Baseball at the Summer Olympics facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Baseball at the Summer Olympics
Governing body	WBSC
Events	1 (men)
Games
1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 Note: demonstration or exhibition sport years indicated in italics
Medalists

Baseball at the Summer Olympics is a special event where countries compete in the sport of baseball. It first appeared unofficially at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. Later, it was shown as a demonstration sport (meaning it wasn't a medal event yet) at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm.

Baseball became an official Olympic sport, where medals were given, at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. It was played in every Olympics until the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. After that, baseball was removed from the Olympic program for a while. It came back for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo for just one time. Baseball is expected to be part of the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles again.

The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) is the group that manages Olympic baseball.

History of Olympic Baseball

Baseball's journey to the Olympics has been long and interesting.

Early Appearances

Baseball first showed up at the 1900 Paris Games, but not much was recorded about it. In 1912, a team from the United States played against Sweden in Stockholm, winning 13–3. Another exhibition game was played at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris.

In 1936, two American teams played each other in Berlin. About 90,000 to 100,000 people watched this game! The 1952 Helsinki event featured a different kind of baseball called Finnish baseball, played by two teams from Finland. Australia played a game against the United States in 1956 Melbourne. Japan did the same in 1964 in Tokyo. The game in Melbourne had almost 114,000 fans, which was a record for an exhibition baseball game for many years.

Challenges for Baseball

Leslie Mann, a former professional baseball player and coach, really wanted baseball to be in the Olympics. However, some powerful people, like Avery Brundage, who led the International Olympic Committee, were against it. Brundage believed that the Olympics should only be for amateur athletes (those who don't get paid to play). He thought professional sports like baseball didn't fit this idea.

After a 20-year break, Olympic baseball returned in 1984 in Los Angeles as an exhibition event. In 1988 in Seoul, it was called a demonstration sport. Japan won the first tournament in 1984, and the United States won in 1988.

Becoming an Official Sport

When baseball became an official Olympic sport in 1992 and 1996, only amateur male players were allowed. This meant that countries like the United States used college players. However, Cuba used their most experienced players. These Cuban players were technically considered amateurs because they had other jobs, but they trained full-time for baseball.

In 2000, professional players were allowed to compete. But Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States did not let its best players go to the Olympics in 2000, 2004, and 2008. This meant that the American teams often had minor league players. The Olympic committee said that not having the very best players was the main reason baseball was removed from the Olympics.

However, Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in Japan did allow its players to go to the Olympics. They even paused their 2021 season for the Tokyo Olympics (which happened in 2021).

Baseball Removed and Reinstated

On July 7, 2005, the Olympic committee voted to remove baseball and softball from the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. This was the first time sports had been removed since polo in 1936. This decision meant 16 teams and over 300 athletes would not be in the 2012 Olympics. The spots were later filled by golf and rugby sevens for the 2016 Games.

The head of the Olympic committee, Jacques Rogge, explained what baseball needed to do to come back. He said it needed to be played widely around the world, have a lot of fans, feature the best players, and follow anti-doping rules.

In August 2009, it was decided that baseball would also not be in the 2016 Summer Olympics.

The Return of Baseball

In 2011, the international baseball and softball groups started working together to propose bringing both sports back for the 2020 Summer Olympics. They realized that working together would be better than trying alone.

However, on September 8, 2013, the Olympic committee voted to bring wrestling back instead of baseball and softball for the 2020 Games.

Later, the Olympic committee changed its rules. Now, the city hosting the Olympics can suggest new sports to add to the program. The Tokyo Organizing Committee suggested baseball and softball for the 2020 Games. On August 3, 2016, the Olympic committee approved baseball to be included in the 2020 Summer Olympics program.

Baseball will not be in the 2024 Paris Olympics. But it is expected to be included again, along with softball, in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. This is because baseball is very popular in the United States.

Olympic Baseball Results

Here are the winners and runners-up for baseball at the Summer Olympics:

Edition	Year	Official host		Champions	Score and venue	Runners-up		Third place	Score and venue	Fourth place		No. of teams
1	1992	Spain		Cuba	11–1 Estadi Municipal de Futbol de L'Hospitalet, Catalonia	Chinese Taipei		Japan	8–3 Estadi Municipal de Futbol de L'Hospitalet, Catalonia	United States		8
2	1996	United States		Cuba	13–9 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta	Japan		United States	10–3 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta	Nicaragua		8
3	2000	Australia		United States	4–0 Sydney Showground Stadium, Sydney	Cuba		South Korea	3–1 Sydney Showground Stadium, Sydney	Japan		8
4	2004	Greece		Cuba	6–2 Hellinikon Olympic Complex, Athens	Australia		Japan	11–2 Hellinikon Olympic Complex, Athens	Canada		8
5	2008	China		South Korea	3–2 Wukesong Arena, Beijing	Cuba		United States	8–4 Wukesong Arena, Beijing	Japan		8
6	2020	Japan		Japan	2–0 Yokohama Stadium, Yokohama	United States		Dominican Republic	10–6 Yokohama Stadium, Yokohama	South Korea		6
7	2028	United States

Medal Table

This table shows which countries have won the most medals in Olympic baseball.

How Teams Qualify

To play in Olympic baseball, teams need to qualify. The country hosting the Olympics always gets a spot in the tournament. The other spots are usually decided by special tournaments held in different parts of the world (like North America, Europe, or Asia).

For the 2008 Games, for example, two teams from the Americas, one from Europe, and one from Asia qualified directly. The last three spots were given to the top teams from a special eight-team tournament. This tournament included teams that didn't qualify directly from their regions. This new qualification system was created to make sure more strong baseball nations could compete.

How the Competition Works

Olympic baseball is very similar to professional baseball. However, after the 1996 Atlanta Games, teams were not allowed to use aluminum bats; they had to use wooden bats. There was also a "mercy rule." This rule meant that if one team was winning by 10 or more runs after 7 innings, the game would end early. For the 2000 Sydney Games, teams were allowed to have 24 players on their roster.

Tournament Format

The tournament usually starts with a "round-robin" stage. In this stage, each team plays against every other team. Only the top four teams move on to the medal rounds.

In the medal rounds:

• The 1st place team plays the 4th place team.
• The 2nd place team plays the 3rd place team.
• The teams that lose these games play each other for the bronze medal.
• The teams that win these games play in the final for the gold medal and silver medal.

Extra Innings Rule

During the 2008 Games, a special rule was used for games that went into extra innings. If a game was still tied after the tenth inning, base runners were automatically placed on first and second base with no outs. This rule was made to help games end faster and to make them more exciting, especially for the Olympic committee.

Participating Nations

Here are the 18 countries that have played in Olympic baseball tournaments. The numbers show their final rank in each tournament.

Images for kids

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  The pictogram for baseball at the Olympics.

See also

• Olympic Baseball
• List of Olympic medalists in baseball
• List of Olympic venues in discontinued events
• Softball at the Summer Olympics