Australia national baseball team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Australia women's national baseball team.

Australia national baseball team
Information
Country	Australia
Federation	Australian Baseball Federation
Confederation	Baseball Confederation of Oceania
Manager	Dave Nilsson
WBSC ranking
Current	11 (18 December 2023) [1]
Highest	6 (3 times; latest in June 2021)
Lowest	14 (December 2014)
Uniforms
World Baseball Classic
Appearances	5 (first in 2006 )
Best result	7th (1 time, in 2023 )
Olympic Games
Appearances	3 (first in 1996 )
Best result	2nd (1 time, in 2004 )
World Cup
Appearances	9 (first in 1978 )
Best result	5th (2 times, most recent in 2011 )
Intercontinental Cup
Appearances	6 (first in 1981 )
Best result	1st (1 time, in 1999 )
Asian Championship
Appearances	8 (first in 1971 )
Best result	3rd (1 time, in 1975 )
Oceania Championship
Appearances	1 (first in 2003 )
Best result	1st (1 time, in 2003 )

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. ^[1]

The Australian team participated in the Summer Olympic Games in 1996, 2000, and 2004, but failed to qualify for 2008. The team has also participated in both of the other major international baseball tournaments recognised by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF): the Baseball World Cup and most recently the World Baseball Classic (WBC). ^[2]

The team is controlled by the Australian Baseball Federation, which is represented in the Baseball Confederation of Oceania (BCO). Prior to the BCO's formation, Australia competed in the Asian Baseball Championship under the Baseball Federation of Asia (BFA). Australia continues to have a relationship with the BFA; the 2011 resumption of the Asia Series includes the Australian Baseball League's champion team. ^[3] Team Australia came in 6th in the 12-team 2019 WBSC Premier12 Tournament, in November 2019.

Current roster

2023 World Baseball Classic roster
Players				Coaches
Pitchers 30 Warwick Saupold 37 Tim Atherton 22 Mitchell Neunborn 20 Joshua Guyer 55 Jon Kennedy 25 Steven Kent 61 Kyle Glogoski 54 Liam Doolan 40 Samuel Holland 11 Daniel McGrath 56 William Sherriff 21 Todd Van Steensel 26 Luke Wilkins 39 Blake Townsend 59 Jack O'Loughlin		Catchers 24 Ryan Battaglia 58 Jake Bowey 9 Robbie Perkins 10 Alex Hall Infielders 52 Rixon Wingrove 43 Jarryd Dale 7 Darryl George 6 Robbie Glendinning 15 Liam Spence 4 Logan Wade 2 Jett Davis Outfielders 17 Andrew Campbell 60 Ulrich Bojarski 23 Tim Kennelly 2 Aaron Whitefield 48 Jordan McArdle		Manager 14 David Nilsson Coaches 33 Jim Bennett -- Chris Oxspring 19 Andrew Graham 18 Michael Collins -- Russell Teichmann 32 Chris Adamson 13 Shayne Watson -- Bruce Rawson -- Garry McCoy 27 Graeme Lloyd 3 Will Bradley

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of professional baseball match results currently active in the latest version of the WBSC World Rankings, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled. ^[4]

Legend

  Win  Lose  Void or postponed  Fixture

2019

WBSC Premier12 GS	November 6	Australia	0–5	South Korea	Gocheok Dome, South Korea
	19:00 KST		Boxscore		Attendance: 5,899

WBSC Premier12 GS	November 7	Australia	2–3 (F/10)	Cuba	Gocheok Dome, South Korea
	12:00 KST		Boxscore		Attendance: 252

WBSC Premier12 GS	November 8	Canada	1–3	Australia	Gocheok Dome, South Korea
	12:00 KST		Boxscore		Attendance: 200

WBSC Premier12 SR	November 11	Australia	2–3	Japan	ZOZO Marine Stadium, Japan
	19:00 JST		Boxscore		Attendance: 17,819

WBSC Premier12 SR	November 12	Australia	0–3	Mexico	Tokyo Dome, Japan
	12:00 JST		Boxscore		Attendance: 2,089

