Manager Benji Gil of Team Mexico looks on during the playing of the national anthems prior to Game 1 of Pool C between Team Colombia and Team Mexico at Chase Field on Saturday, March 11, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona. Gil will manage Mexico at the 2024 WBSC Premier12. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/WBCI/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
The Federación Mexicana de Beisbol announced Rodrigo Lopez as general manager and Benji Gil as manager for the 2024 WBSC Premier12 tournament in November.
Mexico is ranked No. 2 in the World Baseball Rankings published the World Baseball Softball Confederation.
The WBSC Premier12 tournament will be played from Nov. 10-24 after the conclusion of the regular seasons in Major League Baseball, Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan, the Korea Baseball Organization, Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, and the Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan.
The announcement happened on July 19 in Mexico City during the federation’s press conference.
Horacio de la Vega, Executive President of the LMB, Guillermo Murra, President of the Board of Directors of the LMB, Carlos Manrique, Executive President of the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico, Joaquín Vega, President of the Board of Directors of the LAMP, and Enrique Mayorga, President of FEMEBE were all in attendance in Mexico City last Wednesday.
Mexico won their first gold medal at the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador, El Salvador, Taking home the title by virtue of their record going into the gold medal game against Cuba. when the game was rained out.
Mexico lost 6-5 in the semifinals of the 2023 World Baseball Classic against Japan at loanDepot Park in the bottom of the ninth inning on Munetaka Murakami’s game-winning double.
“Being back in charge of the Mexican National Team is a great honor in my career. I’m here to continue putting Mexican baseball at the top. Our goal is for the successes we have to be reflected in more followers of the king of sports in Mexico. The Mexican national team has inspired people and we want to continue doing so,” Gil said during the press conference last week.
Gil was a World Series champion with Los Angeles in 2002 as a player and helped Mexico reach the 2023 WBC semifinals as manager, the farthest the country has reached any sport’s major tournament prior to the 2023 CACG.
Mexico was ranked No. 12 the first year of the WBSC Premier12 was played, and went 2-3 in Group B and lost in the semifinals to the United States 6-1 in the 2015. Mexico fell in the bronze medal game to Japan 11-1.
In the 2019 Premier12, Mexico, then ranked No. 6, beat the United States 3-2 in the bronze medal game, which qualified the nation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics under former manager Juan Castro.
Gil managed Mexico at the 2020 Olympics and went 0-3 in the nation’s first trip to the Summer Games.
In the first two Premier12 tournaments, South Korea won the gold medal in 2015 and Japan won the gold medal in 2019.
Kim Hyun-soo won the MVP at the 2015 Premier12 and Seiya Suzuki won the MVP at the 2019 Premier12.
The 12 nations that are competing in the Premier12 tournament are No. 1 Japan, No. 2 Mexico, No. 3 United States, No. 4 Korea, No. 5 Chinese Taipei, No. 6 Venezuela, No. 7 Netherlands, No. 8 Cuba, No. 9 Dominican Republic, No. 10 Panama, No. 11 Australia, and No. 12 Puerto Rico.
Group A of the 2024 WBSC Premier12 will be played at Estadio Panamericano in Zapopan, in the greater Guadalajara metropolitan area, and at a new stadium in Santa Teresita de Tepic from Nov. 10-14. Estadio Panamericano is the home of the Charros de Jalisco in both the Liga Mexicana de Béisbol and the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico and hosted group play during the 2019 WBSC Premier12.
Group B will be played at the Nagoya Dome in Nagoya, Japan, and Taipei City, Taiwan, from Nov. 14-18 at the Taipei Dome. The Super Round, featuring the top two teams from each group, will be played at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan from Nov. 21-24.
Tianmu Baseball Stadium in Shilin District, Taipei, Taiwan, and the Taipei Dome in Xinyi, Taipei, Taiwan, will host Group B games during the 2024 Premier12 tournament. Tianmu Baseball Stadium is home to the CPBL franchise, the Wei-Chuan Dragons.