World Baseball Classic: By The Numbers
March 1, 2006
134: Cuba's national team’s winning streak in
international competition from the Pan American Games in 1987 to 1997's
Intercontinental Cup
14: Cuba’s current winning streak, dating back
to a round-robin loss to Japan in the 2004 Olympics
9: Players on the American roster with previous Team
USA experience (Michael Barrett, Chad Cordero, Jeff Francoeur, Matt
Holliday, Alex Rodriguez, Huston Street, Mark Teixeira, Jason Varitek
and Dan Wheeler)
9,337: Miles from Sydney to Orlando. The Australian
team will travel the farthest of the 16 participating countries to its
first round game
.286: Jason Varitek's average in the 1992 Olympics
for an American team that finished fourth; Varitek is the only member
of Team USA with Olympic experience
23: Twins players on provisional rosters, the most
of any big league organization
3/3: Date of the first game of the Classic, as Korea
plays Taiwan at the Tokyo Dome in Japan
4: Players listed on two provisional rosters: Alex
Rodriguez (United States and Dominican Republic), Dan Haren (United
States and Netherlands), Twins minor leaguer Paul Rutgers (Australia,
South Africa) and A’s infielder Marcos Scutaro (Italy, Venezuela).
