[FuzzyRussianHat]

The 1996 World Baseball Championship was the 50^th edition of the event and was centered around Johannesburg, South Africa. Division 1 had Taiwan in first at 8-1, while Ukraine and Venezuela were both two games back. It is the third division title in five years for the Taiwanese, who have five division titles total. D2 saw the United States and the Philippines tie for first at 8-1. The Americans won head-to-head for the tiebreaker, sending them to the elite eight for the 42^nd time.

Division 3 had defending runner-up China and Australia both at 7-2. The Chinese had the tiebreaker for an impressive sixth consecutive division title, tying Brazil for the longest such streak by someone other than the USA. China has also moved forward 19 times. A tight Division 4 saw Russia first at 7-2, edging out 6-3 efforts by Argentina, Ghana, Haiti, and Japan. It is the second time in three years the Russians have moved forward and the 13^th overall. In Division 5, defending World Champion Canada (8-1) held off strong 7-2 challenges from the Dominican Republic and the Netherlands. The Canadians have advanced 31 times, second only behind the Americans.

Pakistan impressively swept the Division 6 field at 9-0. It is only the second division win for the Pakistanis, who took third in the 1990 WBC. D7 saw South Korea first at 7-2, while Brazil, Germany, and Portugal were all at 6-3. It was the second title in three years for the Koreans and their 17^th overall. The other unbeaten in divisional play was Indonesia atop D8. The Indonesians have an impressive four year division title streak and 13 division wins overall.

China was first in Round Robin Group A at 5-1, earning an impressive fifth straight final four appearance and their 14^th overall. Taiwan at 3-3 advanced as well, while defending champ Canada and Indonesia were both 2-4. Interestingly enough for Taiwan, all five times they won their division, they also advanced to the final four. In Group B, the United States took the top spot at 5-1 for a 36^th semifinal berth. Pakistan and Russia tied at 3-3 and South Korea was 1-5. The tiebreaker went to the Pakistanis for their second semifinal appearance.

In the semis, China outlasted Pakistan 3-2 and the US swept Taiwan. Pakistan officially was third, matching their prior best from 1990. Taiwan finished fourth for the third time in five years. The Chinese earned a fourth straight finals appearance, something only the Americans had done previously. The US made it to their 32^nd championship.



The 50^th World Championship had the United States back upon their throne, defeating China 4-2. The Americans are now a dominant 28-4 in their finals appearances, getting their first title since 1992. The Chinese were repeat runner up, moving to 4-5 all-time in the championship.



Tournament MVP was US LF Lukas Warrell, a fourth year rising star with Albuquerque. The Tucson, Arizona native had 12 home runs, 27 RBI, 27 hits, 23 runs, 17 walks, 70 total bases, and 2.2 WAR in 24 starts with a .314/.439/.814 slash. Argentina’s Cristian Saez was Best Pitcher. A two-way player with Buenos Aires, his primary value with the Atlantics was in left field while adding respectable relief pitching. In the WBC, the 28-year old tossed 13.2 scoreless innings with 30 strikeouts, allowing only three hits and three walks.

Other notes: South Korea’s Myeong-Hwan Sung was the seventh player to hit for the cycle in the WBC, going 4-4 against the US in the Round Robin. The Philippines’ Franklin Sto. Tomas had a no-hitter with 12 strikeouts and five walks against Sudan. Below are the updated all-time tournament stats through 50 editions of the WBC.