2004 Americas Olympic Baseball Qualifying Tournament

Last updated

Two spots in the Baseball at the 2004 Summer Olympics were available to baseball teams of the Pan American Baseball Confederation. To decide which teams would qualify, a tournament was held in 2003 in Panama, from October 30 to November 10. The tournament was won by Cuba, with Canada also qualifying for the Olympics.

Contents

Notably, the United States team did not qualify, after losing to Mexico in the quarterfinals. This elicited shock in the American media [1] as the USA was the previous gold medal winner, and was the first country to play baseball and is the country where baseball has the largest following. The major reason for defeat was the scheduling of the tournament, which meant the Americans could not even use minor league players.

Withdrawals

Although the tournament was originally scheduled to include 13 teams, four withdrew before their first game: Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Aruba and the Bahamas. As the Bahamas were a last-minute withdrawal, the tournament structure was left unbalanced, with one pool larger than the other.

Pool Play

Pool A

TeamPldWLPCTRSRA
Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba 3301.000168
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 3210.6671814
Flag of Puerto Rico.svg  Puerto Rico 3120.3331213
Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 3030.000718
WinnerResultLoser
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 8-5Flag of Puerto Rico.svg  Puerto Rico
Flag of Puerto Rico.svg  Puerto Rico 5-1Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico
Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba 4-2Flag of Puerto Rico.svg  Puerto Rico
Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba 5-4Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 8-2Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico
Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba 7-2Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada

Pool B

TeamPldWLPCTRSRA
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3301.000200
Flag of Panama.svg  Panama 4310.750289
Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 4220.5001123
Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 3120.333816
Flag of Nicaragua.svg  Nicaragua 4040.000827
WinnerResultLoser
Flag of Panama.svg  Panama 6-0Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 7-0Flag of Nicaragua.svg  Nicaragua
Flag of Panama.svg  Panama 11-5Flag of Nicaragua.svg  Nicaragua
Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 5-4Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil
Flag of Panama.svg  Panama 11-1Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 10-0Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia
Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 3-0Flag of Nicaragua.svg  Nicaragua
Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 6-3Flag of Nicaragua.svg  Nicaragua
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3-0Flag of Panama.svg  Panama

The game between the Flag of the United States.svg  United States and Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil was delayed due to weather. Before it could be played it became irrelevant to the standings, and was therefore cancelled.

Elimination

Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
         
A1 Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba 5
B4 Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 0
A1 Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba 10
A3 Flag of Puerto Rico.svg  Puerto Rico 0
B2 Flag of Panama.svg  Panama 3
A3 Flag of Puerto Rico.svg  Puerto Rico 5
A1 Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba 5
A2 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 0
B1 Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1
A4 Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 2
A4 Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 1
A2 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 11
A2 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 14
B3 Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 6

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States men's national basketball team</span> National basketball team

The USA Basketball Men's National Team, commonly known as the United States men's national basketball team, is the basketball team representing the United States. They are the most successful team in international competition, winning medals in all nineteen Olympic tournaments it has entered, including sixteen golds. In the professional era, the team won the Olympic gold medal in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020. Two of its gold medal-winning teams were inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in August 2010: the 1960 team, which featured six Hall of Famers, and the 1992 "Dream Team", featuring 14 Hall of Famers. The team is currently ranked second in the FIBA World Rankings, only behind Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">USA Baseball</span> Governing body for amateur baseball in the United States

USA Baseball is the national governing body for organized baseball in the United States, and is a member of the United States Olympic Committee and the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The organization selects and trains the World Baseball Classic, Olympic, Premier12, and Pan American Games teams ; the USA Baseball collegiate national team; the USA Baseball 18U, 15U, and 12U national teams; and the USA Baseball women's national team, all of which participate in various international competitions each year. In addition, USA Baseball selects players for the 14U, 16U, and 17U national team-development programs. The organization is responsible for the continued proliferation and health of the sport, and leads a number of amateur initiatives through its Sport Development department, including Play Ball and Pitch Smart. USA Baseball also presents the Golden Spikes Award annually to the top amateur baseball player in the country and is responsible for creating the USABat standard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baseball at the 2004 Summer Olympics</span>

Baseball at the 2004 Summer Olympics was held on two separate diamonds within the Helliniko Olympic Complex, from 15 to 25 August. For the second time in Olympic competition, professional baseball players were eligible to participate, though no active players from Major League Baseball were available.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States national rugby union team</span> Mens rugby union team

The United States men's national rugby union team represents the United States in men's international rugby union. Nicknamed the Eagles, it is controlled by USA Rugby, the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. USA Rugby is a member of Rugby Americas North, one of six regional governing bodies under World Rugby. Until rugby returned to Olympic competition, with sevens at the 2016 Rio Games, the United States was the reigning Olympic rugby champion, having defeated the one other competitor in 1920 and the two other competitors at the 1924 Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baseball at the Summer Olympics</span> Baseball at the Summer Olympics

