2019 WBSC Premier12

Tournament details
Countries	Japan  Mexico  South Korea  Taiwan
Dates	November 2–17
Teams	12
Defending champions	South Korea
Final positions
Champions	Japan(1st title)
Runners-up	South Korea
Third place	Mexico
Fourth place	United States
Tournament statistics
Games played	32
Attendance	357,525 (11,173 per game)
Awards
MVP	Seiya Suzuki
← 2015 2024 →

The2019 WBSC Premier12 was an internationalbaseball championship featuring the 12 highest-ranked national teams in the world, held by theWorld Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). It was the secondWBSC Premier12 event. The championship was held from November 2 to 17, 2019, inMexico,South Korea,Taiwan, andJapan.^[1]

The tournament served as aqualifier forbaseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Two quota spots were allocated, withTeam Mexico as the top finisher from the Americas earning one spot, andTeam South Korea as the top-finishing team from the Asia/Oceania region (excludingTeam Japan, which already qualified as host) earning the other.^[2][3]

Japan defeated South Korea in the championship game, and the bronze medal game was won by Mexico overTeam USA.

Top 12 Rankings as of December 17, 2018[4]
Rank	Team	Points	Confederation
1	Japan	5796	BFA
2	United States	5565	COPABE
3	South Korea	4987	BFA
4	Chinese Taipei	3569	BFA
5	Cuba	3516	COPABE
6	Mexico	3393	COPABE
7	Australia	2440	BCO
8	Netherlands	2421	CEB
9	Venezuela	2348	COPABE
10	Canada	2186	COPABE
11	Puerto Rico	2105	COPABE
12	Dominican Republic	1920	COPABE

The 12 highest-ranked national teams qualified to participate in the 2019 WBSC Premier12, based on the then-most-recentWBSC World Rankings, which were as of December 17, 2018.^[5]

The tournament began with three groups of four teams each playing in the 12-team Opening Round. Each team played three games, in around robin format against the other three teams in its group.^[6]

The top two teams from each group then advanced to the six-team Super Round, which was hosted atZOZO Marine Stadium and theTokyo Dome in Japan.

In the Super Round, the top two teams that advanced from each of the three groups competed in around robin format against the top two teams that advanced from the other two groups, for a total of four games played per team.^[6]

Following the conclusion of the Super Round, four teams advanced to the Finals. The four teams were selected based on a combination of the results of the Opening Round game contested between the two teams in the same group that qualified for the Super Round (1 game) and the teams' results in the Super Round (4 games).

The 3rd- and 4th-place teams competed in a Bronze Medal Game, while the 1st- and 2nd-place teams faced each other in the Championship Final at the Tokyo Dome.^[7]

Six stadiums were used during the tournament:

Group A	Group B	Group B
Zapopan,Mexico	Taichung,Taiwan	Taoyuan, Taiwan
Estadio de Béisbol Charros de Jalisco	Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium	Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium
Capacity:16,000	Capacity:20,000	Capacity:20,000

Group C	Super Round	Super Round and Finals
Seoul,South Korea	Chiba,Japan	Tokyo, Japan
Gocheok Sky Dome	ZOZO Marine Stadium	Tokyo Dome
Capacity:16,813	Capacity:30,000	Capacity:46,000

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	RF	RA	RD	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Mexico(H)	3	3	0	24	5	+19	1.000	—	Advance toSuper Round
2	United States	3	2	1	21	16	+5	.667	1
3	Dominican Republic	3	1	2	23	20	+3	.333	2
4	Netherlands	3	0	3	6	33	−27	.000	3

Date	Local time	Road team	Score	Home team	Inn.	Venue	Game duration	Attendance	Boxscore
November 2	12:00	Netherlands	0 – 9	United States		Estadio Charros de Jalisco	2:17	3,015	[1]
November 2	19:00	Dominican Republic	1 – 6	Mexico	6	Estadio Charros de Jalisco	2:00	8,000	[2]
November 3	12:00	Dominican Republic	14 – 40	Netherlands	7	Estadio Charros de Jalisco	2:59	5,132	[3]
November 3	19:00	Mexico	8 – 2	United States		Estadio Charros de Jalisco	3:03	10,123	[4]
November 4	19:00	United States	10 – 80	Dominican Republic		Estadio Charros de Jalisco	3:20	3,102	[5]
November 5	19:00	Netherlands	02 – 10	Mexico		Estadio Charros de Jalisco	3:17	6,895	[6]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	RF	RA	RD	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Japan	3	3	0	20	5	+15	1.000	—	Advance toSuper Round
2	Chinese Taipei(H)	3	2	1	10	9	+1	.667	1
3	Venezuela	3	1	2	11	12	−1	.333	2
4	Puerto Rico	3	0	3	2	17	−15	.000	3

