Baseball at the 2008 Summer Olympics

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. For the third 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 XXIX Olympiad
Pictogram used to identify baseball at the 2008 Games
VenueWukesong Baseball Field
DatesAugust 13–23, 2008
Teams8
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) South Korea
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Cuba
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) United States
← 2004
2020 →
Competing teams

This was the last Olympic baseball tournament before the International Olympic Committee voted to remove baseball from the program in the 2012 Olympics.[1] Along with softball, baseball was rejected for inclusion in the 2016 Summer Olympics at the IOC's meeting in October 2009.[2] However, following a 2016 IOC vote, baseball was again included for the 2020 Games.[3]

This was also the first time that the IBAF's new extra-innings rule was officially in effect, allowing each team to start with two base runners from the 11th inning on.[4] South Korea won the gold medal in a 3–2 final victory against Cuba. The United States won bronze.

Medalists

GoldSilverBronze
 South Korea (KOR)
Hyun-Jin Ryu
Ki-Joo Han
Jin-Man Park
Hyuk Kwon
Taek-Keun Lee
Dae-Ho Lee
Seung-Hwan Oh
Jung-Keun Bong
Young-Min Ko
Jong-Wook Lee
Keun-Woo Jeong
Min-Jae Kim
Kab-Yong Jin
Jin-Young Lee
Won-Sam Jang
Seung-Jun Song
Kwang-Hyun Kim
Yong-Kyu Lee
Dong-Joo Kim
Min-Ho Kang
Hyun-Soo Kim
Seung-Yeop Lee
Tae-Hyon Chong
Suk-Min Yoon
Manager: Kyung-Moon Kim
 Cuba (CUB)
Ariel Pestano
Yoandry Urgellés
Alfredo Despaigne
Luis Rodríguez
Alexei Bell
Yadier Pedroso
Jonder Martínez
Adiel Palma
Luis Navas
Giorvis Duvergel
Alexander Mayeta
Eriel Sánchez
Rolando Meriño
Héctor Olivera
Michel Enríquez
Yuliesky Gourriel
Vicyohandry Odelín
Pedro Luis Lazo
Eduardo Paret
Norberto González
Norge Luis Vera
Frederich Cepeda
Elier Sánchez
Miguel La Hera
Manager: Antonio Pacheco
 United States (USA)
Brett Anderson
Blaine Neal
Matt Brown
Nate Schierholtz
Jeremy Cummings
Michael Koplove
Terry Tiffee
Kevin Jepsen
Brian Duensing
Dexter Fowler
Brandon Knight
Mike Hessman
Casey Weathers
Jason Donald
Jayson Nix
Taylor Teagarden
Stephen Strasburg
Jake Arrieta
Lou Marson
Matt LaPorta
Trevor Cahill
Brian Barden
John Gall
Jeff Stevens
Manager: Davey Johnson

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.

Qualification

EventDateLocationVacanciesQualified
Host nation  China
American Qualifying TournamentAug 25 – Sept 7, 2006 Havana2  United States
 Cuba
European ChampionshipSept 7 – Sept 16, 2007 Barcelona1  Netherlands
Asian Baseball ChampionshipNov 27 – Dec 3, 2007 Taichung1  Japan
Final Qualifying TournamentMar 7 – Mar 14, 2008 Taichung and Douliou3  Canada
 South Korea
 Chinese Taipei[1]
TOTAL8

^1 Chinese Taipei is the official IOC designation for the state officially referred to as the Republic of China (ROC), commonly known as Taiwan.

