Global Warming

In the finest tradition of American commercialism, Major League Baseball would be happy to sell you a $19.99 Italy cap, a $164.99 South Africa home jersey, a $234.99 Derek Jeter USA jersey and various other trinkets associated with the inaugural and presumptuously named World Baseball Classic. Souvenirs aside, what MLB is really selling is a vision: of a day when its game is played on multiple continents and the demand for the major league brand-think programming, advanced media, international corporate sponsorship and, yes, T-shirts and hats-covers the globe. How do you say "season tickets" in Mandarin? � The 16-team Classic begins on Friday with first-round pool play in Tokyo among four Asian teams and culminates with the championship game on March 20 in San Diego, the last of 39 games spread among seven venues. Many of the world's best players are scheduled to participate, including eight MVPs and three Cy Young Award winners. The Classic, with its awkward pitch limitations, U.S.-favorable scheduling and anything-can-happen, single-elimination format in the semifinals and final, may well be incapable of determining a genuine world champion, but that's less of a concern than expanding MLB's reach-industry talk for cultivating new customers and developing more players beyond U.S. borders. � Big league baseball is, by almost any definition, more popular in the U.S. than ever, with another attendance record expected this season. But the sport is also pushing closer to a saturation point in this country. Witness the Florida Marlins' difficulty the past five years in finding a suitable relocation spot. The 1.3 billion-person market in China, however, offers enormous potential for revenue growth.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig acknowledges that the Classic is more important to MLB's growth abroad than at home. As an example, consider the starting time of the March 18 semifinal in which, if the favorites advance, the U.S. would play Japan: 10 p.m. EST on a Saturday, assuring a ratings disaster in the U.S. (Fox, baseball's network TV partner, is sitting out the Classic; all games will be carried by ESPN and its sister stations.) But the game has a noon Sunday starting time in baseball-mad Japan, where World Series games have been known to generate better ratings (as a percentage of viewers) than in the U.S.

Asked if the furthest extrapolation of the Classic is a truly global major league structure that would include intercontinental play in at least a postseason tournament, Selig said, "Yes, that is a dream of mine. Obviously there would have to be advances in [speed of] air travel to help facilitate it. This [Classic] is just the first step. Without it we don't have a chance."

The quest for international revenue growth has become the rare common ground between major league owners and the players' association. Union officials, for instance, aggressively recruited the top major leaguers to participate in the Classic-even hooking up lesser powers such as Italy and the Netherlands with name players such as Mike Piazza and Andruw Jones, respectively-knowing that an A-list of players was needed to make the event worthwhile. That effort was a success, though a raft of withdrawals in the past few months have included stars such as Barry Bonds, Tim Hudson, Aramis Ramirez, Manny Ramirez and Pedro Martinez (for at least the first round).

So motivated are the players that the biggest worry among general managers is that they may try too hard, exerting themselves with playoff-level intensity at a time of year when their body clocks usually are synchronized for lazy spring training games. National pride, not a grand marketing plan, is the carrot for the participating players.

"People in Venezuela are going crazy about the Classic," San Francisco Giants shortstop Omar Vizquel said last week. "It's been an incredible year for baseball in Venezuela: Bobby Abreu wins the All-Star home run derby, Ozzie Guillen wins the World Series, and Venezuela wins the Caribbean World Series. Now people are excited to see Venezuela be known for being Number 1 in baseball in the whole world."

Venezuela must play the Dominican Republic as many as three times just to reach the final (box, left). Indeed, the second-round Pool 2 play on March 12-15 in San Juan is likely to include Latin American powerhouses Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Cuba in hotly contested games in a charged, festive atmosphere. The only time the U.S., which plays out of the other side of bracket, would meet one of those teams would be in the title game.

The U.S. is considered the favorite because it has no obvious holes. Manager Buck Martinez can employ this batting order: centerfielder Johnny Damon, shortstop Jeter, third baseman Alex Rodriguez, DH Mark Teixeira, first baseman Derrek Lee, leftfielder Ken Griffey Jr., catcher Jason Varitek, rightfielder Jeff Francoeur and second baseman Chase Utley. The roster includes only four starting pitchers- Roger Clemens, Jake Peavy, C.C. Sabathia and Dontrelle Willis-but a deep corps of hard-throwing relievers.

The depth of the 30-man roster, however, matters much less in the one-game-elimination semifinals and final than it does in a series. One pitcher unfamiliar to major league hitters who throws the game of his life trumps having, for instance, batting champion Michael Young on the bench or American League Rookie of the Year Huston Street available in middle relief.

Pitchers are allowed to throw as many as 95 pitches in the semis and final. The limits are much more severe in pool play (65 pitches in the first round and 80 in the second) to protect major leaguers from the risk of injury as they build arm strength for the regular season. The pitcher must be removed when he reaches the limit, though if it occurs in the middle of an at bat, he will be permitted to finish pitching to that hitter.