WBSC Premier12 SR	November 13	Australia	2–1	United States	Tokyo Dome, Japan
	12:00 JST		Boxscore		Attendance: 2,149

WBSC Premier12 SR	November 16	Australia	1–5	Chinese Taipei	Tokyo Dome, Japan
	12:00 JST		Boxscore		Attendance: 7,299

2022

Friendly	November 9	Australia	1–8	Japan	Sapporo Dome, Japan
			Boxscore

Friendly	November 10	Australia	0–9	Japan	Sapporo Dome, Japan
			Boxscore

2023

World Baseball Classic GS	March 9	Australia	8–7	South Korea	Tokyo Dome, Japan
	12:00 JT	WP: Jon Kennedy (1–0) Sv: Josh Guyer (1) HR: Tim Kennelly (1), Robbie Glendinning (1), Robbie Perkins (1)	Boxscore	LP: Kim Won-jung (0–1) HR: Yang Eui-ji (1)	Umpires: HP – Ramon De Jesus, 1B – Fabrizio Fabrizzi, 2B – Adam Hamari, 3B – Chan-Jung Chang

World Baseball Classic GS	March 11	China	2–12 (F/7)	Australia	Tokyo Dome, Japan
	12:00 JT	LP: Xin Qi (0–1)	Boxscore	WP: Kyle Glogoski (1–0) HR: Robbie Glendinning (2)	Umpires: HP – Adam Hamari, 1B – Chan-Jung Chang, 2B – Pat Hoberg, 3B – Delfin Colon

World Baseball Classic GS	March 12	Japan	7–1	Australia	Tokyo Dome, Japan
	19:00 JT	WP: Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1–0) HR: Shohei Ohtani (1)	Boxscore	LP: Will Sherriff (0–1) HR: Alex Hall (baseball) (1)	Attendance: 41,664 Umpires: HP – Pat Hoberg, 1B – Cuti Suárez, 2B – Adam Hamari, 3B – Chan-Jung Chang

World Baseball Classic GS	March 13	Australia	8–3	Czech Republic	Tokyo Dome, Japan
	12:00 JT	WP: Daniel McGrath (1–0) HR: Alex Hall (2)	Boxscore	LP: Marek Minařík (1–1)	Umpires: HP – Ramon De Jesus, 1B – Delfin Colon, 2B – Laz Díaz, 3B – Fabrizio Fabrizzi

World Baseball Classic QF	March 15	Australia	3–4	Cuba	Tokyo Dome, Japan
	19:00 NST	LP: Josh Guyer (0–1) HR: Rixon Wingrove (1)	Boxscore	WP: Miguel Romero (2–0) Sv: Raidel Martínez (1)	Attendance: 35,061 Umpires: HP – Adam Hamari, 1B – Cuti Suárez, 2B – Laz Díaz, 3B – Delfin Colon

2024

Friendly	February 17	Hanwha Eagles	2–1	Australia	Melbourne Ballpark, Australia
			Boxscore

World ranking

See also: IBAF World Rankings

In January 2009 the International Baseball Federation created a ranking system so that the nations involved in international competition could be compared independently. Teams receive points based on the position they finish at the end of tournaments. The system takes into account results not only of the senior men's teams but also of junior teams. Weightings that emphasise the importance of certain tournaments are based on the number of teams competing, the number of continents represented (or eligible to be represented), and in the case of continental tournaments such as the Oceania Baseball Championship the relative strength of teams eligible. Only results within the previous four years are used, so points are added and removed over time. ^[2] Since the system began, the rankings have been adjusted after the completion of tournaments qualifying for the ranking process; the most recent was the 2009 Baseball World Cup.

