Baseball at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad |
 Pictogram used to identify baseball at the 2008 Games |
| Venue | Wukesong Baseball Field |
| Dates | August 13–23 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Medalists |
| |
| «2004 | |
Baseball at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing was held from August 13 to August 23. All games were played at Wukesong Baseball Field, a temporary venue constructed at the Beijing Wukesong Culture & Sports Center. Olympic baseball is competed by men only, while women compete in the similar sport of softball.
This event may be the last baseball event contested in the Olympics history, as the International Olympic Committee voted to remove baseball from the program in the 2012 Olympics.[1] Along with softball and other sports, baseball will be reconsidered for inclusion in the 2016 Summer Olympics at the IOC's meeting in October 2009.[2]
This was also the first time that the IBAF's new extra-inning rule was officially in effect.[3] South Korea won the gold medal in a 3–2 final victory against Cuba.
[edit] Medalists
[edit] Competition format
Eight teams are competing in the Olympic baseball tournament, and the competition consists of two rounds. The preliminary round follows a round robin format, where each of the teams plays all the other teams once. Following this, the top four teams advance to a single elimination round culminating in the bronze and gold medal games.
[edit] Qualification
Note 1: Chinese Taipei is the official IOC designation for the state officially referred to as the Republic of China (ROC), commonly known as Taiwan. (See also political status of Taiwan for details.)
[edit] Team squad
| Team | Qualification criteria | Appearance |
| Canada | 1st place of Final Qualifying Tournament | 2nd |
| China | Automatic as host nation of the Olympics | 1st |
| Chinese Taipei | 3rd place of Final Qualifying Tournament | 3rd |
| Cuba | 2nd place of American Qualifying Tournament | 5th |
| Japan | 1st place of Asian Baseball Championship | 5th |
| South Korea | 2nd place of Final Qualifying Tournament | 3rd |
| Netherlands | 1st place of European Championship | 4th |
| United States | 1st place of American Qualifying Tournament | 4th |
[edit] Group stage
All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8)
[edit] August 13
[edit] August 14
[edit] August 15
[edit] August 16
[edit] August 17
[edit] August 18
[edit] August 19
[edit] August 20
[edit] Knockout stage
[edit] Semifinals
[edit] Bronze medal match
WP: Brett Anderson (1-0) LP: Kenshin Kawakami (0-1)
HRs: JPN – Masahiro Araki (1), Norichika Aoki (1) USA – Matt LaPorta (2), Matt Brown (2), Jason Donald (1)
[edit] Gold medal match
WP: Hyun-Jin Ryu (2-0) LP: Norberto González (0-1) SV: Tae-Hyon Chong (2)
HRs: KOR – Seung-Yeop Lee (2) CUB – Michel Enríquez (2), Alexei Bell (2)
[edit] Final standings
[edit] References