Team squad

TeamQualification criteriaAppearance
Canada1st place of Final Qualifying Tournament 2nd
ChinaAutomatic as host nation of the Olympics 1st
Chinese Taipei3rd place of Final Qualifying Tournament 3rd
Cuba2nd place of American Qualifying Tournament 5th
Japan1st place of Asian Baseball Championship 5th
South Korea2nd place of Final Qualifying Tournament 3rd
Netherlands1st place of European Championship 4th
United States1st place of American Qualifying Tournament 4th

Group stage

All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8)

PosTeamPldWLRFRARDPCTGBQualification
1  South Korea7704122+191.000Advance to knockout round
2  Cuba7615223+29.8571
3  United States7524022+18.7142
4  Japan7433014+16.5713
5  Chinese Taipei7252933−4.286[a]5
6  Canada7252920+9.286[a]5
7  Netherlands716950−41.143[b]6
8  China (H)7161460−46.143[b]6
Source: [citation needed]
(H) Hosts
Notes:
TeamGWLRSRAWIN%GBTiebreaker
 South Korea77041221.000
 Cuba7615223.8571
 United States7524022.7142
 Japan7433014.5713
 Chinese Taipei7252933.28651–0
 Canada7252920.28650–1
 Netherlands716950.14361–0
 China7161460.14360–1

August 13


Team123456789RHE
 Canada00032014-10100
 China00000000-082
WP: Chris Begg (1-0)   LP: Tao Bu (0-1)
Home runs:
CAN: Scott Thorman (1), Michael Saunders (1)
CHN: None
Team123456789RHE
 United States1000210037121
 South Korea021030002891
WP: Suk-Min Yoon (1-0)   LP: Jeff Stevens (0-1)
Home runs:
USA: Nate Schierholtz (1), Mike Hessman (1)
KOR: Dae-Ho Lee (1)


Team123456789RHE
 Japan001010000291
 Cuba01102000X491
WP: Norge Luis Vera (1-0)   LP: Yu Darvish (0-1)   Sv: Pedro Luis Lazo (1)

August 14


Team123456RHE
 China000000020
 South Korea00000-030
Team123456789RHE
 Canada002102010692
 Cuba03000400X752
WP: Vicyohandri Odelín (1-0)   LP: Jonathan Lockwood (0-1)   Sv: Norberto González (1)
Home runs:
CAN: Michael Saunders (2), Nick Weglarz 2 (2)
CUB: Alexander Malleta (1), Alfredo Despaigne (1)


Team123456789RHE
 Japan000011004691
 Chinese Taipei000100000140
WP: Hideaki Wakui (1-0)   LP: Fu-Te Ni (0-1)
Home runs:
JPN: Shinnosuke Abe (1)
TPE: None

August 15


Team1234567891011RHE
 Cuba200000010025100
 United States00020001001460
WP: Pedro Luis Lazo (1-0)   LP: Jeff Stevens (0-2)
Home runs:
CUB: Alfredo Despaigne (2)
USA: Jayson Nix (1)
Team123456789RHE
 South Korea001000000130
 Canada000000000051
WP: Hyun-Jin Ryu (1-0)   LP: Mike Johnson (0-1)
Home runs:
KOR: Keun-Woo Jeong (1)
CAN: None


Team123456789RHE
 Netherlands000000000041
 Japan40000002X6100
WP: Toshiya Sugiuchi (1-0)   LP: Alexander Smit (0-1)
Home runs:
NED: None
JPN: Takahiko Sato (1)

August 16


Team123456789RHE
 Chinese Taipei000000000041
 Cuba00000010X150
WP: Elier Sánchez (1-0)   LP: Chen-Chang Lee (0-1)   Sv: Norberto González (2)
Home runs:
TPE: None
CUB: Frederich Cepeda (1)
Team123456789RHE
 Netherlands000150000691
 China0010100114111
WP: Leon Boyd (1-0)   LP: Kai Liu (0-1)   Sv: David Bergman (1)
Home runs:
NED: Sharnol Adriana (1), Sidney de Jong (1), Bryan Engelhardt (1)
CHN: None


Team123456789RHE
 South Korea000000203591
 Japan000002001371
WP: Suk-Min Yoon (2-0)   LP: Hitoki Iwase (0-1)   Sv: Tae-Hyon Chong (1)
Home runs:
KOR: Dae-Ho Lee (2)
JPN: Takahiro Arai (1)

