Baseball at the 2000 Summer Olympics

Baseball
at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad
VenuesSydney Baseball Stadium
Blacktown Olympic Park
Dates17–27 September
Teams8
Medalists
  United States
  Cuba
  South Korea

Baseball at the 2000 Summer Olympics was the third time an Olympic baseball tournament had been held as a full medal sport, and the ninth time it had been part of the Summer Olympic Games in any capacity. It was held in Sydney, Australia from 17 September through to the bronze and gold medal games on 27 September. Two venues were used for the Games: the Sydney Baseball Stadium and Blacktown Olympic Park. For the first time in Olympic competition, professional baseball players were eligible to participate, though no active players from Major League Baseball were available.[1] Team USA, however, included Pat Borders, who had won World Series MVP with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1992, starting pitchers Roy Oswalt and Ben Sheets, who became MLB aces with the Houston Astros and Milwaukee Brewers respectively, and first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz, who won a World Series in 2004 with the Boston Red Sox. Last but not least, their manager was Tommy Lasorda, the Los Angeles Dodgers legend who had managed the Dodgers to two World Series in 1981 and 1988.

The United States won the gold medal by defeating Cuba 4–0 as Sheets pitched a three-hit shutout.[2] Since becoming a medal sport, it was the first time Cuba had not won the gold medal. The gold medal game was also only the second game Cuba had lost in Olympic baseball, having lost to the Netherlands earlier in the tournament.[1] South Korea won their first Olympic baseball medal, beating Japan in the bronze medal match 3–1.[2]

Format

The main tournament featured eight teams. These teams were selected from a series of continental qualifying tournaments, with the exception of Australia who qualified automatically as hosts. As had been the case at the 1996 Games in Atlanta, two teams each qualified from the Americas via the 1999 Pan American Games, Asia via the 1999 Asian Baseball Championship, and Europe via the 1999 European Baseball Championship. The final spot went to the winner of a deciding series between the African and Oceania champions, as determined by the 1999 All-Africa Games and the 1999 Oceania Baseball Championship respectively. This playoff was won by South Africa, who swept Guam in a best-of-five series in Johannesburg in December 1999.

The eight teams met in a round-robin series, facing each other once. The top four teams from this then met in the finals, with the first and fourth placed teams playing against each other in one semi final, and the second and third placed teams in the other. The losers of these semi finals competed in the bronze medal game, while the winners met in the gold medal game.[1]

Teams

Team Qualification method

Australia		 Host nation

Cuba		 1999 Pan American Games

Italy		 1999 European Baseball Championship

Japan		 1999 Asian Baseball Championship

Netherlands		 1999 European Baseball Championship

South Africa		 1999 All-Africa Games, then defeated Guam
in Africa Champion v Oceania Champion playoff

