OTTAWA – The International Baseball Federation (IBAF) has released its first ever World Rankings for baseball and Canada is ranked seventh in a ranking of 44 baseball countries.
Cuba is ranked number one in the world in the initial rankings, followed by the United States and Korea.
Developed in conjunction with Scott Goode, a sports information director from Harding University (Arkansas), the rankings are based on a point total which IBAF member federations (teams) earn from IBAF-sanctioned events in a four-year window, or a period of time that encompasses two IBAF Baseball World Cups.
“The IBAF is long overdue for World Rankings,” says IBAF President Dr. Harvey Schiller in a statement. “The level of competition worldwide grows stronger every year, and we need to begin to recognize the federations that are fielding teams and performing well, whether it is in an intra-continental tournament or a World Cup.”
Teams earn points based on their finish in an event. A tournament winner takes home 50 points, second place, 40; third place, 30; and fourth place, 15. From there, points are divided evenly among the remaining teams in the event to ensure balance between tournaments that feature different-sized fields.
Once points are rewarded based on a team’s finish, that amount is then multiplied by a number based on the strength of the event. Major world championships, such as an Olympic Games, IBAF Baseball World Cup or World Baseball Classic, all receive 4X multipliers. Minor world championship events (Junior, Youth or FISU University Worlds for example) have a 1X multiplier, and all other continental championships receive multipliers from 1X-.25X based on how many teams in the top-10 of the current IBAF World Rankings compete in the event.
“We are confident that our rankings accurately reflect the performance of our federations over a four-year period,” says Schiller. “We are also proud to say that our top-20 features federations from six continents, further proof of baseball’s continued global growth.”
The rankings will be used for promotional purposes only and will not necessarily be used by the IBAF or any other governing baseball body to organize events, nor are those groups required by the IBAF to do as such. New rankings will be released following every event recognized or sanctioned by the IBAF.
Here are the top ten countries as ranked by the IBAF:
1. Cuba
2. United States
3. Korea
4. Japan
5. Chinese Taipei
6. Netherlands
7. Canada
8. Mexico
9. Panama
10. Australia
Complete IBAF World Rankings: http://www.ibaf.org/2008/world_rankings_09.html
