1998 Baseball World Cup
# 1998 Baseball World Cup

The 1998 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 33rd international Men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through the 1986 AWS. The tournament was held, for the third time, in Italy, from July 21 to August 2. The final was a repeat of the previous BWC tournament, with Cuba again defeating South Korea in the final, winning its 22nd title.

There were 16 participating countries, split into two groups, with the first four of each group qualifying for the finals.

This was the first edition of the tournament that allowed professional players to take part in the competition.

The next six competitions were also held as the BWC tournament, which was replaced in 2015 by the quadrennial WBSC Premier12.

## Stadiums

* Stadio Steno Borghese
* Stadio Primo Nebiolo

## First round

### Pool A

| Pos | Team | W | L | RS | RA |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Cuba | 7 | 0 | 84 | 10 |
| 2 | Japan | 6 | 1 | 46 | 20 |
| 3 | Dominican Republic | 5 | 2 | 56 | 35 |
| 4 | Italy | 3 | 4 | 33 | 64 |
| 5 | Panama | 3 | 4 | 39 | 36 |
| 6 | China | 2 | 5 | 20 | 38 |
| 7 | Spain | 2 | 5 | 35 | 67 |
| 8 | South Africa | 0 | 7 | 12 | 55 |

### Pool B

| Pos | Team | W | L | RS | RA |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Australia | 5 | 2 | 48 | 32 |
| 2 | Nicaragua | 5 | 2 | 69 | 34 |
| 3 | South Korea | 4 | 3 | 35 | 26 |
| 4 | Netherlands | 4 | 3 | 45 | 49 |
| 5 | United States | 4 | 3 | 38 | 28 |
| 6 | Canada | 3 | 4 | 27 | 31 |
| 7 | Chinese Taipei | 3 | 4 | 36 | 35 |
| 8 | Russia | 0 | 7 | 12 | 75 |

## Final round

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Cuba | 12 | | |
| Netherlands | 1 | | |
| Netherlands | 1 | Cuba | 14 |
| | | Nicaragua | 2 |
| Nicaragua | 12 | Nicaragua | 2 |
| Dominican Republic | 4 | | | | |
| Dominican Republic | 4 | | | Cuba | 7 |
| | | | | South Korea | 1 |
| Japan | 5 | | | South Korea | 1 |
| South Korea | 8 | | | | |
| South Korea | 8 | South Korea | 8 | | |
| | | Italy | 2 | Third place | Third place |
| Australia | 8 | Italy | 2 | Third place | Third place |
| Italy | 9 | | | | |
| Italy | 9 | | | Nicaragua | 5 |
| | | | | Italy | 1 |
| 5th–8th place | 5th–8th place | Fifth place | Fifth place |
| Netherlands | 7 |
| Dominican Republic | 3 | | |
| Dominican Republic | 3 | Netherlands | 3 |
| | | Japan | 9 |
| Japan | 11 | Japan | 9 |
| Australia | 6 | | |
| Australia | 6 | Seventh place | Seventh place |
| | | Dominican Republic | 2 |
| | | Australia | 9 |

## Final standings

| Pos | Team | W | L |
| - | - | - | - |
| | Cuba | 10 | 0 |
| | South Korea | 6 | 4 |
| | Nicaragua | 7 | 3 |
| 4 | Italy | 4 | 6 |
| 5 | Japan | 8 | 2 |
| 6 | Netherlands | 5 | 5 |
| 7 | Australia | 6 | 4 |
| 8 | Dominican Republic | 5 | 5 |
| 9 | United States | 4 | 3 |
| 10 | Panama | 3 | 4 |
| 11 | Canada | 3 | 4 |
| 12 | Chinese Taipei | 3 | 4 |
| 13 | China | 2 | 5 |
| 14 | Spain | 2 | 5 |
| 15 | South Africa | 0 | 7 |
| 16 | Russia | 0 | 7 |

## Awards

Tournament Awards :

| Award | Player |
| - | - |
| MVP | Antonio Pacheco |
| Leading hitter | Orestes Kindelán |
| Pitcher with best ERA | José Contreras |
| Pitcher with best win/loss average | Eiji Yano |
| Most Runs batted in | Antonio Pacheco |
| Most Home runs | Chin-Feng Chen |
| Most Stolen bases | Davide Rigoli |
| Most Runs scored | Robelquis Videaux |
| Outstanding defensive player | Hwang Woo-Gu |

All Star Team :

| Position | Player |
| - | - |
| Pitchers | Yovany Aragón |
| Pitchers | Jurlaan Lobbezoo |
| Catcher | Juan Manrique |
| First base | Loidel Chapellí |
| Second base | Antonio Pacheco |
| Third base | Omar Linares |
| Shortstop | Edgard López |
| Outfield | Oscar Machado |
| Outfield | Chen Chih-yuan |
| Outfield | Robelquis Videaux |
| Designated hitter | Orestes Kindelán |
