By Ronald Blum,AP Baseball Writer

TAMPA, Fla. – Right idea. Wrong time of year.

The World Baseball Classic, which reaches the United States on Tuesday, should have been started long ago. But having it during spring training, with players torn between club and country and doctored-up rules changes that prevent teams from going all out, makes it far less than a real world championship.

If the WBC is to be a truly great event, the second edition in 2009 should be moved to November, when players can prepare properly and give it complete focus.

Management and the union, which jointly run the tournament, reject a fall Classic, saying many players won’t want to give up their time off, that it would be harder to find television time and that insurance costs would increase.

But isn’t the object to have the greatest baseball competition, even if it’s less convenient for the players or less profitable? Baseball is for the fans, not the players or the owners, so let’s discuss what’s for the good of the game, not parochial interests.

Yes, this is the greatest collection of baseball talent ever assembled for a national team tournament. But it would be so much better if it’s played after the World Series, when pitchers could have 140-pitch outings or come back on three days’ rest, when players wouldn’t fret over their preparation for regular-season games.

“I’d probably have been a little more interested,” Yankees slugger Jason Giambi said.

Soccer, for all its problems, does the World Cup the right way. First-division European club seasons must end by May 17 this year, and then players join national teams to get ready for the tournament, which will be played in Germany from June 9 to July 9 and be watched by millions of fixated fans.

When it comes to the World Cup, games are played at the tensest, fiercest level. Players are so drained after games, it’s not uncommon for them to need several hours and quarts of fluids just to generate urine for drug testing.

For the baseball Classic, games in the first two rounds will be stopped after 14 innings, even if they are tied. And to protect pitchers, there are pitch-count limits that would be nonsensical during the regular season: 65 in the first round, 80 in the second and 95 for the semifinals and final. A 30-pitch outing must be followed by one day off, a 50-pitch outing by four days off, and no one will be allowed to pitch on three consecutive days.

This is not exactly Sandy Koufax pitching a three-hit shutout in Game 7 of the 1965 World Series on two days’ rest or Randy Johnson coming out of the bullpen on no days’ rest to win the seventh game in 2001.

How much would Venezuela’s chances improve if Johan Santana could pitch on short rest or if Francisco Rodriguez could save games on three straight days? And how much better would the semifinals and finals be if they were best-of-3 series instead of one-game knockouts?

Baseball officials and the union have argued that November is impractical because players not in the postseason would have a monthlong layoff.

“A lot of people would like to do it in the fall,” union head Donald Fehr said. “Once the playoffs start, the players who are not in the playoffs essentially go home. You can’t find them. They’re on vacation.”

Well, what about heading to Florida or Arizona for October and working out for a month of training and exhibition games until the World Series is over?

“No one would want to broadcast the event or at least pay anything substantial for it, coming as it would on the heels of the World Series and the onset of the football and basketball seasons,” said Gene Orza, chief operating officer of the players’ association, who adds the insurance costs would be higher because there is greater risk of injury after the long season.

In addition, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela would be reluctant to delay the start of winter leagues. Some think pitchers would risk injury by extending their seasons.

“November does not work at all,” said Bob DuPuy, baseball’s chief operating officer. “Not a single one of the 16 baseball federations involved expressed the view that November was a better time.”

Coming after a nine-month European season, soccer’s World Cup doesn’t seem to take anything away from the European Champions League final or the various Cup finals. Baseball must look beyond the World Series as the only top title.

Because it’s during the season, the Olympic tournament isn’t the solution – part of the reason baseball is getting kicked out after the 2008 Beijing Games.

If the time is shifted, the WBC eventually could become as big as the World Series. Only then would baseball fans around the world spend four years counting down the days to the next tournament.

So for now, let’s watch the games unfold – even if they could be better.