Date	Local time	Road team	Score	Home team	Inn.	Venue	Game duration	Attendance	Boxscore
November 5	18:00	Venezuela	4 – 8	Japan		Taoyuan International Stadium	3:39	3,868	[7]
November 5	18:30	Puerto Rico	1 – 6	Chinese Taipei		Taichung Intercontinental Stadium	2:58	11,852	[8]
November 6	18:00	Puerto Rico	0 – 4	Japan		Taoyuan International Stadium	2:35	4,209	[9]
November 6	18:30	Chinese Taipei	3 – 0	Venezuela		Taichung Intercontinental Stadium	3:56	10,983	[10]
November 7	12:00	Venezuela	7 – 1	Puerto Rico		Taichung Intercontinental Stadium	2:48	618	[11]
November 7	18:30	Japan	8 – 1	Chinese Taipei		Taichung Intercontinental Stadium	3:37	20,465	[12]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	RF	RA	RD	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	South Korea(H)	3	3	0	15	1	+14	1.000	—	Advance toSuper Round
2	Australia	3	1	2	5	9	−4	.333[a]	2
3	Canada	3	1	2	5	6	−1	.333[a]	2
4	Cuba	3	1	2	3	12	−9	.333[a]	2

Date	Local time	Road team	Score	Home team	Inn.	Venue	Game duration	Attendance	Boxscore
November 6	12:00	Canada	3 – 0	Cuba		Gocheok Sky Dome	3:16	250	[13]
November 6	19:00	Australia	0 – 5	South Korea		Gocheok Sky Dome	2:50	5,899	[14]
November 7	12:00	Australia	2 – 3	Cuba	10	Gocheok Sky Dome	3:15	252	[15]
November 7	19:00	South Korea	3 – 1	Canada		Gocheok Sky Dome	3:15	6,000	[16]
November 8	12:00	Canada	1 – 3	Australia		Gocheok Sky Dome	2:50	200	[17]
November 8	19:00	Cuba	0 – 7	South Korea		Gocheok Sky Dome	3:05	13,600	[18]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	RF	RA	RD	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Japan(H)	5	4	1	27	16	+11	.800	—	Advance togold medal game
2	South Korea	5	3	2	25	21	+4	.600[a]	1
3	Mexico	5	3	2	17	12	+5	.600[a]	1	Advance tobronze medal game
4	United States	5	2	3	11	20	−9	.400[b]	2
5	Chinese Taipei	5	2	3	15	14	+1	.400[b]	2
6	Australia	5	1	4	5	17	−12	.200	3

Date	Local time	Road team	Score	Home team	Inn.	Venue	Game duration	Attendance	Boxscore
November 11	12:00	Chinese Taipei	0 – 2	Mexico		Zozo Marine Stadium	2:49	2,803	[19]
November 11	19:00	Australia	2 – 3	Japan		Zozo Marine Stadium	2:39	17,819	[20]
November 11	19:00	United States	1 – 5	South Korea		Tokyo Dome	3:21	3,012	[21]
November 12	12:00	Australia	0 – 3	Mexico		Tokyo Dome	2:36	2,089	[22]
November 12	19:00	Chinese Taipei	7 – 0	South Korea		Zozo Marine Stadium	3:32	4,056	[23]
November 12	19:00	United States	4 – 3	Japan		Tokyo Dome	3:27	27,827	[24]
November 13	12:00	Australia	2 – 1	United States		Tokyo Dome	2:45	2,149	[25]
November 13	19:00	Mexico	1 – 3	Japan		Tokyo Dome	3:01	31,776	[26]
November 15	12:00	Chinese Taipei	2 – 3	United States		Tokyo Dome	2:37	4,967	[27]
November 15	19:00	Mexico	3 – 7	South Korea		Tokyo Dome	3:34	5,121	[28]
November 16	12:00	Australia	1 – 5	Chinese Taipei		Tokyo Dome	2:57	7,299	[29]
November 16	19:00	South Korea	08 – 10	Japan		Tokyo Dome	3:40	44,224	[30]

