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
Venue	Wukesong Baseball Field
Dates	August 13–23, 2008
Teams	8
Medalists
South Korea  Cuba  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.

Venues

Beijing
Wukesong Baseball Main Field	Wukesong Baseball Field 2
Capacity: 12,000[5]	Capacity: 3,000[5]

Medalists

Gold	Silver	Bronze
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

Main article: Baseball at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Qualification

Event	Date	Location	Vacancies	Qualified
Host nation				China
American Qualifying Tournament	Aug 25 – Sept 7, 2006	Havana	2	United States  Cuba
European Championship	Sept 7 – Sept 16, 2007	Barcelona	1	Netherlands
Asian Baseball Championship	Nov 27 – Dec 3, 2007	Taichung	1	Japan
Final Qualifying Tournament	Mar 7 – Mar 14, 2008	Taichung and Douliou	3	Canada  South Korea  Chinese Taipei
TOTAL			8

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

See also: Political status of Taiwan

Team squad

Main article: Baseball at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Team squads

Team	Qualification criteria	Appearance
Canada	1st place of Final Qualifying Tournament	2nd
China	Automatic as host nation of the Olympics	1st
Chinese Taipei	3rd place of Final Qualifying Tournament	3rd
Cuba	2nd place of American Qualifying Tournament	5th
Japan	1st place of Asian Baseball Championship	5th
South Korea	2nd place of Final Qualifying Tournament	3rd
Netherlands	1st place of European Championship	4th
United States	1st place of American Qualifying Tournament	4th

Group stage

All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8)

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	RF	RA	RD	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	South Korea	7	7	0	41	22	+19	1.000	—	Advance to knockout round
2	Cuba	7	6	1	52	23	+29	.857	1
3	United States	7	5	2	40	22	+18	.714	2
4	Japan	7	4	3	30	14	+16	.571	3
5	Chinese Taipei	7	2	5	29	33	−4	.286[a]	5
6	Canada	7	2	5	29	20	+9	.286[a]	5
7	Netherlands	7	1	6	9	50	−41	.143[b]	6
8	China (H)	7	1	6	14	60	−46	.143[b]	6

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
(H) Hosts
Notes:

1. Chinese Taipei defeated Canada 6–5.
2. Netherlands defeated China 6–4.

Team	G	W	L	RS	RA	WIN%	GB	Tiebreaker
South Korea	7	7	0	41	22	1.000	–	–
Cuba	7	6	1	52	23	.857	1	–
United States	7	5	2	40	22	.714	2	–
Japan	7	4	3	30	14	.571	3	–
Chinese Taipei	7	2	5	29	33	.286	5	1–0
Canada	7	2	5	29	20	.286	5	0–1
Netherlands	7	1	6	9	50	.143	6	1–0
China	7	1	6	14	60	.143	6	0–1

August 13

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E  Netherlands 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1  Chinese Taipei 0 1 0 3 0 1 0 0 X 5 7 0 WP: Wei-Yin Chen (1-0)   LP: David Bergman (0-1) Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E  Canada 0 0 0 3 2 0 1 4 - 10 10 0  China 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 8 2 WP: Chris Begg (1-0)   LP: Tao Bu (0-1) Home runs: CAN: Scott Thorman (1), Michael Saunders (1) CHN: None

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E  United States 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 3 7 12 1  South Korea 0 2 1 0 3 0 0 0 2 8 9 1 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) Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E  Japan 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 9 1  Cuba 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 X 4 9 1 WP: Norge Luis Vera (1-0)   LP: Yu Darvish (0-1)   Sv: Pedro Luis Lazo (1)

August 14

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E  United States 0 1 0 4 0 0 1 1 - 7 10 0  Netherlands 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 1 0 WP: Stephen Strasburg (1-0)   LP: Shairon Martis (0-1) Home runs: USA: Matt Brown (1), Matt Laporta (1) NED: None Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 R H E  China 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0  South Korea 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 3 0

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E  Canada 0 0 2 1 0 2 0 1 0 6 9 2  Cuba 0 3 0 0 0 4 0 0 X 7 5 2 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) Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E  Japan 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 4 6 9 1  Chinese Taipei 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 WP: Hideaki Wakui (1-0)   LP: Fu-Te Ni (0-1) Home runs: JPN: Shinnosuke Abe (1) TPE: None

August 15

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 R H E  Chinese Taipei 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 4 7 11 1  China 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 5 8 11 3 WP: Jiangang Lv (1-0)   LP: Chien-Fu Yang (0-1) Home runs: TPE: Kuo-Hui Lo (1) CHN: None Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E  Cuba 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 5 10 0  United States 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 4 6 0 WP: Pedro Luis Lazo (1-0)   LP: Jeff Stevens (0-2) Home runs: CUB: Alfredo Despaigne (2) USA: Jayson Nix (1)

