Korea's late comeback win against Chinese Taipei wasn't enough, as the host country and the Netherlands qualified for the second round in Tokyo. China goes home happy with a victory and a ticket for 2017.

Cuba's big win over China clinches a second round berth for both themselves and Japan. Korea keeps their hopes alive with a relatively easy win over Australia.

Japan and Chinese Taipei are close to locking up trips to the second round and Korea, even without playing, is in a whole mess of trouble. Brazil was pretty much eliminated by a Cuban team that looked to have a lot of major league quality talent.

The youth of the Netherlands trounced the experience of Korea. Japan got a scare from Brazil and Chinese Taipei put on a show for the home fans and erased some bad memories from 2009.

Korea is the heavy favorite to be one team to advance from this round, but the Netherlands, Chinese Taipei and Australia all have a chance to join them in the most evenly-matched pool in the tournament.

Defending champion Japan quest to make it three WBC titles in a row starts here by taking on Cinderella team Brazil. Cuba and China will also be looking to advance from this group.

Another game has been added to the already-lengthy 2013 Cubs spring-training schedule. It's one you might want to check out if you're headed there.

The preliminary roster of Team USA for the World Baseball Classic was announced today, and it's loaded with star power, especially in the outfield. But previous teams have looked good on paper too, only to flame out once the games start.

The Cubs' first baseman will get to represent the country of his forebears in the World Baseball Classic. Personally, I think that's cool.