapolis, he had a tournament-best 21 runs, 32 hits, 16 stolen bases, and 1.6 WAR; adding a .344 average, 8 home runs, and 21 RBI. South Korean’s Tae-Yang So was named the Best Pitcher. The 30-year old closer for Sapporo and 1955 Reliever of the Year tossed 11 scoreless innings in three appearances for two saves, 22 strikeouts, three walks, and 1.0 WAR.