Baseball at the Summer Olympics unofficially debuted at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, and was first contested as a demonstration sport at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm. It became an official Olympic sport at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, then was played at each Olympiad through the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The sport was then dropped from the Summer Olympic program, until being revived for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo for a single appearance. It is next expected to be part of the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Baseball Classic</span> International baseball tournament

The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is an international baseball tournament contested by men's national teams of members of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). Since its founding in 2006, there have been five tournaments held. The tournament is one of the world's most viewed baseball events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Korea national baseball team</span> National baseball team of South Korea

The South Korean national baseball team also known as Blue Wave is the national baseball team of South Korea. It won the Baseball World Cup in 1982, and participated in the Summer Olympic Games of 1984, 1988, 1996, and 2000. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, it won the gold medal in a final victory against Cuba. Currently, the South Korean men's baseball team is ranked fourth in the WBSC World Rankings. Team South Korea came in second in the 12-team 2019 WBSC Premier12 Tournament, and thereby qualified to compete in baseball at the 2020 Olympics. At the Olympics in 2021 it faced Israel, Japan, Mexico, the United States, and the Dominican Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australia national baseball team</span> Australia national baseball team

The Australian national baseball team represents Australia in international baseball tournaments and competitions. It is ranked as the top team in Oceania, and is the Oceanian Champion, having been awarded the title in 2007 when New Zealand withdrew from the Oceania Baseball Championship. After achieving a last (16th) place in the 2013 World Baseball Classic, its rank dropped to 13, which is the lowest rank Australia ever received. The highest rank it has achieved is 6th, and its current rank is 10th.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States national baseball team</span>

The United States national baseball team represents the United States in international-level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 3rd in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The United States has won many international tournaments, many of which are now discontinued. Most notably the team won the Olympic baseball tournament in 2000, and the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canada national baseball team</span> National sports team

The Canada national baseball team represents Canada in international baseball. They are overseen by Baseball Canada, the governing body of baseball in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Softball at the Summer Olympics</span> Competition of the Olympics

Softball at the Summer Olympics was on the Olympic programme from 1996 to 2008. It was introduced at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Softball was removed from the programme for 2012 and 2016, but was added for a one-off appearance, along with baseball, for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

The Women's Softball World Cup is a fastpitch softball tournament for women's national teams held historically every four years, now every two years, by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). The tournament, originally known as the ISF Women's World Championship, was sanctioned by the International Softball Federation (ISF) until that body's 2013 merger with the International Baseball Federation to create the WBSC. The number of teams in the tournament began at five in its inaugural event in 1965, went to a high of 28 for the 1994 edition, and now the WBSC Code legislates that the maximum number of teams that may participate is 16. There are qualifying tournaments that determine which countries will play at the World Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinese Taipei national baseball team</span> National mens baseball team of Taiwan

The Chinese Taipei baseball team is the national men's baseball team of the Republic of China (Taiwan). It is governed by the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association. The team is ranked second in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, behind only Japan. The team is usually made up of professionals from Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League, Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, and Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball from the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

The United States of America (USA), represented by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. U.S. athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games in the modern era, except the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, which was boycotted by the American team and many others in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The USOC sent a total of 588 athletes to Beijing, and competed in all Olympic sports except handball.

The Australia national baseball team was the third nation, after the United States and Sweden, to participate in baseball at the Summer Olympics, making their first appearance at the 1956 Games in Melbourne, and again as part of its demonstration at the 1988 Games in Seoul.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canada–United States sports rivalries</span> Bilateral relations

Because of their proximity and similar sporting cultures, Canada and United States are frequent rivals in a wide variety of international sports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States at the 2016 Summer Paralympics</span> Sporting event delegation

The United States competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. The first places the team qualified were for three athletes in sailing events. They also qualified athletes in archery, goalball, shooting, swimming, and wheelchair basketball.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics</span> Baseball events at the 2020 Summer Olympics

Baseball was featured at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Tokyo, for the first time since the 2008 Summer Olympics. Six national teams competed in the tournament: Israel, Japan (host), Mexico, South Korea, the United States, and the Dominican Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Softball at the 2020 Summer Olympics</span> Olympic softball tournament

Softball was featured at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo for the first time since the 2008 Summer Olympics. The tournament consisted of six teams. Baseball/softball was one of five sports added to the program of the 2020 Summer Olympics only. The first six opening round games were played at Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium in an effort to highlight Fukushima's recovery from the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, while the remaining games were played at Yokohama Stadium. Softball will not return in 2024.

Six teams qualified for the Olympic softball tournament, including Japan, which, as host nation, qualified automatically. The United States team won the 2018 Women's Softball World Championship to qualify for the Olympics. The remaining four spots were allocated through three qualification tournaments: one spot for a Europe/Africa tournament, one spot for an Asia/Oceania tournament, and two spots for an Americas tournament.

References

  1. USA Today