ESPN.com news services 19y

Eight players from different countries will compete

MLB

NEW YORK -- Major League Baseball is going international for
its Home Run Derby (ESPN and ESPN Radio, Monday, July 11, 8 p.m. ET) on All-Star weekend.

Instead of having four players from each league, the
commissioner's office said Friday it will have eight players
represent their native countries at the July 11 event. Major League
Baseball plans to formally launch plans that day for its first
World Baseball Classic, a 16-team event during spring training next
year.

This year's Home Run Derby is at Detroit's pitcher-friendly
Comerica Park, where the All-Star Game will be played the following
night.

The top four players in the first round advance to the
semifinals, and the top two in the semis move on to the final.

Last year in Houston, the Orioles' Miguel Tejada of the Dominican Republic hit 27 home runs to win the derby title.

The World Baseball Classic, scheduled for March 2006, will consist of 16 national teams from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, South America and the Caribbean. Games in the four-round tournament will be held at sites in Asia, Latin America and the United States.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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