Baseball was absent from the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France, and that does not mean it won’t be back for 2028 in Los Angeles. Baseball was not among the 44 sports in the 2024 Summer Games because the International Olympic Committee decided in December 2020 and voted over skateboarding, surfing, and breakdancing to have the sport not be included.
Baseball first appeared in the 1900 Olympics in Paris, France when the sport had a series of exhibition games.
Baseball did not return to the Summer Games until the 1912 Stockholm Games, when it was a demonstration sport, with the United States and Sweden playing in a two-game exhibition series.
The United States won two games over Sweden in the exhibition series and won 13-3 in the first game and 6-3.
Olympian, multisport-athlete, and major leaguer Jim Thorpe played in the second game in right field of the 1912 exhibition series after winning two gold medals in the classic pentathlon and the decathlon at the 1912 Summer Games.
After 1912, Baseball only appeared in the Olympics with a series of exhibition games in 1924, 1936, 1952, 1956, 1964, and 1968, before the IOC voted the sport to return for the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
When Baseball was a demonstration sport in 1984 and 1988, recent Major League Baseball Draft picks that were not on the 40-man roster participated in the Summer Games, while other countries had amateur players.
Eight teams participated in the Olympics from 1984 until 2008.
Baseball was absent from the 2012 London Games and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. It returned to the Olympics in the 2020 Tokyo Games in 2021, under the World Baseball Softball Confederation, before its original federation became the International Baseball Federation.
World Baseball Network will share a recap of past gold medal games, including medal placements in baseball at the Olympics in 1984 and 1988, when the sport was a demonstration sport in Los Angeles and Seoul prior to the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona, the first year it was considered a medal sport.
2004 Athens:
G: Cuba
S: Australia
B: Japan
The 2004 Summer Games returned to Athens for the first time since the Modern Olympics began in 1896.
Baseball was held at the Helliniko Olympic Complex in Elliniko, Greece, in southern Athens.
Greece, the host nation, Cuba won the Americas Olympic Qualifier Tournament in Panama, Canada won second place at the Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Panama, Japan won the Asian Baseball Championship, Italy won first place at the European Olympic Qualification Tournament, the Netherlands won second place at the European Olympic Qualification Tournament, Chinese Taipei won second place at the Asian Baseball Championship, and Australia being the Oceania champion beat South Africa, the Africa champion to be in the eight-team field in Athens Summer Games.
Cuba won their third gold medal at the Olympics and beat Australia 6-2.
Cuba outfielder Frederich Cepeda launched a two-run home run in the top of the fourth inning in the gold medal game for the first two-runs of the game.
During the bottom of the fifth inning, Australia finally got on the board when left fielder Paul Gonzalez rocked a solo home run over the right field wall to cut the deficit to 2-1.
In the top of the sixth inning, Cuba began the run burst with designated hitter Eriel Sanchez drilling a two-run single to left field, scoring right fielder Osmani Urrutia and Cepeda to extend the lead to 4-1.
A few batters later, shortstop Eduardo Paret laced a two-run double down the left-field line, scoring catcher Ariel Pestano and Sanchez to extend the lead to 6-1.
Cuba was up 6-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning with relief pitcher Danny Betancourt eyeing in on the country’s third gold medal in the Olympics he got Australian first baseman Brendan Kingman to strike out swinging for the final out of game.
The Cuba pitching staff between starting pitcher Norge Luis Vera, relief pitchers Vicyohandri Odelín, Adiel Palma, and Betancourt combined for nine innings, allowing two earned runs, seven hits, seven walks, and striking out 10.
Australia starting pitcher John Stephens, relief pitchers Ryan Rowland Smith, and Graeme Lloyd threw nine innings, allowing 13 hits, six earned runs, one walk, and six strikeouts.
2008 Beijing:
G: South Korea
S: Cuba
B: United States
The 2008 Olympics for baseball took place at Wukesong Baseball Field in the Haidian District of Beijing, China.
China, the host nation, Canada, qualified at the 2008 Final Olympic Qualifier Tournament; Cuba finished second at the 2006 American Qualifier Tournament; Chinese Taipei was the third qualifier at the 2008 Final Qualifier Tournament; the Netherlands won first place at the 2007 European Baseball Championship, the United States won first place at the 2006 American Qualifying Tournament, South Korea finished second at the 2008 Final Qualifier Tournament, and Japan won the 2007 Asian Baseball Championship to be at the 2008 Summer Games.
