[11] After a three-year gap between the first two installments of the tournament, plans were made for the World Baseball Classic to be repeated every four years following the 2009 event.

Gene Orza, counsel and board member of the Major League Baseball Players Association, began campaigning for such a tournament in 2004, enlisting the support of IBAF president Aldo Notari.

[15] Major League Baseball had been attempting to create such a tournament for at least two years, but faced resistance from both owners and the MLBPA players' union.

The 16-team field for the inaugural 2006 tournament was pre-selected, featuring the countries judged to be the "best baseball-playing nations" in the world; no qualifying competition was held.

The match began progressing when Japan's starting pitcher–Daisuke Matsuzaka–gave up four hits, five strikeouts and one run by the end of the 4th inning using a gyroball pitching style.

The aftermath of the final most notably included notice from Major League Baseball, from Cuba's increase in defection to Matsuzaka's impact for the World Series champion Boston Red Sox in the next year.

South Korea won the coin flip held after the second semifinal between Japan and the United States, designating them as the home team for the final.

With runners on first and third, Hiroyuki Nakajima hit an RBI single to bring Seiichi Uchikawa home to give Japan the lead 2−1.

Lim then hit Nakajima with a pitch and intentionally walked Norichika Aoki to face Kenji Johjima who was hitless up to that point.

Darvish made short work of South Korea, capping with a strikeout of Keun-woo Jeong to clinch Japan's successful defense of their 2006 championship.

Deduno recorded five strikeouts in five scoreless innings pitched and Fernando Rodney completed the game with a save, his seventh of the tournament.

[32][33] On the other hand, Defending champion Dominican Republic extended its WBC winning streak to 11 games, dating to the 2013 tournament, before being eliminated in the second round.

Puerto Rico had defeated the United States when they faced each other in Pool F.[34] In the semi-final Japan reached the semifinals with wins in all six games played in the previous rounds.

Mike Trout announced his participation, which motivated a cascade of others including Trea Turner, Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, J. T. Realmuto, Mookie Betts and more of MLB's finest to join Team USA.

Meanwhile, Japan faced Mexico in the semifinals, who were on a Cinderella run, majorly led by Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena.

With a 3 - 2 lead, two outs, and no runners on base in the bottom of the ninth inning, Japan's Shohei Ohtani - one of the best pitchers in recent memory - stood on the mound as his Angels teammate Mike Trout, widely considered the greatest player of his generation, stepped up to the plate.

After the first pitch of this iconic matchup, Fox Sports commentator Joe Davis reflected on the spectacle, saying, "As Benji Gil said last night, 'Baseball's already won.'"

[50] Before the championship game of the 2023 tournament, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred announced that the next World Baseball Classic would be held in 2026.

Other internationals included players from Cuba—Yulieski Gurriel, Yoandy Garlobo and Yadel Martí; and from the Dominican Republic—Albert Pujols, Pedro Martínez and José Bautista.

The 2009 Classic saw a similarly high-profile field, with a number of players such as Hall of Famers Pedro Martínez, Iván Rodríguez and Chipper Jones and the major international debuts of Cuba's Yoenis Céspedes and Aroldis Chapman.

However, other prominent MLB players accepted selections from their national teams, such as Miguel Cabrera, David Wright, R. A. Dickey, Joey Votto, Adrián González, Robinson Canó, and José Reyes, among many others.

In 2017, former All-Stars such as Adam Jones, Chris Archer, Buster Posey, Paul Goldschmidt, Andrew McCutchen and others played for the United States.

For the Dominican Republic, former All-Stars Adrián Beltré, Robinson Canó, Manny Machado, José Reyes, Edinson Vólquez, and more participated.

[62] St Louis Cardinals teammates Lars Nootbaar and Tommy Edman both participated as part of Japan and South Korea respectively, in honor of both their mothers' heritages.

[63][64] Similarly, Los Angeles Dodgers player Freddie Freeman decided to play for Canada instead, in honor of his late mother.

Brazil and Spain were the first new countries to earn berths in the WBC via qualification, and so far the addition of qualifying has allowed seven nations to play in the tournament who were not part of the original 16.

The restructured qualifying round consisted of a pair of six-team double-elimination tournaments, from which the winners and runners-up advanced to play in the 2023 WBC.

The tournament is one of the most popular events in the Caribbean, Central and South America, particularly in Venezuela, part of Northern Colombia and is called the "Clásico Mundial".

Thus far, seven different countries have hosted at least one WBC pool, with each edition of the tournament featuring games played in Asia, Latin America, and the United States.

Soon after this performance, Matsuzaka received a multi-million dollar contract to join the Boston Red Sox of America's Major League Baseball.