When the rankings were first introduced, Australia was listed at 10th position. ^[5] The high-water mark was after the 2009 World Baseball Classic when they were in 9th. ^[6] The lowest position they have been in the ranking since its inception is 11th. ^{[7] [8] [9]} At the end of 2010, Australia had returned to their original position of 10th. ^[10]

Date Released	Tournament*	Tournament Result	Ranking		Points		Position Above			Position Below
							Rank	Team	Points Difference	Rank	Team	Points Difference
1 December 2010** [10]	2010 World Junior Championship	2nd	10th		226.83		9th	Mexico	+60.40	11th	Puerto Rico	−13.60
2 June 2010** [7]	†	†	11th		211.24		10th	Puerto Rico	+20.15	12th	Italy	−45.24
19 October 2009** [9]	2009 World Youth Championship	9th	11th		211.24		10th	Puerto Rico	+20.15	12th	Italy	-45.24
	2009 World Cup	5th
12 August 2009** [8]	†	†	11th		214.11		10th	Puerto Rico	+1.28	12th	Panama	−1.79
24 March 2009 [6]	2009 World Baseball Classic	12th	9th		214.11		8th	Canada	+66.08	10th	Puerto Rico	−2.97
13 January 2009 [5]	†	†	10th		191.43		9th	Panama	+6.21	11th	Puerto Rico	−38.61

 * – The tournaments that Australia participated in since the previous release of the rankings.

** – Multiple tournaments were held since the previous release of the rankings.

 † – Denotes a rankings release that had no tournaments Australia participated in.

International competition

In January 2009 the IBAF, in releasing the first edition of the world rankings, announced the classifications of various tournaments that contributed to the rankings themselves. In doing so, they identified that of the "world" tournaments, there were different levels with differing levels of weighting towards the ranks: major world championships, minor world championships, world qualifying tournaments and continental championships/qualifying tournaments. ^[2]

Major world championships

There are currently three recognised tournaments that are considered "major" by the IBAF: the World Baseball Classic, the Summer Olympic Games and the Baseball World Cup. ^[2] Of those, the Summer Olympics will be phased out of the rankings structure, as baseball will no longer be contested as an Olympic event. ^[11]

World Baseball Classic

Australia has competed in all four editions of the World Baseball Classic. All sixteen teams that played in the 2006 edition were invited to compete in the second in 2009. ^[12] By virtue of their third-place finish in their first-round pool, Australia qualified compete at the 2013 edition of the WBC.; ^[13] however, they were eliminated with an 0–3 record and finished in last place overall.

Australia, which has not progressed beyond the first round of competition, achieved its highest finish, 9th, in the 2017 tournament. Unusual for international competition in baseball, the squads selected in the World Baseball Classic tournaments featured players active in Major League Baseball in addition to Minor League, Nippon Professional Baseball and local players. Generally players in the Major Leagues are unavailable for international representative teams due to their contracts with the respective clubs. ^[14]

World Baseball Classic record								Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	W	L	RS	RA		W	L	RS	RA
2006	Round 1	13th	0	3	4	18		No qualifiers held
2009	Round 1	12th	1	2	22	28		No qualifiers held
2013	Round 1	16th	0	3	2	14		Automatically qualified
2017	Round 1	9th	1	2	15	8		3	0	27	7
2023	Quarterfinals	7th	3	2	32	23		Automatically qualified
Total	Quarterfinals	5/5	5	12	75	91		3	0	27	7

Australian World Baseball Classic Record by opponent
Opponent	Tournaments met	W-L record	Largest victory		Largest defeat		Current streak
			Score	Tournament	Score	Tournament
China	2	2–0	11–0 (F/8)	Japan 2017	–		W2
Chinese Taipei	1	0–1	–		4–1	Taiwan 2013	L1
Cuba	3	0–3	–		4–3	Japan 2017 & 2023	L3
Czech Republic	1	1–0	8–3	Japan 2023	–		W1
Dominican Republic	1	0–1	–		6–4	United States 2006	L1
Italy	1	0–1	–		10–0 (F/7)	United States 2006	L1
Japan	2	0–2	–		7–1	Japan 2023	L2
Mexico	1	1–1	17–7 (F/8)	Mexico 2009	16–1 (F/6)	Mexico 2009	L1
Netherlands	1	0–1	–		4–1	Taiwan 2013	L1
South Korea	2	1–1	8–7	Japan 2023	6–0	Taiwan 2013	W1
Venezuela	1	0–1	–		2–0	United States 2006	L1
Overall	5	5–12	Against   CHN		Against   MEX		L1
			11–0 (F/8)	Japan 2017	16–1 (F/6)	Mexico 2009

