Baseball had its second appearance as an official medal sport at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States, with games played at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium. Eight nations competed, with the preliminary phase consisting of a single round-robin tournament. Playoffs were then held, with the four highest ranked teams advancing. For the semifinals, the first place team played the fourth place team and the second place team played the third place team. The winners of those semifinals competed against each other for the gold medal, with the loser getting the silver medal. The teams defeated in the semifinal played a match for the bronze medal.
Baseball was an event open only to amateurs for the second and last time. Meanwhile, Cuba, which went undefeated in the tournament, used its best players as they were amateurs in name only, with all necessary funding coming from the state.
Medalists Gold: Silver: Bronze: Juan Manrique GarciaOrestes KindelánAntonio ScullAlberto HernándezAntonio Pacheco MassóJuan PadillaOmar LinaresLázaro Vargas AlverezMiguel Caldés LuisEduardo ParetJosé Estrada GonzálezRey Isaac VaillantLuis Ulacia AlverezPedro Luis LazoEliecer Montes de OcaJosé ContrerasOmar Luis MartinezOmar AjeteOrmari RomeroJorge Fumero Masahiko MoriJutaro KimuraMasao MorinakaHitoshi OnoTakashi KurosuMasahiro NojimaMakoto ImaokaKosuke FukudomeTakayuki TakabayashiYasuyuki SaigoMasanori SugiuraTakeo KawamuraKoichi MisawaHideaki OkuboNobuhiko MatsunakaTadahito IguchiTakao KuwamotoDaishin NakamuraTomoaki SatoYoshitomo Tani Kris BensonR. A. DickeyTroy GlausChad GreenSeth GreisingerTravis LeeAugie OjedaJason WilliamsChad AllenKip HarkriderA. J. HinchJacque JonesMark KotsayMatt LeCroyBraden LooperBrian LoydWarren MorrisJeff WeaverJim ParqueBilly Koch
Teams
(Hosts) (1995 Asian Baseball Championship gold medalist) (1995 Asian Baseball Championship silver medalist) (1995 European Baseball Championship gold medalist) (1995 European Baseball Championship silver medalist) (1995 Pan American Games gold medalist) (1995 Pan American Games silver medalist) (Oceania Baseball Championship gold medalist, defeat 1995 Africa Cup Baseball Championship in a playoff)
Preliminary round
Day 1 (July 20)
10:00AM123456789RHE United States000022000460 Nicaragua100000000171
3:00PM123456789RHE Cuba20330803 19202 Australia04040000 8125
8:00PM123456789RHE Japan1110126 12170 Netherlands0100001 264
Day 2 (July 21)
3:00PM123456789RHE South Korea100000000151 Italy10010000x261
8:00PM12345678910RHE Japan0100140001760 Cuba33000000028121
Day 3 (July 22)
10:00AM123456789RHE Netherlands82000402 16181 Australia02000400 672
3:00PM123456789RHE Italy1010000002101 Nicaragua30400000x752
8:00PM123456789RHE South Korea000101000284 United States10031011x7103
Day 4 (July 23)
10:00AM123456789RHE Netherlands0100010 240 Cuba202167x 18170
3:00PM123456789RHE Nicaragua0115100008144 South Korea001000110381
3:00PM123456789RHE Australia0100170009140 Japan2000010036113
Day 5 (July 24)
3:00PM123456789RHE United States6052020 15110 Italy3000000 362
8:00PM123456789RHE Cuba01140323014200 South Korea00020310511172
Day 6 (July 25)
10:00AM123456789RHE Nicaragua104000 5100 Netherlands000000 051
3:00PM123456789RHE Italy32222001012153 Australia0212100208123
8:00PM123456789RHE Japan2021000 561 United States700071X 15140
Day 7 (July 27)
10:00AM123456789RHE Japan62002002113131 Nicaragua0202002006112
3:00PM123456789RHE Italy0000402 6117 Cuba045542x 20190
8:00PM123456789RHE Australia1220000 591 United States702600x 15130
Day 8 (July 28)
10:00AM123456789RHE Netherlands0110001003100 South Korea03215000x11161
3:00PM123456789RHE Cuba40000600010130 United States1000103218132
8:00PM123456789RHE Australia00000000 052 Nicaragua03110005 10130
Day 9 (July 29)
10:00AM123456789RHE Netherlands3000011038131 Italy000301003791
3:00PM123456789RHE Nicaragua1031200007131 Cuba02212001X8121
8:00PM123456789RHE South Korea1000030 482 Japan0023531 14190
Day 10 (July 30)
10:00AM123456789RHE United States5022143 17181 Netherlands0001000 133
3:00PM123456789RHE Italy00010000 161 Japan12013212 12130
8:00PM123456789RHE Australia00080012011142 South Korea2230001008103
Knockout round
Semifinals (August 1)
Team123456789RHE Nicaragua010000000162 Cuba00030302x8142
Team123456789RHE Japan03003022111150 United States000002000261
Bronze medal match (August 2) Team123456789RHE United States40010113010121 Nicaragua300000000332
Final (August 2) Team123456789RHE Japan000150102991 Cuba33000412x13140
Final standing
PlaceTeam 4.5.6.7.8.
Source
Statistical leaders Source:
Batting StatisticNameTotal/AvgBatting average* Luigi Carrozza.571Hits Omar Linares20Runs Omar Linares21Doubles Francesco Casolari5 Juan Manrique Luis UlaciaTriples José Estrada González2 Tadahito Iguchi Jacque JonesHome runs Orestes Kindelán9Runs batted in Orestes Kindelán18Walks Yasuyuki Saigo9Stolen bases Luis Ulacia3On-base percentage* Yasuyuki Saigo.605Slugging percentage* Luis Ulacia1.148OPS* Luis Ulacia1.719 * Minimum 2.7 plate appearances per team game
Pitching StatisticNameTotal/AvgWins Seth Greisinger3 Omar LuisSaves10 tied with1Innings pitched Roberto Cabalisti19.2Earned run average* Braden Looper0.00Strikeouts Jutaro Kimura22 Pedro LazoWalks allowed*6 tied with1BAA* Braden Looper.143 * Minimum 0.8 innings pitched per team game
References
External links Atlanta 1996 Baseball Men Results at Olympics.com