From bupkis to $100m blockbuster: has the World Baseball Classic finally arrived

The tournament is celebrating its 20th anniversary and some of the best players on the planet are competing for a title that means something For years, while football fans salivated over Fifa World Cups, and basketball and hockey enthusiasts enjoyed an endless parade of NBA and NHL stars at the Olympics, baseball fans had bupkis, with no legitimate international tournament to speak of. Instead, there was something called the Baseball World Cup. Played without a Yankee, Cub or Dodger in sight, bu