United States, 2006

See also: 2006 World Baseball Classic and 2006 WBC Australian roster

Prior to formally starting their campaign, Australia played an exhibition game, which they lost, against a Boston Red Sox squad at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers, Florida. ^[15] This was also the site of their training camp. ^[16]

Australia competed in Pool D—along with Dominican Republic, Italy and Venezuela—in the first round at Cracker Jack Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The other three teams were able to field a large number of Major League players. Of players born outside the United States on 2006 Major League Opening Day rosters, the Dominican Republic (85) and Venezuela (43) had more than all other countries and between them accounted for more than 57% of foreign-born players in the leagues. ^[17] Italy is among the top nations in Europe and had access to Italian-American players under the eligibility rules for the tournament. Thus, Australia was considered the underdog in the pool. ^[18]

Having failed to win any of their round-robin pool games, they finished last in their pool, and were eliminated with Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Italy, Netherlands, Panama and South Africa. The eventual champions were Japan. ^[19]

2006 WBC Results

7 March 1st Round, Pool D – Game 2	Italy	10–0 (F/7)	Australia	United States Cracker Jack Stadium Attendance: 8,099
		Boxscore

9 March 1st Round, Pool D – Game 5	Australia	0–2	Venezuela	United States Cracker Jack Stadium Attendance: 10,111
		Boxscore

10 March 1st Round, Pool D – Game 6	Dominican Republic	6–4	Australia	United States Cracker Jack Stadium Attendance: 11,083
		Boxscore

Mexico, 2009

See also: 2009 World Baseball Classic and 2009 WBC Australian roster

Australia was based in Peoria, Arizona—the site of the Seattle Mariners spring training camp—for their preparation for the formal start of their 2009 campaign. Unlike 2006, in which they had one exhibition game, they competed against three different Major League clubs: the Seattle Mariners, the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago White Sox. ^[20] Their game against Seattle was Ken Griffey Jr.'s first game playing for the Mariners since October 1999, ^[21] and was also their first victory as part of a World Baseball Classic tour.

Australia was drawn in Pool B for the 2009 tournament, along with Cuba, Mexico and South Africa, competing at Foro Sol Stadium in Mexico City. ^[22] After beating Mexico in their opening game, ^[23] they lost their next two games to Cuba ^[24] and Mexico, ^[25] and were eliminated from the tournament. ^[26] The Australians set a WBC record against Mexico: 22 hits in a single game is more than any other team has achieved in either tournament. ^[27]

2009 WBC Results

8 March 1st Round, Pool B – Game 2	Mexico	7–17 (F/8)	Australia Australia	Mexico Foro Sol Attendance: 20,821
		Boxscore

10 March 1st Round, Pool B – Game 4	Australia Australia	4–5	Cuba	Mexico Foro Sol Attendance: 13,396
		Boxscore

11 March 1st Round, Pool B – Game 5	Australia Australia	1–16 (F/6)	Mexico	Mexico Foro Sol Attendance: 16,718
		Boxscore

Taiwan, 2013

See also: 2013 World Baseball Classic

In June 2011, it was announced that the field for the 2013 WBC would be expanded to include an additional 12 teams and that a qualifying round would be several months prior to the main tournament. The qualifying tournament involved the 12 newly invited teams, as well as the four lowest-placed teams from the 2009 tournament; all teams who did not win a game. The qualifying tournament broke the teams into four pools of four teams each, which competed in a six-game, modified double-elimination format, similar to the first round of the 2009 tournament, with the winners of the sixth game in each pool proceeding to the main tournament. Australia, having finished 12th after beating Mexico in their first game in 2009, automatically qualified for the main tournament. ^[13]

The main tournament combined elements of both previous WBC editions. The first round was split all teams into four pools, where the teams competed in a round-robin, as was the case in the 2006 tournament. The second round used the same modified double-elimination format as used in the 2009 tournament and the 2013 qualifying tournament. The final round was contested in the same manner as both previous tournaments: the top two teams from each group in the second round qualifying for the two semi-final matches, the winners of which played in the championship game. ^[28]

Australia was drawn into Pool B, which was held at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taiwan. In their opener, they fell to host and qualifiers Chinese Taipei, 4–1. They followed up with a 6–0 loss to South Korea before finishing with a 4–1 defeat to the Netherlands.

