World Baseball Classic 2009

The 2009 World Baseball Classic is an international baseball competition.



BASEBALLS

The only baseballs that are permitted to be used in Tournament games shall be the official baseball of the Tournament, as authorized by WBCI. The baseballs shall be rubbed before a game in accordance with Major League Baseball custom, under the supervision of the umpires.


UMPIRES

WBCI shall engage a staff of umpires to officiate Tournament games. Each such Umpire shall sign and submit to WBCI an Umpire Participation Agreement. WBCI shall provide each umpire with a uniform, all parts of which the umpires shall wear while officiating as umpires. Each ballpark shall provide a separate dressing room for the umpires. No visitors except WBCI personnel or the immediate family of an umpire are permitted in the umpires' dressing room. Any immediate family not of the same sex as the umpire or umpires using the umpires' dressing room shall leave the room at the request of any umpire if any umpire is dressing or undressing. All persons except official personnel shall leave the umpires' dressing room no later than 15 minutes before the scheduled starting time of a game. At the completion of a game, the umpire crew chief may impose, in the discretion of the crew chief, a 15-minute period during which no visitors except official WBCI personnel are to be allowed in the umpires' dressing room. All umpires shall adhere to any WBCI policies in regard to security. "Immediate family" is defined as spouses, grandparents, parents, siblings and children.

No umpire may, directly or indirectly, ask any player, manager, coach, locker room attendant or other Team personnel for any autographs. Similarly, Team personnel, including any player, manager, coach or other field personnel (including locker room attendants), are prohibited from providing umpires with autographs except as may be approved by WBCI.

No umpire may ask for, take, sell or participate in or otherwise traffic in Team or WBCI property, such as baseballs, bats, uniforms, lineup cards and the like. No umpire may, directly or indirectly, validate, certify or authenticate as genuine or used in any game any baseball, bat, uniform or other object.

OFFICIAL SCORERS

WBCI shall appoint one official scorer for each Tournament game. The official scorer for each Tournament game shall observe the game from a position in the press box. Subject to the Official Baseball Rules, the official scorer shall have sole authority to make all decisions involving judgment, such as whether a batter's advance to first base is the result of a hit or an error. The official scorer shall communicate such decisions to the press box and broadcasting booths and shall advise the ballpark public address announcer of such decisions, if requested. In addition, the official scorer shall keep count of the number of pitches thrown by each pitcher in each Tournament game as a backup to the official count kept by the Game Operations Technical Committee. The official scorer, upon request at any time, shall provide such counts to the Game Operations Technical Committee.

Any Team wishing to dispute a decision by an official scorer shall so advise the Game Operations Technical Committee within 30 minutes of the conclusion of the game, identifying the particular decision it disputes. Such notice may be given by electronic mail or telephone call to a number or numbers designated by the Game Operations Technical Committee. The Game Operations Technical Committee shall then consider whatever evidence it deems appropriate and determine whether the decision of the official scorer was clearly erroneous. If the Game Operations Technical Committee so determines, it shall inform the official scorer and the managers of both Teams of its decision and, if necessary, the official scorer shall revise the official report of the game to reflect such decision.

After each Tournament game, including forfeited games, the official scorer shall prepare a report listing the date of the game, where it was played, the names of the competing Teams and the umpires, the full score of the games, and all records of individual players compiled according to the system specified in the Official Baseball Rules and, in addition, as WBCI may require. The official scorer shall forward this report to WBCI's statistician after the game ends within a time specified by WBCI's statistician. The official scorer shall deliver a report of the game status of any suspended game (including players in the game at the time of suspension, players already removed from the game and pitch counts) to the Game Operations Technical Committee before leaving the ballpark.

WBCI shall have authority to discipline or remove any official scorer.

Official scorers should be accorded courtesy and cooperation by all Team personnel. Under no circumstances should official scorers be influenced or pressured regarding their calls. No Team personnel in the press box or on the field should attempt to intimidate official scorers into changing calls. If there are questions regarding a call that arise during the game, official scorers may be asked for an explanation between innings. The official scorer should not be interrupted while play is in progress.