# Baseball at the 1988 Summer Olympics

Baseball at the 1988 Summer Olympics was a demonstration sport for the seventh time. It would become an official sport 4 years later at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Eight teams competed in Jamsil Baseball Stadium in the baseball tournament. The format used was the same as the tournament of four years earlier. Five teams that had competed in the 1984 tournament returned. Cuba originally qualified but withdrew as a result of the boycott.

## Teams

Source:
* Australia (Invited to replace Cuba. Nicaragua, Mexico and Italy had senior rights, but could not send teams at short notice)
* Canada (1987 Pan American Games fourth place, defeated 1987 European Baseball Championship silver medalist Italy in a playoff)
* Chinese Taipei (1987 Asian Baseball Championship gold medalist)
* Japan (1984 Summer Olympics gold medalist)
* Netherlands (1987 European Baseball Championship gold medalist)
* Puerto Rico (1987 Pan American Games bronze medalist)
* South Korea (Hosts)
* United States (1987 Pan American Games silver medalist)

## Preliminary round

There were two pools for the preliminary round. Teams played each of the three other teams in their division.

### Blue Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | RF | RA | RD | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | Japan | 3 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 5 | +12 | 1.000 | — | Advance to knockout round |
| 2 | Puerto Rico | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 11 | −1 | .667 | 1 | Advance to knockout round |
| 3 | Netherlands | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 14 | −3 | .333 | 2 | |
| 4 | Chinese Taipei | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 12 | −8 | .000 | 3 | |
| 20 September Game 1 | Netherlands | 6–1 | Chinese Taipei | Jamsil Baseball Stadium |
| 20 September Game 6 | Puerto Rico | 1–7 | Japan | Jamsil Baseball Stadium |
| 22 September Game 2 | Chinese Taipei | 3–4 (F/12) | Japan | Jamsil Baseball Stadium |
| 22 September Game 5 | Puerto Rico | 7–4 | Netherlands | Jamsil Baseball Stadium |
| 24 September Game 3 | Chinese Taipei | 0–2 | Puerto Rico | Jamsil Baseball Stadium |
| 24 September Game 4 | Japan | 6–1 | Netherlands | Jamsil Baseball Stadium |

### White Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | RF | RA | RD | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | United States | 3 | 2 | 1 | 24 | 13 | +11 | .667 | — | Advance to knockout round |
| 2 | South Korea | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 9 | +1 | .667 | — | Advance to knockout round |
| 3 | Australia | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 20 | −10 | .333 | 1 | |
| 4 | Canada | 3 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 19 | −2 | .333 | 1 | |
| 19 September Game 1 | Canada | 6–7 | Australia | Jamsil Baseball Stadium |
| 19 September Game 6 | United States | 5–3 | South Korea | Jamsil Baseball Stadium |
| 23 September Game 2 | Australia | 1–2 (F/10) | South Korea | Jamsil Baseball Stadium |
| 23 September Game 5 | United States | 7–8 | Canada | Jamsil Baseball Stadium |
| 25 September Game 3 | Australia | 2–12 (F/7) | United States | Jamsil Baseball Stadium |
| 25 September Game 4 | South Korea | 5–3 | Canada | Jamsil Baseball Stadium |

## Knockout round

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 26 September | 26 September |
| Japan | 3 |
| Japan | 3 | 28 September | 28 September |
| South Korea | 1 | 28 September | 28 September |
| South Korea | 1 | Japan | 3 |
| 26 September | 26 September | | Japan | 3 |
| 26 September | 26 September | United States | 5 |
| Puerto Rico | 2 | United States | 5 |
| United States | 7 | | |
| United States | 7 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 28 September | 28 September |
| | | South Korea | 0 |
| | | Puerto Rico | 7 |

### Semifinals

The semifinals pitted the first-place team of each division against the second-place team of the other division. Thus, Japan (3-0) played against Korea (2-1), which had a tied record with the United States (2-1) but had lost in head-to-head competition against them. The first-place Americans played against Puerto Rico (2-1).
| 26 September Game 1 | South Korea | 1–3 | Japan | Jamsil Baseball Stadium |
| 26 September Game 2 | Puerto Rico | 2–7 | United States | Jamsil Baseball Stadium |

### 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.
| 28 September | Puerto Rico | 7–0 | South Korea | Jamsil Baseball Stadium |

### First-place final

The winners of the semifinals played each other for first and second place. In a rematch of the 1984 final, the reigning champion Japanese team lost to the United States. Since baseball was a demonstration sport, no official medals were awarded.
| 28 September | United States | 5–3 | Japan | Jamsil Baseball Stadium |

## Final standings

| Place | Team |
| | United States |
| | Japan |
| | Puerto Rico |
| 4 | South Korea |
| 5 | Netherlands |
| 6 | Australia |
| 7 | Canada |
| 8 | Chinese Taipei |
* 1988 Olympic champions
* United States Demonstration Sport title