2013 WBC Results

Pool B Game 1

2 March 12:30 (UTC+08:00) at Taiwan Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Australia	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	5	0
Chinese Taipei	1	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	X	4	10	0
WP: Wang Chien-Ming (1–0)   LP: Chris Oxspring (0–1)   Sv: Chen Hung-Wen (1) Home runs: Australia: Stefan Welch (1) TPE: Peng Cheng-Min (1) Attendance: 20,035

Game 4

4 March 18:30 (UTC+08:00) at Taiwan Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
South Korea										6	–	–
Australia										0	–	–

Game 5

5 March 12:30 (UTC+08:00) at Taiwan Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Australia										1	–	–
Netherlands										4	–	–

Australia roster - 2013 World Baseball Classic
Final roster [29]				Provisional roster [30]		Coaching staff
Pitchers Right-handed pitchers 23 Timothy Kennelly    Shane Lindsay 35 Chris Oxspring  6 Andrew Russell † 38 Dushan Ruzic † 30 Warwick Saupold * 33 Ryan Searle 19 Matthew Williams † 28 Brendan Wise Left-handed pitchers 10 Adam Bright 25 Steven Kent † 18 Ryan Rowland-Smith † 44 Clayton Tanner † 36 Brad Thomas		Catchers 11 Allan de San Miguel †  7 Matthew Kennelly Infielders  9 James Beresford 12 Brad Harman 20 Luke Hughes  3 Mike Walker * 22 Stefan Welch Outfielders  5 Corey Adamson * 17 Mitch Dening † 26 Justin Huber 34 David Kandilas †    Josh Roberts * 14 Chris Snelling Utility players  4 Josh Davies †		58 Peter Moylan		Manager Jon Deeble Coaches Philip Dale (Pitching coach) Glenn Williams (Hitting coach) Michael Collins (Assistant coach) Tony Harris (Assistant coach) Graeme Lloyd (Assistant coach) Greg Jelks (Assistant coach)

* – Player has not played for Australia in international competition prior to 2013 WBC

† – Player did not play for Australia in WBC prior to 2013

Japan, 2023

See also: 2023 World Baseball Classic and 2023 WBC Australian roster

Olympic Games

Main article: Australia national baseball team at the Summer Olympics

See also: Baseball at the Summer Olympics

Australia was the third nation, after the United States and Sweden, ^[31] 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. Though the sport has applied for re-admission for 2016, baseball is no longer contested as a medal event at the Olympics. ^[32]

Since baseball was first included as a medal sport at the 1992 Games in Barcelona, ^[33] Australia has participated in three of the five tournaments. The best result achieved was in the 2004 Games in Athens, where Australia lost the gold medal match to Cuba to receive silver. ^[34] Their medal tally puts them at 5th, equal to Chinese Taipei. ^{[Oly 1]}

Australia did not send a team to the 2021 Olympic qualifiers.

Summer Olympics record									Qualification
Year	Round	Position	W	L	%	RS	RA
1956	Exhibition only		0	1	.000	5	11		No qualifiers held
1988	Preliminary	5th (tie)	1	2	.333	10	20		Invited [a]
1992	Did not qualify								Did not qualify
1996	Preliminary	7th	2	5	.286	47	86		Oceania Baseball Championship; defeated Africa Cup Champion
2000	Preliminary	7th	2	5	.286	30	41		Qualified as hosts
2004	Finals	2nd	5	4	.556	52	36		Oceania Baseball Championship; defeated Africa Cup Champion
2008	Did not qualify								Did not qualify
2020									Withdrew from qualifying tournament
Total [b]	Finals	3/6	9	14	.391	129	163

1. Cuba originally qualified but withdrew as a result of its boycott; Nicaragua, Mexico and Italy had senior rights, but were unable to field a team on short notice.
2. Totals only include years 1992 to 2008, during which baseball was an official medal sport.

