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The World Baseball Classic is set to begin very soon, with the first scheduled matchup coming between Cuba and the Netherlands. It will begin on March 7 (tomorrow) at 11 pm EST. From there, it will be almost nonstop action.
Eventually, though, a victor will be crowned. After the Pool Play stage, the next rounds and then the final, it will all be over - likely in the blink of an eye.
When does the World Baseball Classic end? The schedule dictates that the final matchup will occur in Miami, Florida on March 21. The final two teams will come against each other to crown one winner on that day.
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Until then, there's plenty to watch. The tournament is full of the best baseball talent in the world. Team USA is led by Mookie Betts, Paul Goldschmidt and Mike Trout.
The Dominican Republic is led by Juan Soto, Manny Machado and Julio Rodriguez. Team Japan features arguably the best player in the entire world in Shohei Ohtani.
Other teams have stars, too. Team Canada is led by Freddie Freeman and Team Puerto Rico features Francisco Lindor and Marcus Stroman, who led Team USA to victory last time out.
Fortunately, there's plenty of action and fans across the world can watch on television, too.
What to watch for in the World Baseball Classic
The World Baseball Classic will feature a lot of interesting storylines, but none more so than two surrounding Team USA.
The first narrative is whether or not they can survive a downright abysmal pitching situation. They have the best and deepest lineup in the world, but their pitching leaves a lot to be desired.
The second storyline is how they'll make it back to the finals. With Pools C and D on one side of the bracket, that effectively pits the Dominican Republic (the betting favorites) and the United States (second highest odds of winning) against each other for one spot in the finals.
It will be a tough journey, but having to theoretically go through the favorites just to get back to the finals is a tall task for any country to face.