August 17

August 18


Team123456789RHE
 South Korea7100001009162
 Chinese Taipei0200420008122
WP: Ki-Joo Han (1-0)   LP: Fu-Te Ni (0-2)   Sv: Suk-Min Yoon (1)
Home runs:
KOR: Young-Min Ko (1)
TPE: None
Team123456789RHE
 Cuba10005404-14160
 Netherlands01100010-3102
WP: Jonder Martínez (1-0)   LP: Juan Carlos Sulbaran (0-1)
Home runs:
CUB: None
NED: Bryan Engelhardt (2), Percy Isenia (1)


Team123456789RHE
 China000000001141
 United States10003140X990
WP: Jake Arrieta (1-0)   LP: Chenhao Li (0-1)
Home runs:
CHN: Yang Yang (1)
USA: None

August 19


Team123456789RHE
 Cuba030000010472
 South Korea00050110X790
WP: Seung-Jun Song (1-0)   LP: Vicyohandri Odelín (1-1)   Sv: Seung-Hwan Oh (1)
Team123456789RHE
 China0000000--020
 Japan031006X--10100
WP: Hideaki Wakui (2-0)   LP: Nan Wang (0-1)
Home runs:
CHN: None
JPN: Tsuyoshi Nishioka (1)


Team123456789RHE
 Chinese Taipei000010100250
 United States00001201X4102
WP: Brandon Knight (1-0)   LP: Wen-Hsiung Hsu (0-1)   Sv: Kevin Jepsen (1)
Home runs:
TPE: Chih-Sheng Lin (1)
USA: John Gall (1)

August 20


Team123456789RHE
 South Korea20004202-10161
 Netherlands00000000-041
WP: Won-Sam Jang (1-0)   LP: Alexander Smit (0-2)
Home runs:
KOR: Dae-Ho Lee (3), Taek-Keun Lee (1)
NED: None
Team123456789101112RHE
 Chinese Taipei1400000000016102
 Canada2101001000005103
WP: Fu-Te Ni (1-2)   LP: Chris Reitsma (0-2)   Sv: Chih-Chia Chang (1)
Home runs:
TPE: Chih-Sheng Lin (2), Che-Hsuan Lin (1)
CAN: Stubby Clapp (1)


Team1234567891011RHE
 United States00000000004450
 Japan00000000002250
WP: Jeff Stevens (1-2)   LP: Hitoki Iwase (0-2)   Sv: Casey Weathers (1)

Knockout stage

 
SemifinalsGold Medal Match
 
      
 
2008-08-22 - Beijing
 
 
 Japan2
 
2008-08-23 - Beijing
 
 South Korea6
 
 South Korea3
 
2008-08-22 - Beijing
 
 Cuba2
 
 United States2
 
 
 Cuba10
 
Bronze Medal Match
 
 
2008-08-23 - Beijing
 
 
 Japan4
 
 
 United States8

Semifinals

Team123456789RHE
 United States000110000262
 Cuba00210106X10142
WP: Norge Luis Vera (2-0)   LP: Stephen Strasburg (1-1)   Sv: Pedro Luis Lazo (2)
Home runs:
USA: None
CUB: Alfredo Despaigne (3), Frederich Cepeda (2), Alexei Bell (1), Ariel Pestano (2)

Bronze medal match

Team123456789RHE
 Japan103000000461
 United States01304000X890
WP: Brett Anderson (1-0)   LP: Kenshin Kawakami (0-1)
Home runs:
JPN: Masahiro Araki (1), Norichika Aoki (1)
USA: Matt LaPorta (2), Matt Brown (2), Jason Donald (1)

Gold medal match

23 August 2008 18:00
WKB Main Field
Team123456789RHE
 South Korea200000100340
 Cuba100000100251
WP: Hyun-Jin Ryu (2-0)   LP: Norberto González (0-1)   Sv: Tae-Hyon Chong (2)
Home runs:
KOR: Seung-Yeop Lee (2)
CUB: Michel Enríquez (2), Alexei Bell (2)

Final standings

 2008 Olympic champions 

South Korea
First title

Notes

References

External links