World Cup

Main article: Australia at the Baseball World Cup

See also: Baseball World Cup

Australia has participated in ten of the IBAF World Cup tournaments. To date its best result has been 5th, which Australia has achieved twice in both of the most recent tournaments held—2009 ^[36] and 2011. ^[37] At the 2007 tournament, Trent Oeltjen became the first Australian player to be named in a World Cup All Star team, ^[38] in recognition of his tournament-leading hitting and base-running statistics. Australia is currently participating in the 2011 tournament in Panama. ^{[39] [40]}

Until 1986, the World Cup was actually referred to as the "Amateur World Series". The Amateur World Series only made use of round-robin fixtures, with teams ranked at the end of the tournament. Australia's first appearance was in Italy in 1978. Out of the ten teams to compete, Australia finished 9th ahead of the other debuting team, Belgium. ^[41]

Since the 1988 tournament, it has held the "World Cup" name, with the IBAF recognising the past Amateur World Series winners as World Cup winners. With the change of name came a change in format for the tournament: a round-robin phase, followed by a knockout phase for the top four teams. (Later tournaments would see two pools used in the first phase, and an expanded knockout phase including the top four teams from each pool.) In the "World Cup Era", Australia has reached the final phase four times, finishing 7th in 1998, ^[42] 6th in 2007 ^[43] and most recently 5th in 2009 and 2011. ^{[36] [37]}

Baseball World Cup record								Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	W	L	RS	RA		W	L	RS	RA
1938 to 1976	Did not participate							Did not participate
1978	–	9th	–	–	–	–		No qualifiers held
1980	–	7th	4	7	–	–		No qualifiers held
1982	–	9th	2	7	–	–		No qualifiers held
1984 to 1990	Did not participate							Did not participate
1994	First round	9th	3	4	54	47		Oceanian qualifier
1998	Quarterfinals	7th	6	4	71	54		Oceanian qualifier
2001	First round	10th	3	4	24	32		Oceanian qualifier
2003	Did not qualify							Did not qualify
2005	First round	10th	4	4	41	26		Oceanian qualifier
2007	Quarterfinals	6th	7	3	61	29		Oceanian qualifier
2009	Third round	5th	9	6	96	64		Oceanian qualifier
2011	Third round	5th	7	5	56	57		Oceanian qualifier
Total	Quarterfinals	10/39	45	44	403	309		–	–	–	–

Premier12 Tournament

2019

Team Australia came in sixth in the 12-team 2019 WBSC Premier12 Tournament in November 2019. ^[44]

Minor world championships

There are six separate tournaments that the IBAF currently recognises as "minor world championships". Of those, Australia has only participated in one senior tournament: the Intercontinental Cup. (Australia has also participated in the World Junior Baseball Championship and the World Youth Baseball Championship, both of which are also included in the same category for the IBAF rankings.) ^[2]

Intercontinental Cup

Australia is one of five nations to have won the Intercontinental Cup, winning the 1999 tournament by beating Cuba 4–3 in extra innings in front of a home crowd in Sydney. ^[45] It was the first time Australia had won an international baseball tournament, and through 2009 the only win outside of the Oceania Baseball Championship. The team enjoyed several individual successes as well: ^[46]

• Dave Nilsson named tournament MVP, to go along with leading the tournament for runs batted in (12) and being named in the tournament all-star team (as catcher)
• Shayne Bennett led the tournament pitching with the best win–loss record (3–0)
• Adam Burton led the tournament batting with the most runs scored (9)
• Michael Moyle shared the lead in the tournament with Oscar Macias (Cuba), with the most home runs (3)
• two other Australians were selected along with Dave Nilsson in the all-star team: Adrian Meagher (right-handed pitcher) and Michael Moyle (designated hitter)