South Korea went 9-0 at the 2008 Olympics and beat Cuba in the gold medal game 3-2.
The nation won their first gold medal in any sport at the Olympics since the 1996 women’s handball team in Atlanta.
South Korea’s offense only had four hits in the gold medal game against Cuba’s pitching staff.
South Korea got on the board first in the top of the first inning when Seung-Yeop Lee cranked a two-run home run over the left field wall to jump out of the gate with a 2-0 lead.
Cuba’s only two runs of the gold medal game came from infielder Michel Enriquez in the bottom of the first inning over the left-center field fence and outfielder Alexei Bell over the left-center field wall in the bottom of the seventh inning.
South Korea struck their third run of the game in the top of the seventh inning when outfielder Yong-Kyu Lee drove a double that bounced on the right field warning track, scoring shortstop Jin-Man Park to extend the lead to 3-1.
Cuban right fielder Alexei Bell cranked their second run of the gold medal game in the bottom of the seventh inning with a solo home run over the left-center field wall off Korea starting pitcher Hyun-jin Ryu to cut the deficit to 3-2.
South Korea manager Kyung-moon Kim took Ryu out of the game in the bottom of the ninth inning with the tying run on third base.
South Korea relief pitcher Tae-hyon Chong closed out the game for the country’s first gold medal in baseball, getting Cuban second baseman Yulieski Gourriel to ground out into a 1-4-3 double play for the final out of the 2008 Summer Games.
The United States had future major league notables such as Stephen Strasburg and Dexter Fowler on their 2008 Olympic roster.
2020 Tokyo:
G: Japan
S: United States
B: Dominican Republic
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Summer Games were moved to the summer of 2021, and baseball was played at Yokohama Stadium in Yokohama, Japan, and Fukushima Azuma Stadium in Fukushima City.
Baseball was not played at the 2012 Paris Games and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games before returning to the 2020 Olympics.
Yokohama Stadium is home to the Nippon Professional Baseball franchise, the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, and Fukushima Azuma Stadium is home to many Japanese baseball league events, both professional and amateur.
Host nation Japan and the United States won the 2021 Americas Olympic Qualifiers. South Korea won the silver medal at the 2019 Premier12, Mexico won the bronze medal at the 2019 Premier12, the Dominican Republic won the 2021 Final Qualifier Tournament, and Israel won the 2019 Africa/Europe Olympic Qualifying Event.
Japan won its first gold medal at the Olympics on home soil, beating the United States 2-0 at Yokohama Stadium.
The Japanese pitching staff, including starting pitcher Masato Morshita and relief pitchers Kodai Senga, Hiromi Itoh, Suguru Iwazaki, and Ryoji Kuribayashi, threw nine innings, allowing six hits, one walk, and eight strikeouts.
United States starting pitcher Nick Martinez chucked six innings, allowing one earned run, five hits, one walk, and seven strikeouts.
Joe Ryan and Scott McGough combined for two innings, allowing one earned run, three hits, two walks, and one strikeout.
Japan got their first run of the gold medal game in the bottom of the third inning, with corner infielder Muneteka Murakami smashing a solo home run over the center field wall to make it 1-0.
Japan extended their lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the eighth inning when left fielder Masataka Yoshida roped an RBI single into center field, scoring designated hitter Tetsuto Yamada. Yosida advanced to second base on a throwing error from United States center fielder Jack Lopez.
Kuribayashi came into the game in the top of the ninth inning to replace Iwazaki in aim for Japan’s first gold medal at the Summer Games in baseball.
Kuribayashi got Lopez to ground out to a fielder’s choice to second baseman Ryosuke Kikuchi and underhanded to shortstop Hayato Sakamoto to get United States shortstop Nick Allen for the final out of the gold medal game.
Former MLB manager Mike Scioscia managed the United States at the 2021 Americas Olympic Qualifier and the 2020 Summer Games.
Scioscia will manage the United States at the 2024 Premier12 tournament from November 10-24.
Find part one of this series here
Photo Credit: USA’s Triston Casas (3rd R) jumps to celebrate his three run home run during the fifth inning of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games baseball round 2 game between USA and Japan at Yokohama Baseball Stadium in Yokohama, Japan, on August 2, 2021. (Photo by KAZUHIRO FUJIHARA / AFP) (Photo by KAZUHIRO FUJIHARA/AFP via Getty Images)
