2017 World Baseball Classic

2017 World Baseball Classic

Tournament details
Countries	Japan Mexico South Korea United States
Dates	March 6–22, 2017
Teams	16
Final positions
Champions	United States (1st title)
Runner-up	Puerto Rico
Third place	Japan
Fourth place	Netherlands
Tournament statistics
Games played	40
Attendance	973,699 (24,342 per game)
MVP	Marcus Stroman
← 2013 2023 →

The 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, composed of 16 competing nations, held from March 6 to 22, 2017. It was the fourth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. The first-round hosts were Seoul, Tokyo, Miami, and Zapopan. The second-round hosts were Tokyo and San Diego, and the championship round was played in Los Angeles.^[1]

Twelve of the sixteen competing nations qualified based on their performance during the first round of the 2013 tournament; the remaining four nations were the winners of four qualification tournaments that took place in February, March, and September 2016.^[2] Two of the four qualifiers, Colombia and Israel, made their first appearance in the WBC, and both have secured their positions for the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

The Netherlands, Japan, Puerto Rico, and the United States advanced to the championship round. Defending champion Dominican Republic was eliminated in the second round. The United States defeated Puerto Rico to win the championship game, 8–0. Marcus Stroman was named tournament MVP. He made three starts for the U.S. and posted a 2.35 ERA in 151⁄3 total innings, including 6 shutout innings in the championship game.