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
Venue
Preliminary round
There were two pools for the preliminary round. Teams played each of the three other teams in their division.
White Division
Blue Division
Knockout round
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).
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.
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.
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
