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The winner of the Gold Medal: Team from Cuba
The winner of the Silver Medal: Team from Australia
The winner of the Bronze Medal: Team from Japan
CBC.ca - Athens 2004 - CBC Sports: Japan crushes Canada's baseball medal hopes
Canada's dream of winning its first Olympic baseball medal died Wednesday in Athens.
"Japan claimed bronze in baseball Wednesday with an 11-2 drubbing of Canada, but it was a bittersweet victory for Japan, which had high hopes of a gold with their "Dream Team" of pro baseball stars.
Australia will battle Cuba for the gold later in the day, while Canada were shut out at their first chance of an Olympic baseball medal.
Japan jumped out to a two-run lead in the first inning on a homer from power-hitting catcher Kenji Jojima. They put the game out of reach with four more runs in the third, sparked by a bases-loaded single from Takuya Kimura that scored two.
The baseball medal will be the third for the Japanese team, which claimed silver in Atlanta in 1996 and bronze in Barcelona in 1992."
Read more atJapan Clinches Baseball Bronze After Beating Canada
Canada loses baseball heartbreaker to Cuba
Kevin Nicholson just missed a game-tying home run for Canada in the bottom of the ninth inning, allowing Cuba to hold on for an 8-5 win in a dramatic finish to their Olympic semifinal match on Tuesday.
This could easily mess up Canada's chance at a baseball medal!
Australia defeats Japan 1-0 in baseball semifinal, plays for gold
Brendan Kingman's sixth-inning single sent Australia to a 1-0 victory over stunned Japan on Tuesday, putting the Aussies in the gold medal game.
A bunch of career minor leaguers led the Aussies to their biggest victory in international play. Australia failed to reach the medal round during the 2000 Sydney Games. "It's very important for the program in Australia," said manager Jon Deeble. "We were very disappointed after the Sydney Olympics. The day after the Sydney Olympics, we put a plan in place to win the gold medal in Athens."
"Chris Oxspring tossed 6 2/3 scoreless innings Tuesday in helping carry Australia to a 1-0 win over Japan and into the Olympic baseball gold medal game.
Brendan Kingman singled home the game's only run in the sixth.
Oxspring (2-0) struck out five batters and gave up five hits in the semifinals. Australia will play either Canada or Cuba in Wednesday's championship contest.
Australia is assured its first Olympic baseball medal."
Read more at Australia reaches baseball gold medal game
After posting back-to-back losses to Japan and Cuba, Canada wrapped up preliminary Olympic men's baseball play with an 11-0 thrashing of Australia on Sunday.
Pitcher PhiL Devey got the start and the win for Canada, allowing just two hits in six shutout innings on the mound with a walk and one strikeout.
Canada needs bats to come alive if baseball team hopes to win Olympic medal
After suffering back-to-back losses Canada's baseball team needs to put some life back in its hitting if the squad hopes to challenge for an Olympic medal.
'Big Red Machine' keeps winning
The Canadian men's baseball team picked up its fourth straight win Wednesday with a 2-0 victory over host Greece in front of a near-capacity crowd of 3,642 at the Olympic Baseball Centre. The buzz is starting to build around this Canadian team, being dubbed the 'Big Red Machine' by some after its impressive start. Canada is alone in first place at 4-0, with medal favourites Japan and Cuba next at 3-1.
"Peter Orr belted a three-run homer and finished with four RBI, leading North American representative Canada to a 7-0 rout of the Netherlands in Olympic baseball action Tuesday.
Shawn Hill (1-0) gave up just three hits in five scoreless innings, and four relievers held the Dutch hitless after that, as Canada improved to 3-0 so far at these Games.
"We're really confident," catcher Pierre-Luc LaForest said. "We've accomplished what we want to do so far. We're in the groove now."
Orr's homer in the second inning accounted for Canada's first three runs, and his team would score four more over the next two innings to put the game away. LaForest added a solo homer leading off the third, and Stubby Clapp belted a solo shot during a three-run fourth.
