Baseball at the 1984 Summer Olympics

Baseball at the 1984 Summer Olympics

Demonstration sport
Tournament details
Country	United States
City	Los Angeles, California
Dates	July 31 – August 7, 1984 (1984-07-31 – 1984-08-07)
Teams	8
Final positions
Champions	Japan
Runner-up	United States
Third place	Chinese Taipei
Fourth place	South Korea
Tournament statistics
Games played	16

Baseball at the 1984 Summer Olympics was a demonstration sport. It would become an official sport 8 years later at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Although single exhibition games had been played in conjunction with five previous Olympics, it was the first time that the sport was officially included in the program, and also the first time that the sport was played in Olympics held in the United States. Eight teams competed in Los Angeles, California, in the tournament. Games were held at Dodger Stadium. Cuba originally qualified but withdrew as a result of the Soviet-led boycott.

Teams

Qualification

Source:

• Canada – Invited
• Chinese Taipei – 1983 Asian Baseball Championship gold medalist, defeat Japan in a playoff
• Dominican Republic – 1983 Pan American Games Fourth place – Replaced Cuba as the highest Americas team
• Italy – 1983 European Baseball Championship gold medalist
• Japan – Invited
• South Korea – 1982 Amateur World Series gold medalist
• Nicaragua – 1983 Pan American Games silver medalist
• United States – Host nation

Rosters

Main article: Baseball at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Team squads

Venue

Los Angeles	Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium
Capacity: 56,000

Preliminary round

There were two pools for the preliminary round. Teams played each of the three other teams in their division.

White Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	RF	RA	RD	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	United States (H)	3	3	0	30	2	+28	1.000	—	Advance to knockout round
2	Chinese Taipei	3	2	1	24	3	+21	.667	1
3	Italy	3	1	2	11	33	−22	.333	2
4	Dominican Republic	3	0	3	8	35	−27	.000	3

Source:
(H) Hosts

31 July Game 1	Italy	10–7	Dominican Republic	Dodger Stadium

31 July Game 2	Chinese Taipei	1–2	United States	Dodger Stadium

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2 August Game 5	Dominican Republic	1–13	Chinese Taipei	Dodger Stadium

2 August Game 6	United States	16–1	Italy	Dodger Stadium

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4 August Game 9	Dominican Republic	0–12	United States	Dodger Stadium

4 August Game 10	Italy	0–10	Chinese Taipei	Dodger Stadium

Blue Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	RF	RA	RD	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Japan	3	2	1	25	7	+18	.667	—	Advance to knockout round
2	South Korea	3	2	1	10	9	+1	.667	—
3	Nicaragua	3	1	2	11	29	−18	.333	1
4	Canada	3	1	2	10	11	−1	.333	1

Source:

1 August Game 3	Canada	3–4 (F/12)	Nicaragua	Dodger Stadium

1 August Game 4	Japan	2–0	South Korea	Dodger Stadium

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3 August Game 7	South Korea	3–1	Canada	Dodger Stadium

3 August Game 8	Nicaragua	1–19	Japan	Dodger Stadium

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5 August Game 11	Canada	6–4	Japan	Dodger Stadium

5 August Game 12	Nicaragua	6–7	South Korea	Dodger Stadium

Knockout round

	Semi-finals				Final
	6 August – Dodger Stadium (F/10)
	Chinese Taipei	1
					7 August – Dodger Stadium
	Japan	2
					Japan	6
	6 August – Dodger Stadium
					United States	3
	South Korea	2
	United States	5
					Third place
					7 August – Dodger Stadium (F/14)
					Chinese Taipei	3
					South Korea	0

Semifinals

The semifinals pitted the first-place team of each division against the second-place team of the other division. Thus, the United States (3–0) played against Korea (2–1), which had a tied record with Japan (2–1) but had lost in head-to-head competition against them. The first-place Japanese played against Chinese Taipei (2–1).

6 August Game 13	Chinese Taipei	1–2 (F/10)	Japan	Dodger Stadium

6 August Game 14	South Korea	2–5	United States	Dodger Stadium

Third-place final

The third-place final pitted the losers of the semifinals against each, with the winner taking third place and the loser taking fourth.

7 August Game 15	Chinese Taipei	3–0 (F/14)	South Korea	Dodger Stadium

First-place final

Since baseball was a demonstration sport, no official medals were awarded. The winners of the semifinals played each other for first and second place, with the Japanese team prevailing, 6–3.

7 August Game 16	Japan	6–3	United States	Dodger Stadium

References

• Cava, Pete (Summer 1992). "Baseball in the Olympics". Citius, Altius, Fortius. 1 (1): 7–15.
• Official Report Archived 29 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Official Report of the Games of the XXIIIrd Olympiad Los Angeles, 1984.
• 1984 Los Angeles Dodgers Media Guide