All About Olympic Baseball - Last Time as an Event?

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Style of Play

"When I think of baseball in Asia, I'm always seeing a very disciplined, team-oriented aspect to the game," says CBC baseball analyst Warren Sawkiw. "There is no one better than the Asian countries at getting the sacrifice bunt down and making sure the runner gets to second base so that he has an opportunity to score."

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More time to chat 

The manager in international baseball is also allowed three visits to the mound to discuss situations with his pitcher. In North America, a manager has one "free" visit before he has to replace the pitcher.

If the manager decides to remove his pitcher from the game prior to using up his three trips to the mound, it does not count as one of his free visits. Should the games go into extra innings, one free visit by the manager is allowed for every three innings of play.

The Cuban League 

The Pride of Havana: A History of Cuban Baseball

The Pride of Havana: A History of Cuban Baseball

by: Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria

Amazon Price: $25.15 (as of 07/11/2009)Buy Now

The island's romance with baseball has remarkable parallels and interconnections with America's embrace of the game. Ballplayers from the United States loved to barnstorm during the off-season in wide-open Havana, the Dodgers used to train there, the Cuban League--alums include Brooks Robinson, Tommy Lasorda, Don Hoak, and Don Zimmer--was a major force in the vibrant spread of baseball through the Caribbean, and, not surprisingly, several Major and Negro League standouts--Martin Dihigo, Bert Campaneris, Mike Cuellar, Luis Tiant, Minnie Minoso, Camilo Pascual, Tony Oliva, and, more recently, the Hernandez brothers--were stars in their homeland first.

Best pitchers not always first choice 

Since the Olympics consist of a 10-day tournament, the pitching rotation is a big issue for managers. Most major league teams use a five-man rotation with the club's ace starting on opening day. But in international play, the manager goes with a smaller rotation and uses pitchers more strategically.

In the Olympics, teams look at their draw before deciding on a rotation. For example, Canada may begin the tournament against a weaker team and play a more powerful nation during its second game. Manager Terry Puhl may then opt to save his best pitcher for the tougher contest, rather than staring him in the opening game.

Voted Out of 2012 Olympics 

The IOC meeting on 11th of July 2005 softball and baseball have been voted out of the 2012 London summer Olympics; the first sport to be voted out of the Olympics since 1936 in which Polo was eliminated.


The event will however remain on the docket for the Beijing Olympics 2008. The skills of 16 teams with excess of 300 athletes will be missing from the 2012 games. The two slots which were available after the International Olympic Committee's elimination of baseball have not been filled by any new sports which could see both softball and baseball re-emerging at the 2016 Olympic Games-- if no new sport is adopted on condition that softball and baseball garner enough numbers in votes to see inclusion

Cal Ripken 

WNST -- "Ripken visits Olympic Stadium in Beijing"

Nestor Aparicio chronicles the first full day in China with Cal Ripken. Today, Ripken and B.J. Surhoff visit the Olympic Baseball facility in Beijing. Cal discusses his lifelong love of baseball!

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USA or Cuba? 

Cuba is by far the most successful baseball-nation of the world. The Cubans won the title 25 times at 36 world championships.


They also used the occasion of the sport's introduction at the Olympic Games 1992 to set an example at the first baseball-competition in the history of the Olympic Games. In the tournaments final the Cubans defeated Taiwan with 11 runs to 1. They continued their success by winning the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Atlanta 1996 and in Athens 2004. However, in 2000 in Sydney the Cuban team lost the final against the USA and thus had to be content with silver.

Can the US Win This Time 

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America's First-Ever Olympic Gold Medal Winning Softball Team 

Etched in Gold: The Story of America's First-Ever Olympic Gold Medal Winning Softball Team

Etched in Gold: The Story of America's First-Ever Olympic Gold Medal Winning Softball Team

by: Ron Babb

Amazon Price: (as of 07/11/2009)Buy Now

Latest News - Just Updated 

Beijing Olympics 2008 COMPETITION SCHEDULE

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Blog Posts from Google 

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Olympic format

Only eight teams, playing in a round robin followed by semi-finals. Since 2000 players have not been required to be amateur.The rules are basically the same as club baseball. For some reason there is no women's event.

Olympic qualifying

For Beijing, alongside the hosts, the Americas will have two places, while Europe and Asia have one each. These go to the winners of the respective continental championships, with the final three places up for grabs at a world tournament.

Olympic history

Baseball returned as an Olympic sport in 1992, but will be axed, along with Softball after Beijing. That's a real shame for Cuba, who have won three of the last four.

Who's the best?

Since professional players were allowed in 2000, you'd expect the USA to have wiped the floor with the rest. In fact, while they took gold in Sydney 2000, they didn't even qualify for Athens 2004 after losing to Mexico in the qualifying tournament. However, they won the Americas tournament in 2006, and so are qualified for Beijing. Cuba, the runners-up, also qualified.

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(Beijing Summer Olympics is August 8, 2008)

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