Dominican Republic is among 16 countries that will participate in the World Baseball Championships to be held this July in Italy. This is the first time that professional ball players participate in the tournament. For the Americas, Panama, US, Nicaragua, Canada, the DR and Cuba will participate. Asia will be represented by South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and China. Europe will be represented by Italy, Holland, Spain and Russia. Teams from South Africa and Austrialia will also play. The favorites of the championships are Cuba, the US, Japan, Nicaragua, South Korea and Taiwan. The championships are organized by the International Baseball Association and will be held in eight cities of Italy starting 21 July 1998.