South Korea		 1999 Asian Baseball Championship

United States		 1999 Pan American Games

Results

Preliminary round

Qualified for the final round
Team W L PCT Tiebreaker
(Head–to–head record)
 Cuba 6 1 .857 1–0
 United States 6 1 .857 0–1
 South Korea 4 3 .571 1–0
 Japan 4 3 .571 0–1
 Netherlands 3 4 .429 —
 Italy 2 5 .286 1–0
 Australia 2 5 .286 0–1
 South Africa 1 6 .143 —
17 September Cuba  16 – 0 (F/7)  South Africa Blacktown Olympic Park
Attendance: 3,082
permanent dead link] Boxscore
17 September United States  4 – 2 (F/13)  Japan Sydney Baseball Stadium
Attendance: 13,404
permanent dead link] Boxscore
17 September Italy  2–10  South Korea Blacktown Olympic Park
Attendance: 2,951
permanent dead link] Boxscore
17 September Australia  4–6  Netherlands Sydney Baseball Stadium
Attendance: 13,762
permanent dead link] Boxscore
18 September Cuba  13–5  Italy Blacktown Olympic Park
Attendance: 2,424
permanent dead link] Boxscore
18 September South Korea  3–5  Australia Sydney Baseball Stadium
Attendance: 13,281
permanent dead link] Boxscore
18 September United States  11 – 1 (F/7)  South Africa Blacktown Olympic Park
Attendance: 3,474
permanent dead link] Boxscore
18 September Japan  10–2  Netherlands Sydney Baseball Stadium
Attendance: 11,360
permanent dead link] Boxscore
19 September South Africa  0 – 13 (F/7)  Italy Blacktown Olympic Park
Attendance: 2,511
permanent dead link] Boxscore
19 September Australia  3–7  Japan Sydney Baseball Stadium
Attendance: 13,093
permanent dead link] Boxscore
19 September Netherlands  2–6  United States Blacktown Olympic Park
Attendance: 3,352
permanent dead link] Boxscore
19 September South Korea  5–6  Cuba Sydney Baseball Stadium
Attendance: 13,565
permanent dead link] Boxscore
20 September Italy  1–6  Japan Blacktown Olympic Park
Attendance: 3,245
permanent dead link] Boxscore
20 September Netherlands  4–2  Cuba Sydney Baseball Stadium
Attendance: 12,450
permanent dead link] Boxscore
20 September South Africa  4–10  Australia Blacktown Olympic Park
Attendance: 3,459
permanent dead link] Boxscore
20 September United States  4–0  South Korea Sydney Baseball Stadium
Attendance: 13,818
permanent dead link] Boxscore
22 September South Korea  2–0  Netherlands Blacktown Olympic Park
Attendance: 3,350
permanent dead link] Boxscore
22 September Cuba  1–0  Australia Sydney Baseball Stadium
Attendance: 14,036
permanent dead link] Boxscore
22 September South Africa  0–8  Japan Blacktown Olympic Park
Attendance: 3,512
permanent dead link] Boxscore
22 September United States  4–2  Italy Sydney Baseball Stadium
Attendance: 13,912
permanent dead link] Boxscore
23 September Netherlands  2 – 3 (F/10)  South Africa Blacktown Olympic Park
Attendance: 3,484
permanent dead link] Boxscore
23 September Japan  6 – 7 (F/10)  South Korea Sydney Baseball Stadium
Attendance: 13,970
permanent dead link] Boxscore
23 September Australia  7 – 8 (F/12)  Italy Blacktown Olympic Park
Attendance: 3,562
permanent dead link] Boxscore
23 September Cuba  6–1  United States Sydney Baseball Stadium
Attendance: 14,010
permanent dead link] Boxscore
24 September Italy  2–3  Netherlands Blacktown Olympic Park
Attendance: 3,439
permanent dead link] Boxscore
24 September South Korea  13 – 3 (F/8)  South Africa Sydney Baseball Stadium
Attendance: 13,864
permanent dead link] Boxscore
24 September Japan  2–6  Cuba Blacktown Olympic Park
Attendance: 3,479
permanent dead link] Boxscore
24 September Australia  1 – 12 (F/7)  United States Sydney Baseball Stadium
Attendance: 14,018
permanent dead link] Boxscore

Final round

  Semi-finals     Gold medal match
                 
  1   Cuba 3  
  4   Japan 0    
      W1   Cuba
 0
      W2   United States
 4
  2   United States 3    
  3   South Korea 2   Bronze medal match
 
L2   South Korea
 3
  L1   Japan 1

Semi-finals

26 September Cuba  3–0  Japan Sydney Baseball Stadium
Attendance: 13,727
permanent dead link] Boxscore
26 September United States  3–2  South Korea Sydney Baseball Stadium
Attendance: 14,002
permanent dead link] Boxscore

Bronze medal game

27 September South Korea  3 – 1  Japan Sydney Baseball Stadium
Attendance: 14,058
permanent dead link] Boxscore

Gold medal game

27 September Cuba  0 – 4  United States Sydney Baseball Stadium
Attendance: 14,107
permanent dead link] Boxscore

Final standings

References

  1. 1 2 3 Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (2001). "Official Report of the XXVII Olympiad" (PDF). 2: Celebrating the Games. Canberra, Australia: Paragon Printers Australasia: 176–9. ISBN 0-9579616-0-X. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
  2. 1 2 Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (2001). "Official Report of the XXVII Olympiad" (PDF). 3: Results. Canberra, Australia: Paragon Printers Australasia. ISBN 0-9579616-1-8. Retrieved 15 September 2010. |chapter= ignored (help)
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