The season couldn't have started worse. Do-yeong Kim, just 20 years old at the time, was entering his third year with the Kia Tigers of the KBO, Korea's top professional baseball league. He was coming off an 84-game season which saw him top a .300 batting average with an increase

In the winter of 2016, Dodgers utility player and Kiké Hernández had just finished his second season with the Dodgers, yet to become the postseason hero that he is now known for in Los Angeles. So, that offseason, he returned to Puerto Rico to play for the Gigantes de Carolina

This is an excerpt from the latest edition of Michael Clair's International Beat Newsletter, bringing global baseball news to your inbox every month. Sign up for future installments HERE and check out the full newsletter HERE. The World Baseball Classic Qualifiers have wrapped up, with Nicaragua, Chinese Taipei, Colombia and

After Nicaragua and Chinese Taipei booked their trips to the 2026 World Baseball Classic last week, only two spots remained. The first of those was decided when Colombia went 3-0 in the Tucson (Ariz.) Qualifiers and booked its ticket to next year's tournament. China was eliminated after finishing with an

TUCSON, Ariz. – Colombia is going back to the World Baseball Classic. The team entered the Tucson Qualifier as the clear favorite, the country’s roster bursting with talent even after big league players such as José Quintana and Donovan Solano couldn’t participate. All they did at the Kino Veterans Memorial

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Vitor Ito speaks Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish. Unfortunately, I only speak English. That meant that this time, the translator needed his own translator. "I'm being careful not to talk too much, so it will be easier for the interpreter to translate," Ito said, laughing, his Portuguese being

TUCSON, Ariz. – With Colombia having already qualified for the 2026 World Baseball Classic after sweeping its three games at the Tucson leg of this year’s qualifiers this week -- and China having been eliminated after losing all three of its contests – the second team to come out of

TUCSON, Ariz. -- On a team filled with experienced ballplayers and Major Leaguers both past and present, it's not a veteran that Colombia manager Jose Mosquera penciled in at the top of his lineup. While sweeping its way through the World Baseball Classic Qualifiers this week to advance to the

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Lou Helmig is tall and lean, long brown locks hanging from beneath his ballcap. He looks the part of the prototypical ballplayer, like he was born to play the game. In a way, he was. Lou's grandfather, Claus, is called "the godfather of German baseball." He --

TUCSON, Ariz. -- The Brazilian national team isn't lacking in professional talent. Though there are no active Major Leaguers on the roster (former big leaguers Paulo Orlando and Andre Rienzo are on the coaching staff -- the first all-Brazilian coaching staff in the team's history), Angels prospect Lucas Ramirez --

Monday's World Baseball Classic Qualifiers featured a showdown of superstar baseball legacy vs. superstar tennis legacy -- and baseball won. Lucas Ramirez, the son of Red Sox legend Manny Ramirez, faced Jaden Agassi, the son of tennis Hall of Famers Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, during Brazil's game against Germany

TUCSON, Ariz. -- As 6-foot-3, 205-pound left-handed-hitting No. 24 took batting practice for Team Brazil at Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium on Saturday to prepare for the country’s first 2025 World Baseball Classic Qualifier game on Sunday vs. Colombia, the Brazilian club’s manager, Daniel Yiuchi Matsumoto, was talking about the 18-year-old

TUCSON, Ariz. -- The last time Colombia had to play in a World Baseball Classic Qualifier was nine years ago, in 2016. At the time, the country had never played in the main tournament, falling short of the tournament in 2012 with a 7-1 loss to Brazil in the Qualifier

After leading Leones del Escogido to the Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League (LIDOM) championship in the 2024-25 winter season -- his first managerial experience -- followed by the 2025 Caribbean Series crown in Mexicali last month, Albert Pujols will be named skipper of the Dominican squad for the 2026 World

TUCSON, Ariz. – When Colombia won its first game at the 2023 World Baseball Classic in extra innings over Mexico at Phoenix’s Chase Field, it seemed to be a continuation of the nation's ascent in the sport. In 2016, Colombia had qualified for its first Classic, which would be played

Nicaragua and Chinese Taipei are headed back to the World Baseball Classic! Nicaragua defeated the hosts, 6-0, to close out round-robin play on Sunday as the undefeated pool winner, while Chinese Taipei -- playing in front of sold out crowds at the Taipei Dome -- defeated Spain, 6-3, on Tuesday

The Qualifier host team is heading to the World Baseball Classic after Chinese Taipei held off Spain, 6-3, on Tuesday. Chinese Taipei will join Nicaragua, which earned a berth in the 2026 World Baseball Classic with a 6-0 victory over its hosts on Sunday morning to cap a 3-0 run

The World Baseball Classic Qualifiers opened with an absolutely stunning moment in the seventh inning of the first game between South Africa and Nicaragua at Taipei Dome. With one out and Nicaragua's Freddy Zamora on second base after singling in the tying run earlier in the frame, Benjamin Alegria hit

Tennis Hall of Famers Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf made their living going after grand slams -- winning a combined 30 between them. Their son Jaden wants to avoid them at all costs. That's because Jaden, a 23-year-old graduate of USC, didn't follow in the family footsteps, grabbing a glove

This is an excerpt from the latest edition of Michael Clair's International Beat Newsletter, bringing global baseball news to your inbox every month. Sign up for future installments HERE and check out the full newsletter HERE.

Forty-seven students between the ages of 13-17 arrived in Ibiuna, a town of nearly 80,000 in the southeast part of Sao Paulo, to begin living their baseball dreams on Tuesday. Dressed in bright green or yellow uniforms, they were there for the launch of a new program spearheaded by Major

The road to World Baseball Classic 2026 begins now. Sixteen of the 20 teams are set and all that’s left is for the final four teams to battle for their places. The first stop begins at the Taipei Qualifiers on Feb. 20 at 11:00 p.m. EST (12 p.m. on Feb.

There are still 15 months to go until the next World Baseball Classic in 2026, but Team Italy isn’t resting. When the “Azzurri” next take the field, there will be a new manager in the dugout as the Federazione Italiana Baseball Softball (FIBS) announced on Friday that former big league

This is an excerpt from the latest edition of Michael Clair's International Beat Newsletter, bringing global baseball news to your inbox every month. Sign up for future installments HERE and check out the full newsletter HERE. Before we get too far into the new year (some of us are still

TOKYO – “We are writing our own history story,” Chinese Taipei manager Hao-Jiu Tseng said after his team upset the United States earlier this week to keep its Premier12 gold medal hopes alive. When the U.S. then defeated Venezuela on Friday, it guaranteed that Chinese Taipei would get to play