Hill was relieved after the fifth, and Mike Kusiewicz, John Ogiltree, Chris Mears and Aaron Myette closed out the game with an of work apiece."
Read more at Canada Remains Unbeaten In Baseball
These two results are just in in preliminary matches in Baseball
Greece 1 vs. Taiwan 7
Canada 7 vs. Netherlands 0
"Australia's baseball team came into the Olympic tournament with high hopes for a medal.
But, as they spell in Down Under, the "offence" is going to have to get a little more offensive.
For the second day in a row, the Aussies struggled to string together hits, this time falling to Taiwan 3-0 at the Olympic Baseball Complex on Monday.
Australia fell to Cuba 4-1 in its opener"
Read more at Aussies' hopes going under
"Swirling wind at the Helliniko Olympic Baseball Center in Athens cost Team Taiwan dearly in its 7-0 opening loss to Canada on Sunday. The unpredictable wind pattern not only led to two of Team Taiwan's four uncharacteristic errors, it also "pulled" two long balls hit by Taiwanese bat-ters that would have easily been home runs in other ball parks: One ended up being fouled and the other only good for a double.
The stadium's close proximity to the Mediterranean Sea, which is less than a kilometer away, had been the center of attention in terms of the adjustments that Team Taiwan had to make in fielding fly balls that could be affected by the unusual wind patterns. But no one expected the widely publicized "killer wind" to have the dreadful impact that it did on the outcome of Sunday's contest."
Read more at Baseball: Taiwan can blame loss to Canada on wind
The Canadian men's baseball team opened its preliminary round Sunday with a 7-0 victory over Taiwan on a windy, c.hilly night at the Olympic Baseball Centre.
Sports | Baseball | canada.com
"Australia's baseball team has been soundly beaten 4-1 by one of the gold medal favourites Cuba in its Olympic Games preliminary round match.
Australia fell behind early to a towering home run from Cuba's Michael Enriquez in the first inning and never recovered against the two-time gold medallists.
Two errors in the third proved costly, allowing Yullieski Gourriel to get far enough around to advance home on Osmani Urrutia's single."
Read more at Cuba easily accounts for Aussies
Canada's men's baseball team looks like it is ready for the Athens Olympic Games.
On Tuesday, the Canadians beat Chinese Taipei 2-1 in the final game of a pre-Olympic baseball tournament in nothern Italy.
The Canadians finished the four-game tournament with a perfect record. Teams from Cuba, Italy and the Netherlands also fell to the Canadians.
CBC.ca - Athens 2004 - CBC Sports
Jeff Francis isn't going to the Athens, which means Canada's Olympic baseball team is looking for a new ace.
Baseball Canada received a fax from the Colorado Rockies yesterday informing the the organization that the left-hander from North Delta, B.C., won't be pitching in the Summer Games.
Pitching ace Francis will miss Games
" Brimming with confidence after hammering Cuba in a pre-Olympic tournament, the Canadian Olympic baseball team received some bad news on Monday.
One day after a triumphant 9-1 victory over the two-time Olympic gold medallists, Baseball Canada received a fax from the Colorado Rockies informing them left-handed pitcher Jeff Francis won't be pitching in the Athens Games.
Jeff Francis of North Delta, B.C., smiles after the Colorado Rockies selected him as their first-round pick in the 2002 Major League Baseball first-year player draft. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
While the news is good for Francis, who will soon make his way to the major leagues, it's another blow to the upstart Canadian squad. Team Canada is still hurting from the loss of Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau."
Read more at Canadian Olympic baseball team loses Francis to big leagues.
"The defending Olympic baseball champions, the United States, will not be in Athens to challenge for a gold medal but a rag-tag team of mostly Greek-Americans will represent the host country.
The U.S., where baseball is the national pastime, suffered a shock loss to Mexico in November and failed to qualify, leaving Cuba and Japan as the teams likely to fight for the gold.
