# Baseball at the 2000 Summer Olympics

Baseball at the 2000 Summer Olympics was the third time an Olympic baseball tournament had been held as a full medal sport, and the ninth time it had been part of the Summer Olympic Games in any capacity. It was held in Sydney, Australia from 17 September through to the bronze and gold medal games on 27 September. Two venues were used for the Games: the Sydney Baseball Stadium and Blacktown Olympic Park. For the first time in Olympic competition, professional baseball players were eligible to participate, though no active players from Major League Baseball were available.
In the gold medal game known as the "Miracle on Grass", the United States became Olympic Champions for the first time in its baseball history by defeating Cuba 4–0. Since becoming a medal sport, it was the first time Cuba had not won the gold medal. The gold medal game was also only the second game Cuba had lost in Olympic baseball, having lost to the Netherlands earlier in the tournament. South Korea won their first Olympic baseball medal, beating Japan in the bronze medal match 3–1.

## Format

The main tournament featured eight teams. These teams were selected from a series of continental qualifying tournaments, with the exception of Australia who qualified automatically as hosts. As had been the case at the 1996 Games in Atlanta, two teams each qualified from the Americas via the 1999 Pan American Games, Asia via the 1999 Asian Baseball Championship, and Europe via the 1999 European Baseball Championship. The final spot went to the winner of a deciding series between the African and Oceania champions, as determined by the 1999 All-Africa Games and the 1999 Oceania Baseball Championship respectively. This playoff was won by South Africa, who swept Guam in a best-of-five series in Johannesburg in December 1999.
The eight teams met in a round-robin series, facing each other once. The top four teams from this then met in the finals, with the first and fourth placed teams playing against each other in one semi final, and the second and third placed teams in the other. The losers of these semi finals competed in the bronze medal game, while the winners met in the gold medal game.

## Teams

| Team | Qualification method |
| Australia | Host nation |
| Cuba | 1999 Pan American Games |
| Italy | 1999 European Baseball Championship |
| Japan | 1999 Asian Baseball Championship |
| Netherlands | 1999 European Baseball Championship |
| South Africa | 1999 All-Africa Games, then defeated Guam in Africa Champion v Oceania Champion playoff |
| South Korea | 1999 Asian Baseball Championship |
| United States | 1999 Pan American Games |

## Results
### Preliminary round

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | RF | RA | RD | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | Cuba | 7 | 6 | 1 | 50 | 17 | +33 | .857 | — | Advance to knockout round |
| 2 | United States | 7 | 6 | 1 | 42 | 14 | +28 | .857 | — | Advance to knockout round |
| 3 | South Korea | 7 | 4 | 3 | 40 | 26 | +14 | .571 | 2 | Advance to knockout round |
| 4 | Japan | 7 | 4 | 3 | 41 | 23 | +18 | .571 | 2 | Advance to knockout round |
| 5 | Netherlands | 7 | 3 | 4 | 19 | 29 | −10 | .429 | 3 | |
| 6 | Italy | 7 | 2 | 5 | 33 | 43 | −10 | .286 | 4 | |
| 7 | Australia (H) | 7 | 2 | 5 | 30 | 41 | −11 | .286 | 4 | |
| 8 | South Africa | 7 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 73 | −62 | .143 | 5 | |
* 1 2 Cuba defeated the United States 6–1.
* 1 2 South Korea defeated Japan 7–6.
* 1 2 Italy defeated Australia 8–7.
| 17 September | Cuba | 16–0 (F/7) | South Africa | Blacktown Olympic Park Attendance: 3,082 |
| 17 September | | Boxscore | | Blacktown Olympic Park Attendance: 3,082 |
| 17 September | United States | 4–2 (F/13) | Japan | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 13,404 |
| 17 September | | Boxscore | | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 13,404 |
| 17 September | Italy | 2–10 | South Korea | Blacktown Olympic Park Attendance: 2,951 |
| 17 September | | Boxscore | | Blacktown Olympic Park Attendance: 2,951 |
| 17 September | Australia | 4–6 | Netherlands | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 13,762 |
| 17 September | | Boxscore | | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 13,762 |
| 18 September | Cuba | 13–5 | Italy | Blacktown Olympic Park Attendance: 2,424 |
| 18 September | | Boxscore | | Blacktown Olympic Park Attendance: 2,424 |
| 18 September | South Korea | 3–5 | Australia | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 13,281 |
| 18 September | | Boxscore | | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 13,281 |
| 18 September | United States | 11–1 (F/7) | South Africa | Blacktown Olympic Park Attendance: 3,474 |
| 18 September | | Boxscore | | Blacktown Olympic Park Attendance: 3,474 |
| 18 September | Japan | 10–2 | Netherlands | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 11,360 |
| 18 September | | Boxscore | | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 11,360 |
| 19 September | South Africa | 0–13 (F/7) | Italy | Blacktown Olympic Park Attendance: 2,511 |
| 19 September | | Boxscore | | Blacktown Olympic Park Attendance: 2,511 |
| 19 September | Australia | 3–7 | Japan | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 13,093 |
| 19 September | | Boxscore | | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 13,093 |
| 19 September | Netherlands | 2–6 | United States | Blacktown Olympic Park Attendance: 3,352 |
| 19 September | | Boxscore | | Blacktown Olympic Park Attendance: 3,352 |
| 19 September | South Korea | 5–6 | Cuba | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 13,565 |
| 19 September | | Boxscore | | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 13,565 |
| 20 September | Italy | 1–6 | Japan | Blacktown Olympic Park Attendance: 3,245 |
| 20 September | | Boxscore | | Blacktown Olympic Park Attendance: 3,245 |
| 20 September | Netherlands | 4–2 | Cuba | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 12,450 |
| 20 September | | Boxscore | | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 12,450 |
| 20 September | South Africa | 4–10 | Australia | Blacktown Olympic Park Attendance: 3,459 |
| 20 September | | Boxscore | | Blacktown Olympic Park Attendance: 3,459 |
| 20 September | United States | 4–0 | South Korea | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 13,818 |
| 20 September | | Boxscore | | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 13,818 |
| 22 September | South Korea | 2–0 | Netherlands | Blacktown Olympic Park Attendance: 3,350 |
| 22 September | | Boxscore | | Blacktown Olympic Park Attendance: 3,350 |
| 22 September | Cuba | 1–0 | Australia | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 14,036 |
| 22 September | | Boxscore | | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 14,036 |
| 22 September | South Africa | 0–8 | Japan | Blacktown Olympic Park Attendance: 3,512 |
| 22 September | | Boxscore | | Blacktown Olympic Park Attendance: 3,512 |
| 22 September | United States | 4–2 | Italy | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 13,912 |
| 22 September | | Boxscore | | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 13,912 |
| 23 September | Netherlands | 2–3 (F/10) | South Africa | Blacktown Olympic Park Attendance: 3,484 |
| 23 September | | Boxscore | | Blacktown Olympic Park Attendance: 3,484 |
| 23 September | Japan | 6–7 (F/10) | South Korea | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 13,970 |
| 23 September | | Boxscore | | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 13,970 |
| 23 September | Australia | 7–8 (F/12) | Italy | Blacktown Olympic Park Attendance: 3,562 |
| 23 September | | Boxscore | | Blacktown Olympic Park Attendance: 3,562 |
| 23 September | Cuba | 6–1 | United States | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 14,010 |
| 23 September | | Boxscore | | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 14,010 |
| 24 September | Italy | 2–3 | Netherlands | Blacktown Olympic Park Attendance: 3,439 |
| 24 September | | Boxscore | | Blacktown Olympic Park Attendance: 3,439 |
| 24 September | South Korea | 13–3 (F/8) | South Africa | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 13,864 |
| 24 September | | Boxscore | | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 13,864 |
| 24 September | Japan | 2–6 | Cuba | Blacktown Olympic Park Attendance: 3,479 |
| 24 September | | Boxscore | | Blacktown Olympic Park Attendance: 3,479 |
| 24 September | Australia | 1–12 (F/7) | United States | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 14,018 |
| 24 September | | Boxscore | | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 14,018 |