Date	Local time	Road team	Score	Home team	Inn.	Venue	Game duration	Attendance	Boxscore
November 17	12:00	United States	2 – 3	Mexico	10	Tokyo Dome	3:15	44,960	[31]

Date	Local time	Road team	Score	Home team	Inn.	Venue	Game duration	Attendance	Boxscore
November 17	19:00	South Korea	3 – 5	Japan		Tokyo Dome	3:00	44,960	[32]

Rk Team W L 1  Japan 7 1 2  South Korea 5 3 bronze medal game 3  Mexico 6 2 4  United States 4 4 Eliminated in Super Round 5  Chinese Taipei 4 3 6  Australia 2 5 Eliminated in Group stage 7  Canada 1 2 7  Dominican Republic 1 2 7  Venezuela 1 2 10  Cuba 1 2 10  Netherlands 0 3 10  Puerto Rico 0 3

2019 WBSC Premier 12  Japan 1st title

Following the conclusion of the tournament, the WBSC announced the Premier12 All-World Team and individual awards winners.^[8]

All-World Team Position Player Starting Pitcher Chang Yi Relief Pitcher Brandon Dickson Catcher Erik Kratz First Baseman Bobby Dalbec Second Baseman Ryosuke Kikuchi Third Baseman Wang Wei-chen Shortstop Kim Ha-seong Outfielders Lee Jung-hoo Jonathan Jones Seiya Suzuki Designated Hitter Brent Rooker

Individual Awards Award Player Value Most Valuable Player Seiya Suzuki Best Batting Average Seiya Suzuki .478 Pitcher with BestERA Chang Yi 0.00 Pitcher with Best Win/Loss Average Chang Yi 2–0 Most Runs Batted In Seiya Suzuki 12 Home Run King Brent Rooker 3 Most Stolen Bases Ukyo Shuto 4 Most Runs Scored Seiya Suzuki 9 Outstanding Defensive Player Ryosuke Kikuchi

The WBSC gave $5.2 million in prize money to participants, distributed as follows, with a minimum of half of a team's prize money to be distributed equally among its players:^[9][10]

• Winner: US$1,500,000 (Japan)
• 2nd Place: US$750,000 (South Korea)
• 3rd Place: US$500,000 (Mexico)
• 4th Place: US$350,000 (United States)
• 5th Place: US$300,000 (Chinese Taipei)
• 6th Place: US$250,000 (Australia)
• 7–12th Place: US$180,000 each
• Each win in Opening Round: US$10,000
• Each win in Super Round: US$20,000
• 1st Place in Opening Round: US$20,000

In the Super Round game between South Korea and the United States on November 11, which South Korea won 5–1, a potential blown call by umpire Tetsuya Shibata against South Korea became a topic of debate. In the third inning, baserunnerKim Ha-seong slid back to home plate as catcherEric Kratz attempted to tag him out. Tetsuya ruled Kim out. Team Korea's coach,Kim Kyung-moon immediately requested aVAR check but was refused.^[11] After reviewing slow motion replays online, some criticized the call, claiming it was wrong and that South Korea lost a run. TheKorea Baseball Organization met after the game with the tournament's technical directors and filed an appeal,^[12] additionally stating that Kratz physically obstructed Kim's path to home plate, in violation of WBSC playing regulations. WBSC responded by saying that it respected Team Korea's perspective and would seek to make improvements in the future.^[13] Korean media reports claimed that the Japanese media kept this incident quiet and many ridiculed the controversy in Japan, due toanti-Korean sentiment in the country.^[14]

• List of sporting events in Taiwan

• Premier12 WBSC 2019 homepage

• 2019 in baseball
• International baseball competitions hosted by Japan
• International baseball competitions hosted by South Korea
• International baseball competitions hosted by Taiwan
• International baseball competitions hosted by Mexico
• WBSC Premier12
• 2019 in Japanese sport
• 2019 in South Korean sport
• 2019 in Taiwanese sport
• 2019 in Mexican sports
• November 2019 sports events in Asia
• November 2019 sports events in Japan
• November 2019 sports events in South Korea
• November 2019 sports events in Mexico
• Baseball qualification for the 2020 Summer Olympics
• Baseball in Seoul

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