The World Baseball Challenge just got tougher.
The news was made official on Friday. The national team from the Bahamas has had to cancel its trip to Prince George due to financial reasons and its inability to field a competitive team for the August tournament.
That makes the 2013 WBC a five-team affair, with Canada, the United States, Cuba, Chinese-Taipei and Japan set to play Aug. 13-22.
While local organizers lament the fact one of the most friendly and approachable teams in the previous two WBC tournaments is not involved this year, the Bahamas was unquestionably the weakest team at Citizen Field in 2009 and 2011. This time around, the five remaining teams won't be anticipating any easy games.
"I hate to compare them to the Chicago Cubs but they've become our lovable losers, and I could say that with our friends from the Bahamas here," said WBC co-chair Jim Swanson.
"They were clearly better from 2009 to 2011 and we were looking forward to seeing that improvement again, but even the improvement we could have expected would not put them on a par with the other five teams."
The tournament runs into the time of year when college teams are gathering at their respective campuses and Swanson said those training camp start dates would have ruled out several Bahamas players. Because of the travel involved, it wasn't feasible for them to come for only part of the tournament, a common practice for players on Team Canada, namely pitchers, who will be in Prince George for only half of the WBC.
There will be a cost savings for cash-strapped tournament organizers, who made a successful plea to sponsors a month ago to raise more money, which saved the event from imminent collapse. Food, accommodation and transportation within the city is covered for all the teams and travel subsidies were provided for the Bahamas team, which was bused to Prince George from Seattle.
The tournament begins Tuesday, Aug. 13 at 7 p.m., with Canada facing the U.S.
The adjusted schedule without the Bahamas will mean each team will play six preliminary games. Cuba will play Chinese-Taipei and Japan twice, while Canada will play the U.S. and Japan twice.
We are excited about the calibre of the tournament this year, we've taken yet another step up after improving the level of play from 2009 to 2011, and this year the level will be outstanding, said Swanson. No team has come to this tournament yet and left Prince George with an undefeated record, which speaks to the competitive balance that should be even better for this year's tournament.
Tournament passes are now on sale at Ticketmaster outlets for $199 for a reserved grandstand seat and $150 for a bleacher seat. An adult individual game ticket, sold only at the gate, will cost $12.