### Final round

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Gold medal match | Gold medal match | Gold medal match |
| 1 | Cuba | 3 | | | |
| 4 | Japan | 0 | | | |
| 4 | Japan | 0 | W1 | Cuba | 0 |
| | | | W2 | United States | 4 |
| 3 | United States | 3 | W2 | United States | 4 |
| 2 | South Korea | 2 | Bronze medal match | Bronze medal match | Bronze medal match |
| | | | L2 | South Korea | 3 |
| | | | L1 | Japan | 1 |

#### Semi-finals

| 26 September | Cuba | 3–0 | Japan | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 13,727 |
| 26 September | United States | 3–2 | South Korea | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 14,002 |

#### Bronze medal game

| 27 September | South Korea | 3 – 1 | Japan | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 14,058 |

#### Gold medal game

| 27 September | Cuba | 0 – 4 | United States | Sydney Baseball Stadium Attendance: 14,107 |

## Final standings

| Rk | Team | W | L |
| | United States | 8 | 1 |
| Lost in the gold medal game ||||
| | Cuba | 7 | 2 |
| Failed to qualify for gold medal game ||||
| | South Korea | 6 | 3 |
| 4 | Japan | 5 | 4 |
| Failed to qualify for semi-finals ||||
| 5 | Netherlands | 3 | 4 |
| 6 | Italy | 2 | 5 |
| 7 | Australia | 2 | 5 |
| 8 | South Africa | 1 | 6 |
| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| United States (USA) Brent Abernathy Kurt Ainsworth Pat Borders Sean Burroughs John Cotton Travis Dawkins Adam Everett Ryan Franklin Chris George Shane Heams Marcus Jensen Mike Kinkade Rick Krivda Doug Mientkiewicz Mike Neill Roy Oswalt Jon Rauch Anthony Sanders Bobby Seay Ben Sheets Brad Wilkerson Todd Williams Ernie Young Tim Young | Cuba (CUB) Omar Ajete Yovany Aragon Miguel Caldés Danel Castro José Contreras Yobal Dueñas Yasser Gómez José Ibar Orestes Kindelán Pedro Luis Lazo Omar Linares Oscar Macías Juan Manrique Javier Méndez Rolando Meriño Germán Mesa Antonio Pacheco Massó Ariel Pestano Gabriel Pierre Maels Rodríguez Antonio Scull Luis Ulacia Lázaro Valle Norge Luis Vera | South Korea (KOR) Jang Sung-Ho Chong Tae-Hyon Chung Min-Tae Jung Soo-Keun Hong Sung-Heon Jin Pil-jung Kim Dong-Joo Kim Han-Soo Kim Ki-Tae Kim Soo-Kyung Kim Tae-gyun Koo Dae-Sung Lee Byung-Kyu Lee Seung-Ho Lee Seung-Yeop Lim Chang-Yong Lim Sun-Dong Park Jae-Hong Park Jin-Man Park Jong-Ho Park Kyung-Oan Park Seok-Jin Son Min-Han Song Jin-Woo |
* 2000 Olympic champions
* United States 1st title