Felipe Alou has announced that he intends to assemble “an invincible” Dominican team for the World Baseball Classic that opens on 5 March 2009 with first round games in Tokyo, San Juan (Puerto Rico) and Mexico City. The DR team will be playing the Netherlands, Panama and Puerto Rico at the Hiram Bithorn stadium in Puerto Rico from 7-11 March, but to be ready, Alou wants team members to join the local teams.
Alou says that the best way for the players to get in shape is to join the final weeks of the Dominican Winter Baseball Championship, which opens in mid-October. The regular season ends in December and playoffs are held in January with the finals in the first week of February. This announcement means it is likely that a larger number of Major League Baseball players who expect to make the Dominican team to the Classic will be playing from December through February at least.
The World Baseball Classic classifies the world’s best 16 teams. In next year’s tournament, the Dominican Republic, China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Cuba, Mexico, South Africa, Canada, Italy, the US, Venezuela, the Netherlands, Panama and Puerto Rico will vie for the title, which was won by Japan in 2006.
Stadiums where games are played are located in Santo Domingo, Santiago (less than an hour’s drive from Puerto Plata), San Pedro de Macoris (15 minutes from Juan Dolio and Guayacanes hotels), La Romana (15 minutes from Casa de Campo, 25 minutes from Bayahibe hotels), and San Francisco de Macoris (two hours from Samana). Arrangements can be made to attend the games.