The pools and venues for the 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) preliminaries were announced on Thursday.  From MLB.com:

Four sites -- one each in Germany, Panama, Taiwan and Florida -- will host the preliminary round of the tourney, and the winner of each group will progress to the 2013 World Baseball Classic. Twelve teams have already qualified for the tournament, and four more will join the expanded field.

... The qualifying round will help push the total number of nations involved to 28, and the qualifiers will feature a six-game modified double-elimination tournament. Each regional pool was determined after venues were selected, and weight was given to competitive balance and existing rivalries.

Four of the teams in the qualifying round -- Canada, Chinese Taipei, Panama and South Africa -- participated in the 2009 World Baseball Classic but did not win a game.

The other 12 teams from the 2009 World Baseball Classic -- Australia, China, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Kingdom of the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, United States and Venezuela -- will be included in 2013 based on their performance last time.

===

So that's:

Regensburg, Germany

Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, and Great Britain

Jupiter, Florida

France, Israel, South Africa and Spain

Taipei, Taiwan

Chinese Taipei, New Zealand, Thailand, and the Philippines

Panama City, Panama

Panama, Colombia, Nicaragua, and Brazil

According to a report by Sponichi, the search for the next World Baseball Classic (WBC) manager has begun.  A source close to the discussions says that a decision will have be made by May.

As for possible candidates, pulling active NPB managers for WBC duties could be difficult because of the timing of the tournament.  This could limit the decision to former managers, like Hiromitsu Ochiai.

There is also talk about scheduling international exhibition games after this year's Asia Series.

According to Sponichi, assuming the JPBPA agrees to participate in the next World Baseball Classic, they will most likely hold training camp in Okinawa (one possibility is Okinawa Cellular Stadium Naha).  Sponichi lists two reasons for this:

1. Rounding players up will be easier since ten of twelve teams hold spring camp in Okinawa.
2. They want to make sure Japanese MLB players are working out in a warm location.

Training camp for the WBC will likely take place in mid-February.

Past locations: Yahoo Dome in 2006 and Sun Marine Stadium in Miyazaki in 2009.

Kids Design Collaboration Festa in Ebisu took place on Sunday.  Hirokazu Ibata and Takahiro Suzuki were amongst the players that made appearances at the event.

===

The Pro Yakyu Nippachikai hosted Pro Yakyu Nippachikai Charity Aid in Seishin 2011 on Sunday.  The day's events included a youth baseball clinic at Ryutsu Kagaku University baseball field, a talk session/dinner, and a charity auction.

===

Takahiro Arai, chairman of the JPBPA's labor union, made the following comment about the WBC to reporters on Saturday: "Unless things change, our stance will remain unchanged."  Sanspo also has an update that indicates that the JPBPA is waiting for a response and is prepared to call a meeting when/if necessary.

===

Former Nissan Industrial league players Eishin Soyogi (HIR), Takahiro Aoki (HIR), Naoki Mitsuhashi, and Hidetaka Kawagoe, held a baseball clinic for about 60 youth baseball players in Atsugi, Kanagawa on Saturday.  This marked the second time former Nissan players held a baseball clinic (a first with pro players).

===

Ryuzo Setoyama taught a special course on baseball teams and their relationships with stadiums at Chiba Shoka University on Saturday.  During his lecture, he mentioned that back in 2005, the year before he managed to attain stadium operating rights, everything other than 25% of ticket sales (remaining 75% of ticket sales, 100% of merchandising, and 100% of advertising) went to Chiba Marine (now QVC Marine) and sympathized with the current situation the Yokohama Bay Stars  are in.

===

Six players, including Tadahito Iguchi (LOT) and Takashi Toritani (HAN) visited Okinawa Nanbu Medical Center, Children's Medical Center on Saturday and spent some time in the children's wing.

JPBPA officials met in Tokyo on Tuesday and discussed the possibility of playing in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

The JPBPA and NPB originally began on the same footing, demanding that WBC Inc provide them with a large portion of revenue.  The NPB has since backed down and is exploring other alternatives.  They are also trying to convince the JPBPA that there other alternatives should produce enough revenue to help pay for player pensions.

The officials today decided that they will continue deliberations during the annual player's meeting on 12/8 because they want feedback from the players.

The XXVI IBAF Congress opened in Dallas, Texas on Saturday (US time).  A number of issues were discussed and a handful of important decisions were passed, like the unanimous approval of a joint Olympic bid with softball and the approval of making the World Baseball Classis the main official IBAF tournament.  Two new tournaments were also added to the IBAF line-up: the 21 and Under World Cup in 2014 (every other year) and the IBAF Premier 12 in 2015 (every four years).

The 12 NPB teams announced during the owner meetings on Thursday that they (the NPB) plan to participate in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.  They still need the JPBPA's approval/acceptance for their announcement to actually mean anything -- the players association will be holding an official's meeting on 12/6 and a general player's meeting on 12/8.

Other issues brought up during the owner meetings:

• They confirmed that they will begin the process of making the NPB a General Incorporated Association (一般社団法人) in early January.  They were also given an update on the documents that have been created so far.
• Chunichi Dragons' owner Bungo Shirai will be chairman of the owner meetings next season.

A number of sources, including Sanspo, Nikkan Sports, and Sponichi, are reporting that the 12 NPB teams will make an announcement during the owner meetings on Thursday that they plan to participate in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.  The Japan Professional Baseball Players Association (JPBPA) is also expected to discuss their plans during their annual convention on 12/8.

The 12 NPB teams were originally planning to stand alongside with the JPBPA, but since negotiations with WBC Inc were going nowhere, they decided to switch gears and come up with other alternative revenue streams, like their plan to have a standing international team separate from the WBC roster.

The pressure will now be on the JPBPA to decide what they would like to do.  They will also consider the NPBs ideas for alternative revenue streams as replacement for getting a larger portion of WBC revenue.

Sponichi reports that the NPB is fleshing out details for an international tournament (involving up to 12 teams) that would take place in Japan in 2015, right in between the 2013 WBC and the 2017 WBC.  And it seems the NPB's push toward international games (outside of the WBC) may be enough to get the JPBPA to back of their demands for a larger portion of the WBC revenue and agree to participate in the WBC.

The NPB, the 12 NPB teams, and the JPBPA met in Tokyo on Tuesday to discuss Japan's participation in the upcoming 2013 WBC.

The NPB and the JPBPA were initially united in trying to secure a larger portion of the WBC revenue, but the NPB recently backed off because they felt WBC Inc wouldn't budge.  Instead, the NPB started work on a new plan that involves setting up a "full-time" national team, apart from the WBC team, that they can market and sell on their own terms.  The NPB is now trying to convince the JPBPA that their model will bring in enough money and that it's no longer necessary demand a larger cut of the WBC revenue.

Said Toru Matsubara (JPBPA head of the secretariat), "All we did was listen to what they had to say.  I can't get into things any further than that."