There is no reserved spot for the defending champions in the Olympic field of eight teams, down from 12 in Sydney.
However, there was a spot set aside for the hosts Greece, a nation that had no talent pool, no national team and no baseball stadium before it was given the nod to stage the Games.
Greece does have two dilapidated diamonds located on the grounds of former U.S. military bases."
Read more at Cuba Clear Favorites in Olympic Baseball After U.S. Misses Out
"Using 10-man lineups and a pair of retired starting pitchers, the Olympic baseball teams for Greece and Canada gave about 200 fans at Camden Yards a sneak preview of this month's Olympic tournament in Athens.
The Greek team, composed of Americans of Greek descent, scored three runs in the first off former big league lefty Paul Spoljaric, but Canada rallied against Orioles prospect Nick Markakis and went on to a 5-3 victory.
Markakis, the seventh overall pick in the 2003 draft, has played outfield for low Class A Delmarva this season and had not pitched in a game since his days at Young Harris (Ga.) Junior College. He will pitch in a relief role for Greece in the Olympics and threw an inning against Canada, giving up three runs on three hits and three walks. Markakis got the loss as he threw 31 pitches, 14 of them out of the strike zone."
Read more Baseball America: Canada Tops Greece 5-3 In Exhibition.
"Forget that the U.S. is the reigning gold medalist in baseball. We invented the friggin' game.
So imagine what the spirit of Abner Doubleday must be thinking now: How can an Olympic baseball tournament go on without the Americans?
The members of the U.S. team will be spectators this August when Cuba, Japan, Chinese Taipei, Australia, Greece, Canada and "perennial baseball powers" Italy and the Netherlands play for the gold.
The fact is, the U.S. team gave up two runs in the qualifying tournament last October. Two runs! But due to some creative bracket formations, byes, no-shows, and a pretty good Mexican team that didn't qualify either, the U.S. will not have an entry in Athens."
Continue reading Baseball - Musings, ramblings and diamond dust.
"The Canadian Olympic baseball team has lost its cleanup hitter while its ace remains in limbo.
Starter Shawn Hill was named to the Canadian Olympic baseball team Sunday in place of slugger Justin Morneau, who has taken over as the Minnesota Twins' starting first baseman and is no longer eligible for the Games.
And while Baseball Canada officials hope the makeover ends there, they won't know for sure if they'll have starter Jeff Francis for Athens until next weekend, when the Colorado Rockies finally make a decision on the left-hander's future."
Read more at Shawn Hill added to Canadian Olympic team
"Born in San Diego, Alex Cremidan grew up as a Greek-American drawn to both sides of his hyphenated heritage.
He served as an altar boy at his Greek Orthodox Church and took a memorable trip to visit relatives in Athens, developing a connection to the country where his grandparents were born.
"Even though I was born here in the U.S.," Cremidan said, "when I was growing up I had a strong (Greek) heritage."
Another affinity, this one purely American, occupied his boyhood imagination.
Baseball.
He's a professional now, a relief pitcher for the South Bend Silver Hawks trying to work his way up the Arizona Diamondbacks organization.
That American dream will be deferred this month while Cremidan competes for the Greek baseball team in the Olympic Games."
Continue reading Cremidan takes Olympic detour.
"Louisville Bats closer Aaron Myette always has associated Olympic baseball with the United States and Cuba, knowing those two countries have won the only three gold medals awarded since the sport was made official in the 1992 Games.
Since Myette's native country, Canada, had not qualified for the Olympics in baseball since it was a demonstration sport in 1988, he's had little reason to think that he ever would play.
"The dream was there, but I didn't anticipate it happening," he said.
That all changed after Canada qualified last fall for this year's Games, which will begin Aug.13 in Athens, Greece. Myette found out July15 that he had been chosen for Team Canada, which will meet today in Toronto to begin training for the Olympics."
Continue reading Bats' Myette an Olympian - for Canada .
"With the Olympics just two weeks away, Japan has decided to send its baseball team to Athens without its manager, media reported Saturday.
