2009 World Baseball Classic - Australia, Canada, Italy, Taiwan

The 2009 iteration of the World Baseball Classic showed things were still a work in progress with the format. There would still be 16 teams (all the original teams from 2006) competing in groups for the first round (the pools of teams were for the most part shuffled around) but instead of the round robin format, it would become a double elimination all the way to the final four. The style would be abandoned for 2013. Participation would prove to be another annoyance for Major League Baseball, who really wanted the competition to catch on and gain momentum. The problem was that while certain countries had no problem fielding their players, the early spring setting for this tournament meant that MLB players weren't quite in shape and a bit unwilling to alter their routine to prepare ahead of schedule for what they saw as exhibition games while their real job was still playing MLB baseball. The possibility of injury was too much of a deterrent for some, while others stayed away becau...