Baseball at the 1912 Summer Olympics

Baseball had its first appearance at the 1912 Summer Olympics as an exhibition sport. A game was played between the United States, the nation where the game was developed, and Sweden, the host nation. The game was held on Monday, 15 July 1912 and started at 10 a.m. on the Ostermalm Athletic Grounds in Stockholm.

The Americans were represented by various members of the American Olympic track and field athletics delegation, while the Swedish team was the Vesterås Baseball Club, which had been formed in 1910 as the first baseball club in Sweden. Four of the Americans played for Sweden, as the Swedish pitchers and catchers were inexperienced. One Swede eventually relieved Adams and Nelson, the American pitchers.

Six innings were played, with the Americans not batting in the sixth and allowing the Swedes to have six outs in their half of the inning.

The game was umpired by George Wright, a retired American National League baseball player.

Game result

 Team  1  2  3  4  5  6  R  H  E United States  4  1  0  0  8  x  13  10  2 Sweden  0  0  0  2  0  1  3  7  5

Box score

 United States  Pos.  AB  H  2B  3B  SB  R  E  vs.  Sweden  Pos.  AB  H  2B  3B  SB  R  E Vaughn Blanchard  1B  1  1  0  0  0  0  1   Benjamin Adams (USA)  P  3  1  0  0  0  0  1 George Bonhag  1B  2  0  0  0  0  0  0   C. Axell  CF  3  0  0  0  0  0  0 Richard Byrd  P  0  0  0  0  0  0  0   Harlan Holden (USA)  P  0  0  0  0  0  0  0 J. Ira Courtney  3B  3  2  1  0  0  2  0   E. Johansson  LF  1  1  0  0  1  1  0 Ira Davenport  C  3  2  0  0  2  2  0   Landahl  2B  3  1  0  0  0  0  2 Howard Drew  RF  1  0  0  0  0  1  0   Y. Larson  RF  3  1  0  0  0  1  0 Carroll Haff  P  2  0  0  0  0  0  0   Frank Nelson (USA)  P  1  0  0  0  0  0  0 George Horine  LF  1  0  0  0  0  1  0   Wesley Oler (USA)  C  4  1  0  0  0  0  0 Frank Irons  LF  2  1  0  0  0  0  0   Sapery  SS  4  0  0  0  0  0  0 John Paul Jones  2B  3  1  0  0  2  1  0   Torsleff  LF  2  1  0  0  0  1  0 Fred Kelly  CF  3  1  0  0  0  1  1   Welin  1B  3  0  0  0  0  0  1 Abel Kiviat  SS  4  2  0  1  1  2  0   Wikman  3B  3  1  1  0  0  0  0 Walter McClure  P  0  0  0  0  0  1  0   Norman Patterson  CF  1  0  0  0  0  0  0  Lawrence Whitney  RF  1  0  0  0  0  1  0  United States   27  10  1  1  5  13  2  Total  Sweden   30  7  1  0  1  3  5

Second match
On the next day Tuesday, 16 July 1912 in the evening, two American teams played a second exhibition match.

Box score

 US East "Olympics"  Pos.  AB  R  H  PO  A  E  vs.  US West "Finland"  Pos.  AB  R  H  PO  A  E Benjamin Adams  CF  2  0  0  1  0  0   Richard Byrd  P/RF  3  0  0  1  1  0 Platt Adams  P  4  1  0  1  2  0   J. Ira Courtney  SS  3  0  0  1  1  0 George Bonhag  1B  4  0  0  8  0  1   Ira Davenport  LF  4  0  1  1  0  1 Charles Brickley  C  3  0  0  14  2  0   Carroll Haff  LB  4  0  0  7  0  0 Howard Drew  RF  3  1  1  0  0  0   George Horine  CF  4  1  1  3  0  0 Harlan Holden  LF  4  1  0  2  0  1   Frank Irons  2B  4  0  1  0  4  1 John Paul Jones  2B  2  0  1  0  1  0   Fred Kelly  3B  3  2  2  2  1  3 Abel Kiviat  SS  3  1  2  1  2  2   Edward Lindberg  C  4  0  0  12  2  1 Eugene Mercer  3B  4  1  1  0  1  0   Walter McClure  RF/P  4  0  2  0  1  0 Wesley Oler  CF  2  1  1  0  0  0   Jim Thorpe  RF  2  0  1  0  0  0  US East "Olympics"   33  6  7  27  8  4  Total  US West "Finland"   33  3  7  27  10  6
Category:1912 in Europe
Category:Baseball