The 68-year-old Shigeo Nagashima, Japan's most famous former baseball player, had been managing the squad when he suffered a stroke that partially paralyzed the right side of his body in March. Japanese Olympic officials had said they would make a last-minute decision whether to replace Nagashima, who has since regained his ability to walk through rehabilitation.
But now Nagashima won't go because the long flight and the sweltering heat in Athens might wear him out, Kyodo News agency said, citing anonymous sources close to Nagashima."
Read more at Nagashima won't coach Japan's Olympic baseball squad.
"To most, Canada is the Great White North, home of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, comedians Mike Myers, Jim Carrey, John Candy, and of course hockey.
Come the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Canada hopes to be better known for baseball too.
Cuba was expected to advance at the Olympic qualifier last fall, and the Cubans did. Team USA was supposed to do the same but was edged 2-1 in the quarterfinal by Mexico, eliminating the defending gold-medal winner. Canada then beat Mexico 11-1 to qualify for the Olympics in baseball for the first time.
While its major league franchises in Montreal and Toronto have been in decline, Canada has made strides in recent years in the sport. In 1995, 55 Canadians played in the minors. In 2003, that number had swelled to 114 in the minors and 92 in independent leagues. The year before, lefthanders Adam Loewen (fourth overall) and Jeff Francis (ninth) became the highest-picked Canadians in draft history."
Read more at Canada Hopes Olympic Success Spurs Grassroots.
"Four years after Ben Sheets raised his arms in triumph following a shutout of Cuba that brought gold to the United States, the Olympic baseball landscape has changed dramatically.
The U.S. won its first gold since baseball became a medal sport in 2000 in Sydney. Team USA won’t be around to defend that title in Athens because it failed to qualify for the 2004 Games, to be held in Athens from Aug. 15-25. Bronze medalist Korea, which shut down its professional league for the Sydney games, also failed to qualify for Athens.
At least baseball is still around, though. Between tournaments, the sport almost got kicked off the Olympic program. Jacques Rogge took over as head of the International Olympic Committee and immediately sought to have baseball removed. While it survived and should be on the docket for 2008 in Beijing as well, a successful tournament in Athens is a must to regain momentum for the sport within the Olympic movement.
Yet it’s harder to have a successful tournament when two of the best teams in the world—two that care deeply about baseball—aren’t included."
Read more at Cuba, Japan Stand Out In Euro-Centric Athens Field.
The first IBAF World Cup of Women’s Baseball will be held July 30 thru August 8, 2004 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. This event will give a prevue of some of the competition we will see in Athens.
"With or without baseball icon Shigeo Nagashima in the dugout, Japan will have to outshine its Cuban rivals in order to win its first-ever gold medal in Olympic baseball.
Japan may miss the charismatic manager who is still recovering from a stroke, but will no doubt benefit from the absence of the United States and Asian archrival South Korea.
The closest Japan has ever gotten to winning the gold since baseball became an official medal sport in 1992 is a silver-medal finish at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Four years ago in Sydney, Japan's team made up of top amateur players and a handful of professionals missed out on a place on the podium after falling to the South Koreans in the bronze medal match in a tournament won by the U.S. squad of minor leaguers.
This time, Japan fields its first all-professional roster for an Olympics, and the stage has been neatly set for its hunt for gold after the United States and South Korea made unexpected exits in the qualifying stages." Source - FEATURE: Olympics: Japan pros poised for baseball showdown with Cuba.
"The Greek Olympic baseball team is so short of cash that it has no funds to return for the games after training in the United States, a top official said Friday.
"At this moment we do not have money to pay for the tickets for our team to come to participate in the Olympic Games," Panos Mitsiopoulos, president of the Greek Baseball Federation, told The Associated Press.
All but one player have been training in Baltimore. Peter Angelos, the Greek-American owner of the Baltimore Orioles, helped organize the Greek Olympic team." Source - Chief: Greek Olympic baseball team broke in Baltimore
Canada is fielding one of its strongest basebell teams ever. The team qualified for the Olympics by making it to the championship game at the Pan American games.
