World Baseball Classic All-Time Records

This is the Third World Baseball Classic, after the 2006 and 2009 Classics, both of which were won by Japan. In America, it’s a bit of a curiosity on the schedule, a distraction from spring training that’s fun for fans but nervewracking for teams whose stars are playing at max effort far earlier than they otherwise would be. In other countries, like Venezuela, it’s a serious matter of national pride, especially because since the elimination of Olympic baseball, the Classic is the only chance for a country to show its quality on an international stage.

In the eight-year history of the Classic, there have been 102 games played. Twenty-eight countries have competed: eighteen have played in the Classic proper, and another ten competed in the qualifying matches in September and November 2012. One hundred ninety-two players have accumulated enough plate appearances to qualify for the leaderboards. (The requirement is 2.7 plate appearances per game.) Carson Cistulli is doing yeoman’s work in covering the WBC. But I haven’t seen any all-time leaderboards. So here are some all-time leaderboards! Spoiler alert: Frederich Cepeda is the greatest player in the history of the tournament.

HR:

Player	Team	Pos	G	HR	Year
Frederich Cepeda	CUB	OF	20	6	2006, 2009, 2013
Yulieski Gurriel	CUB	3B	20	5	2006, 2009, 2013
Seung Yuop Lee	KOR	1B	7	5	2006
Miguel Cabrera	VEN	LF	14	4	2006, 2009
Jorge Cantu	MEX	3B	12	4	2006, 2009
Adrian Beltre	DOM	3B	6	4	2006
Jimmy Van Ostrand	CAN	1B	3	4	2012
Nate Freiman	ISR	1B	3	4	2012

BB:

Player	Team	Pos	G	BB	Year
Frederich Cepeda	CUB	OF	20	15	2006, 2009, 2013
Carlos Beltran	PUR	CF	17	12	2006, 2009, 2013
Adam Dunn	USA	LF	8	9	2009
Akinori Iwamura	JPN	3B	15	9	2006, 2009
Kosuke Fukudome	JPN	CF	15	9	2006, 2009
Bobby Abreu	VEN	RF	13	8	2006, 2009
David Ortiz	DOM	1B	7	8	2006
Michel Enriquez	CUB	3B	14	8	2006, 2009
Scott Hairston	MEX	OF	6	8	2009
Taekyun Kim	KOR	IF	9	8	2009

OBP (min. 20 AB + BB):

Player	Team	Pos	G	AB+BB	OBP	Year
Ken Griffey Jr.	USA	LF	6	24	0.583	2006
Frederich Cepeda	CUB	OF	20	84	0.547	2006, 2009, 2013
Jose Fernandez	CUB	IF	6	22	0.545	2013
Yoandry Garlobo	CUB	OF	8	27	0.536	2006
Nobuhiko Matsunaka	JPN	1B	8	34	0.528	2006
Engel Beltre	ESP	CF	4	20	0.524	2012
Alfredo Despaigne	CUB	OF	6	21	0.522	2013
Hiroyuki Nakajima	JPN	SS	7	28	0.516	2009
Adam Dunn	USA	LF	8	32	0.515	2009
Hyunsoo Kim	KOR	OF	9	35	0.514	2009
Scott Hairston	MEX	OF	6	26	0.500	2009
Yoshio Itoi	JPN	OF	6	24	0.500	2013

OPS (min. 20 AB + BB):

Player	Team	Pos	G	AB+BB	OPS	Year
Ken Griffey Jr.	USA	LF	6	24	1.631	2006
Yoenis Cespedes	CUB	OF	6	25	1.480	2009
Alfredo Despaigne	CUB	OF	6	21	1.466	2013
Frederich Cepeda	CUB	OF	20	84	1.402	2006, 2009, 2013
Jose Lopez	VEN	2B	7	27	1.398	2009
Seung Yuop Lee	KOR	1B	7	28	1.372	2006
Bum Ho Lee	KOR	IF	8	22	1.358	2009
Karim Garcia	MEX	OF	5	20	1.345	2009
Adrian Beltre	DOM	3B	6	21	1.291	2006
Adam Dunn	USA	LF	8	32	1.254	2009
Jose Fernandez	CUB	IF	6	22	1.212	2013

R:

Player	Team	Pos	G	R	Year
Frederich Cepeda	CUB	OF	20	17	2006, 2009, 2013
Yulieski Gurriel	CUB	3B	20	16	2006, 2009, 2013
Ichiro Suzuki	JPN	RF	17	14	2006, 2009
Carlos Beltran	PUR	CF	17	12	2006, 2009, 2013
Nobuhiko Matsunaka	JPN	1B	8	11	2006
Akinori Iwamura	JPN	3B	15	11	2006, 2009
Alex Rios	PUR	OF	11	10	2009, 2013

* The stats are a little hinky. For example, they don’t list plate appearances, hit by pitch, or sacrifice flies, so determining a truly accurate cumulative OBP was impossible. Instead, I calculated OBP across several years as a weighted average of at-bats plus walks per year. For example, Akinori Iwamura had a .429 OBP in 2006, when he had 18 at-bats and two walks, and he had a .417 OBP in 2009, when he had 28 at-bats and seven walks. So I multiplied .417 by 35 and added it to .429 times 20, all divided by 55, and got .421. It isn’t a precise measure but it should be good enough for now.

There are only three players who have participated in all three World Baseball Classics: Carlos Beltran, Frederich Cepeda, and Yulieski Gurriel. As a result, all three are among the top performers in every counting stat. Cepeda, for his part, is the all-time WBC leader in hits, runs, doubles, home runs, RBI, and walks. But since Cuba has been eliminated and Puerto Rico is still alive, Beltran will have a chance to catch Cepeda in several categories. He’s only three back in walks, doubles, and homers. And David Wright, a member of the still-alive USA team, is eight back in RBIs, not an impossible gap to bridge.

Sure, the scheduling of the Classic isn’t perfect. Back in 2009, Dave Cameron suggested that it should be in July instead of the All-Star Break, and I suggested that it should be in November, after the World Series, before the Caribbean Winter Leagues, and basically in between the Japan Series and the Asia Series. (Actually, in 2012, two of the qualifier groups played their games right around then.) And it’s almost impossible to watch the games in America, unless you have MLB Network or ESPN Deportes; MLB is only streaming the games online to people who subscribe to cable systems that have MLB Network.

As Dan Lependorf writes at The Hardball Times, “The World Baseball Classic is a show on a grand scale for the international audience that baseball has. It’s a fun tournament that brings back the luster in baseball exhibitions, something the All-Star Game has lacked in recent years. And most of all, it performs a vitally important role that the sport wouldn’t otherwise have—spreading the game to the world.”

Speaking purely as a Braves fan now, I’ve taken great pleasure in the success of the Dutch team, which features Andrelton Simmons at leadoff, and whose infield of Simmons, Jonathan Schoop, and Xander Bogaerts is one of the most talented in the tournament. As I’ve written before, the Dutch probably have the strongest baseball tradition outside of the Americas and the Pacific Rim, and this tournament has provided a chance for serious national pride.

In addition, Netherlands is moving towards being the first country in mainland Europe to host Major League Baseball, announcing the construction of a 15,000 seat stadium, and MLB has confirmed that games could take place as early as 2014 or 2015.

So have fun watching the games if you can, or catch them in the highlights like I do, if you’re not fortunate enough to have MLB Network. You wouldn’t want to miss the all-time World Baseball Classic home run record!