Baseball at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Baseball at the 2004 Summer Olympics was held on two separate diamonds within the Helliniko Olympic Complex, from 15 to 25 August. For the second time in Olympic competition, professional baseball players were eligible to participate, though no active players from Major League Baseball were available.

Baseball
at the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad
VenueHelliniko Olympic Complex
Dates15–25 August
Teams8
Medalists
 Cuba
 Australia
 Japan

The competition consisted of a preliminary round with each team playing all the other teams once, for a total of seven games. The top four teams at the end of this round advanced to the medals round. The medals round consisted of two semifinal games with the winners advancing to the gold medal game. The losing teams of the semifinals would play in the bronze medal game.

Team squads
Team Qualification criteria Appearance
AustraliaWinner of Oceania Champion vs Africa Champion (South Africa) 3rd
CanadaSecond place at Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Panama 1st
Chinese TaipeiSecond place at Asian Championship 2nd
CubaFirst place at Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Panama 4th
GreeceAutomatic as host nation of the Olympics 1st
ItalyFirst place at European Olympic Qualification Tournament 4th
JapanFirst place at Asian Championship 4th
NetherlandsSecond place at European Olympic Qualification Tournament 3rd

Controversy

Despite being the home of baseball and the defending gold medalists, the United States did not make it to Athens after losing a qualifying game to Mexico, 1-0. The Americas Tournament, which decided which two teams from North America, South America and the Caribbean went to Athens, was single-elimination, when almost all other baseball tournaments are double-elimination (the Mexicans didn't make it to the Olympics either; as they were beaten by Canada in the next round).

Others took issue with the fact that three of the eight slots in the Olympics (including the hosts) were European, while the Americas and Asia (with much stronger baseball nations) got only two slots apiece. The absence of such teams as the USA, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and South Korea led to disinterest in the Olympic tournament in those countries.

The 2008 tournament has changed the qualifying procedure; the United States qualified, as did Cuba and the host country China.

Bracket
 
SemifinalsGold Medal Match
 
      
 
 
 
 
 Australia1
 
 
 
 Japan0
 
 Cuba6
 
 
 
 Australia2
 
 Canada5
 
 
 Cuba8
 
Bronze Medal Match
 
 
 
 
 
 Japan11
 
 
 Canada2

Results

Preliminary round

The top four teams (Japan, Cuba, Canada and Australia) advanced to the semifinals. To determine the seed ranking of teams tied in the standings, the result of the two teams' game against each other was used. Japan therefore received first place due to the win over Cuba. In the semi-finals, Japan (#1) played Australia (#4) and Cuba (#2) played Canada (#3). The higher ranked team in each game was the home team.

Team W L Tiebreaker
 Japan 611-0
 Cuba 610-1
 Canada 52-
 Australia 43-
 Chinese Taipei 34-
 Netherlands 25-
 Greece 161-0
 Italy 160-1
August 15
August 16
August 17
August 18
August 20
August 21
August 22

Semifinals

Bronze medal match
Team123456789RHE
 Japan20410004011130
 Canada000110000250
WP: Tsuyoshi Wada (2-0)   LP: Mike Johnson (1-2)
Home runs:
JPN: K. Jojima in 1st, 2 RBIs
CAN: J. Ware in 5th, 1 RBI

Final
Team123456789RHE
 Cuba0002040006131
 Australia000010010270
WP: Adiel Palma (3-0)   LP: John Stephens (0-2)   Sv: Danny Betancourt (1-0-2)
Home runs:
CUB: F. Cepeda in 4th, 2 RBIs
AUS: P. Gonzalez in 5th, 1 RBI

Final standing
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