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E  South Korea 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0  Canada 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 WP: Hyun-Jin Ryu (1-0)   LP: Mike Johnson (0-1) Home runs: KOR: Keun-Woo Jeong (1) CAN: None Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E  Netherlands 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1  Japan 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 X 6 10 0 WP: Toshiya Sugiuchi (1-0)   LP: Alexander Smit (0-1) Home runs: NED: None JPN: Takahiko Sato (1)

August 16

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E  Canada 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 10 1  United States 0 0 0 2 1 0 2 0 X 5 9 1 WP: Brian Duensing (1-0)   LP: Chris Reitsma (0-1) Home runs: CAN: None USA: Brian Barden (1) Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E  Chinese Taipei 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1  Cuba 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 X 1 5 0 WP: Elier Sánchez (1-0)   LP: Chen-Chang Lee (0-1)   Sv: Norberto González (2) Home runs: TPE: None CUB: Frederich Cepeda (1)

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E  Netherlands 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 0 0 6 9 1  China 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 4 11 1 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 Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E  South Korea 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 5 9 1  Japan 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 3 7 1 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

Team 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E  China - 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2  South Korea 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 7 0 WP: Seung-Hwan Oh (1-0)   LP: Jiangang Lu (1-1)

August 18

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E  Japan 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 5 0  Canada 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 WP: Yoshihisa Naruse (1-0)   LP: Chris Begg (1-1)   Sv: Koji Uehara (1) Home runs: JPN: Atsunori Inaba (1) CAN: None Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E  South Korea 7 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 9 16 2  Chinese Taipei 0 2 0 0 4 2 0 0 0 8 12 2 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

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E  Cuba 1 0 0 0 5 4 0 4 - 14 16 0  Netherlands 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 - 3 10 2 WP: Jonder Martínez (1-0)   LP: Juan Carlos Sulbaran (0-1) Home runs: CUB: None NED: Bryan Engelhardt (2), Percy Isenia (1) Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E  China 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 1  United States 1 0 0 0 3 1 4 0 X 9 9 0 WP: Jake Arrieta (1-0)   LP: Chenhao Li (0-1) Home runs: CHN: Yang Yang (1) USA: None

August 19

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E  Canada 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 4 7 1  Netherlands 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 WP: Brooks McNiven (1-0)   LP: Shairon Martis (0-2) Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E  Cuba 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 7 2  South Korea 0 0 0 5 0 1 1 0 X 7 9 0 WP: Seung-Jun Song (1-0)   LP: Vicyohandri Odelín (1-1)   Sv: Seung-Hwan Oh (1)

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E  China 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - 0 2 0  Japan 0 3 1 0 0 6 X - - 10 10 0 WP: Hideaki Wakui (2-0)   LP: Nan Wang (0-1) Home runs: CHN: None JPN: Tsuyoshi Nishioka (1) Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E  Chinese Taipei 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 5 0  United States 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 1 X 4 10 2 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

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E  China 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 - - 1 2 1  Cuba 0 9 1 4 1 2 X - - 17 20 0 WP: Jonder Martínez (2-0)   LP: Tao Bu (0-2) Home runs: CHN: None CUB: Giorbis Duvergel (1), Michel Enríquez (1), Ariel Pestano (1) Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E  South Korea 2 0 0 0 4 2 0 2 - 10 16 1  Netherlands 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 4 1 WP: Won-Sam Jang (1-0)   LP: Alexander Smit (0-2) Home runs: KOR: Dae-Ho Lee (3), Taek-Keun Lee (1) NED: None

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 R H E  Chinese Taipei 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 10 2  Canada 2 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 10 3 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) Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E  United States 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 5 0  Japan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 5 0 WP: Jeff Stevens (1-2)   LP: Hitoki Iwase (0-2)   Sv: Casey Weathers (1)

Knockout stage

	Semifinals				Gold Medal Match
	2008-08-22 - Beijing
	Japan	2
					2008-08-23 - Beijing
	South Korea	6
					South Korea	3
	2008-08-22 - Beijing
					Cuba	2
	United States	2
	Cuba	10
					Bronze Medal Match
					2008-08-23 - Beijing
					Japan	4
					United States	8

Semifinals

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E  Japan 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 2  South Korea 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 4 X 6 10 1 WP: Kwang-Hyun Kim (1-0)   LP: Hitoki Iwase (0-3) Home runs: JPN: None KOR: Seung-Yeop Lee (1)

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E  United States 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 6 2  Cuba 0 0 2 1 0 1 0 6 X 10 14 2 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

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Japan	1	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	6	1
United States	0	1	3	0	4	0	0	0	X	8	9	0
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

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
South Korea	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	4	0
Cuba	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	5	1
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

Place Team  South Korea  Cuba  United States 4  Japan 5  Chinese Taipei 6  Canada 7  Netherlands 8  China

2008 Olympic champions  South Korea First title