It was only the third time Cuba had been beaten in the gold medal match in the tournament's history, having reached the tournament decider every time they have participated. Australia also shares another honour with Cuba: of the nine nations to have hosted the tournament, only Australia and Cuba have won as hosts, combining for five tournament wins from five times hosted. (Cuba in 1979, 1987, 1995 and 2002, Australia in 1999.) ^[47]

Australia first participated in the tournament at the 1981 Intercontinental Cup, managing only one win out of their seven games, finishing 8th. ^[48] Missing the 1983 Intercontinental Cup, they returned in 1985 to repeat their previous performance: 1 win, 8th-place finish. ^[49] They would not reappear at the tournament until 1993 where they improved to a 5–4 record to finish in 6th position. ^[50] Australia's first medal performance at the Intercontinental Cup (and their first medal at a world tournament) was at the 1997 tournament. In their best performance through the preliminary round, they put together a 6–1 record losing only to eventual silver-medalists Cuba, and beating eventual gold-medalists Japan. They lost to Japan in the semi-final, but beat the United States for the second time in the tournament to secure the bronze. ^[51]

Australia also competed in the most recent tournament in 2006. There they finished in 5th position, compiling a 3–4 record. This is likely to be the last edition of the tournament for the foreseeable future. ^[2]

Continental tournaments

Australia is the second of only two nations to have participated in IBAF-sanctioned continental tournaments for more than one continent: the Asian Baseball Championship between 1971 and 1993, and the Oceania Baseball Championship since 2003. The first nation to achieve this was Guam, who competed in the Asian tournament within the same timeframe as Australia, though they were involved in the first Oceania tournament in 1999. ^[52]

Asian Baseball Championship

Australia is one of thirteen nations to have participated in the Asian Baseball Championship since the tournament was first held in 1954. The last time they contested the championship was in 1993, as a result of joining the newly formed Baseball Confederation of Oceania. Though their best result was a bronze medal in the 1975, the only teams to consistently finish ahead of Australia were Japan, South Korea and Chinese Taipei—the top three teams in Asia, and all in the top five in the world. ^[53]

Oceania Baseball Championship

Though scheduled to participate on three separate occasions, Australia has only contested the Oceania Baseball Championship once in 2003. The two other times, Australia's scheduled opponents—Guam in 2004 ^[54] and New Zealand in 2007 ^[55] —withdrew from competition in the lead up to each series, both times scheduled to be held in Sydney. Australia was awarded the championship both times, and as a result represented Oceania at the 2004 Summer Olympics ^{[OBC 1]} and at the 2007 Baseball World Cup respectively.

Held during late April 2003, Australia won its first continental championship, beating hosts Guam 12–1, 12–1 and 5–1 to win the best of five series three games to one. (Guam won the third game 8–2.) ^[57]

See also

• Australian Baseball Federation
• World Baseball Classic
• Summer Olympic Games
• Baseball World Cup

Footnotes

Olympic Games

1. The 5th-placed ranking is based both on the most medals received in total, and on the most gold medals, then silver, then bronze. ^[35]

Oceania Baseball Championship

1. To compete at the 2004 Summer Olympics as Oceania Champion, Australia also had to defeat South Africa in a final qualifying series. ^[56]

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Bibliography

• Bjarkman, Peter C. (2005). Diamonds Around the Globe: The Encyclopedia of International Baseball. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN   0-313-32268-6. OCLC   58806121 . Retrieved 18 August 2009.
• Cava, Pete (Summer 1992). "Baseball in the Olympics" (PDF). The ISOH Journal. 1 (1). International Society of Olympic Historians. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 September 2008. Retrieved 1 October 2008.
• Cuyàs, Romà (1992). Official Report of the Games of the XXV Olympiad Barcelona 1992: Volume IV – The Games (PDF). Barcelona, Spain: Comite Organizador Olimpico Barcelona '92 (COOB'92) (Barcelona Olympic Organising Committee '92 in English). ISBN   84-7868-106-X . Retrieved 26 July 2010.

External links

• Team Australia official site
• Australian Baseball Federation
• World Baseball Classic
• International Olympic Committee
• Team Australia 🇦🇺⚾️ on Instagram