The Calgary Sun: Hitting 'em hard
The Canadian Olympic baseball team crafts an eye-catching collective resume. The lengthy document includes a World Series ring, a third-place finisher in the race for 1997 American League rookie of the year and 1,385 games of major-league experience.
In naming its 24-player Olympic roster yesterday, Baseball Canada opted for veteran savvy over promising prospects. Seventeen players return from the team that earned Canada's Olympic berth last year in Panama, while 15 players from the Athens-bound squad have played in the big leagues.
Sports Network has a good preview of Olympic Baseball.
'Eight teams will compete in the Olympics this year. They are: Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Cuba, Canada, Taiwan, Japan and Australia.
The games will be played on two fields at the Hellinikon Olympic Complex. One field will have a seating capacity of 9,000, while the other holds 4,000 spectators....
Cuba has dominated the competition at the Olympics, winning the gold medal in 1992 and '96, before being shut out, 4-0 in the title game in 2000.
Japan and Taiwan will represent Asia in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games as a result of respectively winning the gold and silver medals from the Asian Championship. Japan was the silver medalist in 1996 and nearly won the bronze medal in 2000 but lost to South Korea. Taiwan won the silver in 1992.'
Cuba and Japan are playing two games of baseball in the lead up to the Athens Olympics. These are two of the favorite teams for the games and could give a real insight into who might get Gold in Athens.
'Outfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi of the Yomiuri Giants drove in the tying run in the bottom of the eighth inning Tuesday as Japan and Cuba played to a 1-1 tie in what could be a preview of the gold medal game at the Athens Olympics.
Playing before a crowd of 25,000 at Tokyo Dome, Yoshitomo Tani of the Orix BlueWave doubled to the wall in right field and scored on Takahashi's double to center that fell just beyond the reach of outfielder Carlos Tabares.
Cuba is in Japan for a pair of warmup games ahead of the Olympics. The two teams are to play again Wednesday at the same venue.' Read More - Sanchez delivers key hit as Cuba edges Japan in Olympic tuneup
'CUBA is hoping to win back the baseball gold medal in Athens with a team that has been revitalized since the last Olympic Games, according to Higinio Vélez, technical coach of the Cuba squad.
Talking to Granma International, Vélez explained that the pre-selection squad of 33 players - of whom just four were in Sydney - is powerful, with solid pitching, good batting skills and versatile.
“It’s a difficult challenge because in our country we can’t come home without the gold medal, it’s our national sport,” explained the manager.
“We are combining experience with young talent,” added Vélez, who has managed the team for the last three years, and brought it triumph at the 2001 and 2003 World Championships, the 2002 Intercontinental Cup, the Pan-American Games and the pre-Olympic tournament in 2003.
With an average of 26, the group is made up of three catchers, nine basemen, seven fielders and fourteen pitchers and closed preparations are set to begin this Saturday in the city of Ciego de Avila, some 450 kilometers east of Havana.'Source - Cuba hoping to recover Olympic Baseball title in Athens
The US team won this event at the 2000 games in Sydney but surprisingly did not qualify for competition this year. Cuba is tipped at the Olympics Baseball Gold Medal this year in the absence of the US team. China and Chinese Taipei will represent the Asian region as will Japan. Other teams competing include Australia, Greece, Italy, Canada and the Netherlands.
Professionals were first allowed to participate in the 2000 Sydney Games, which the United States won, but major league baseball does not allow players on 40-man major league rosters to participate, causing the IOC to periodically say it will review baseball's status as an Olympic sport. The U.S. team was eliminated by Mexico with a 2-1 loss in the semifinals of regional qualifying last Nov. 7. Japan and Cuba are the favorites.
We'll update our Baseball Medal and Results page as they come to hand - in the mean time check out all our Olympic Baseball News in our Baseball News Archives
