TOKYO -- The second World Baseball Classic, to be staged in March 2009, will be conducted under a new format and contested in cities that weren't hosts in the inaugural tournament in 2006.

At a press conference here this morning, it was announced that all first-round sites will be outside the continential United States. The sites will include Toronto, San Juan, Mexico City and Tokyo.

Second-round sites, as well as sites for the semifinals and finals, will be announced within a few weeks.

The United States will compete in Pool C, along with Canada, Italy and Venezuela. Those games will be played at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, home of the Blue Jays, from March 8-12, 2009.

Pool A, consisting of Japan (the inaugural WBC winner), China, Chinese Taipei and Korea, will take place in Tokyo from March 5-9. Pool B, featuring Australia, Cuba, Mexico and South Africa, will compete in Mexico City from March 8-12 and Pool D, with Puerto Rico, the Netherlands, Panama and the Dominican Republic, will be played in San Juan from March 7-11.

"This is truly a world event,'' said MLB President Bob DuPuy, "and the sites represent its scope and growth.''

"If you think the 2006 WBC was exciting,'' vowed Gene Orza of the Major League Baseball Players Association, "as we say in the United States, 'You ain't seen anything yet.' "

The 2009 WBC will feature an altered format, with double-elimination in the first round rather than round-robin pool play. Also, the tournament will feature crossover play in the semifinals. Those changes were implemented to eliminate complicated tiebreakers and to eliminate the possibility of two teams meeting three times in the first few rounds.

Red Sox DH David Ortiz, one of a handful of players on hand for the announcement, looked forward to playing for the Dominican Republic again.

"It was an honor to represent my country," he said. "I think it was a great idea and I'm pretty sure the second one is going to be as good as the first one."

Red Sox captain Jason Varitek termed his experience "a phenomenal time. The excitement was far beyond what we had imagined as players. ... I would encourage any of the American players to play."

Alex Cora, the Red Sox infielder, said having San Juan as a first-round site would be beneficial for his native Puerto Rico.

"Baseball in Puerto Rico has been fading," said Cora, noting that there was no winter-league baseball there this offseason for the first time in more than 70 years. "Having the tournament again next year is going to be huge for our country to show its passion for the game."

It's expected that the semifinals and finals will again he held somewhere in Southern California.