Baseball at the 1996 Summer Olympics

Baseball

at the Games of the XXVI Olympiad

Venue| Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium
Dates| July 20 – August 2, 1996
Teams| 8
Medalists
| |  |  Cuba

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|  |  Japan
|  |  United States

<- 1992

2000 ->

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 each team playing every other team. Playoffs were then held, with the four highest ranked teams advancing. For the semifinals, the 1st place team played the 4th place team and the 2nd place team played against the 3rd 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 used its best players as they were amateurs in name only, with all necessary funding coming from the state.[1][2][3]

## Medalists

[edit]

Gold: | Silver: | Bronze:

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Cuba
Juan Manrique Garcia
Orestes Kindelán
Antonio Scull
Alberto Hernández
Antonio Pacheco Massó
Juan Padilla
Omar Linares
Lázaro Vargas Alverez
Miguel Caldés Luis
Eduardo Paret
José Estrada González
Rey Isaac Vaillant
Luis Ulacia Alverez
Pedro Luis Lazo
Eliecer Montes de Oca
José Contreras
Omar Luis Martinez
Omar Ajete
Ormari Romero
Jorge Fumero |  Japan
Masahiko Mori
Jutaro Kimura
Masao Morinaka
Hitoshi Ono
Takashi Kurosu
Masahiro Nojima
Makoto Imaoka
Kosuke Fukudome
Takayuki Takabayashi
Yasuyuki Saigo
Masanori Sugiura
Takeo Kawamura
Koichi Misawa
Hideaki Okubo
Nobuhiko Matsunaka
Tadahito Iguchi
Takao Kuwamoto
Daishin Nakamura
Tomoaki Sato
Yoshitomo Tani |  United States
Kris Benson
R. A. Dickey
Troy Glaus
Chad Green
Seth Greisinger
Travis Lee
Augie Ojeda
Jason Williams
Chad Allen
Kip Harkrider
A. J. Hinch
Jacque Jones
Mark Kotsay
Matt LeCroy
Braden Looper
Brian Loyd
Warren Morris
Jeff Weaver
Jim Parque
Billy Koch

## Teams

[edit]

* United States (Hosts)
* Japan (1995 Asian Baseball Championship gold medalist)
* South Korea (1995 Asian Baseball Championship silver medalist)
* Netherlands (1991 European Baseball Championship gold medalist)
* Italy (1991 European Baseball Championship silver medalist)
* Cuba (1995 Pan American games gold medalist)
* Nicaragua (1995 Pan American games silver medalist)
* Australia (Oceania Baseball Championship gold medalist, defeat 1995 Africa Cup Baseball Championship  South Africa in a playoff)

## Preliminary round

[edit]

Pos | Team  | Pld | W | L | RF | RA | RD | PCT | GB | Qualification

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1  |  Cuba | 7  | 7  | 0  | 97  | 49  | +48  | 1.000  | -- | Advance to knockout round
2  |  United States (H) | 7  | 6  | 1  | 81  | 27  | +54  | .857  | 1
3  |  Japan | 7  | 4  | 3  | 69  | 45  | +24  | .571  | 3
4  |  Nicaragua | 7  | 4  | 3  | 44  | 30  | +14  | .571  | 3
5  |  Netherlands | 7  | 2  | 5  | 32  | 76  | −44  | .286  | 5  |
6  |  Italy | 7  | 2  | 5  | 33  | 71  | −38  | .286  | 5
7  |  Australia | 7  | 2  | 5  | 47  | 86  | −39  | .286  | 5
8  |  South Korea | 7  | 1  | 6  | 40  | 59  | −19  | .143  | 6

Source: [citation needed]
(H) Hosts

### Day 1 (July 20)

[edit]

10:00AM  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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United States | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0  | 4 | 6 | 0
Nicaragua  | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0  | 1 | 7 | 1
3:00PM  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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Cuba | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 3 |  | 19 | 20 | 2
Australia  | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 8 | 12 | 5
8:00PM  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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Japan | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 |  |  | 12 | 17 | 0
Netherlands  | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |  |  | 2 | 6 | 4

### Day 2 (July 21)

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3:00PM  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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South Korea  | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0  | 1 | 5 | 1
Italy | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x  | 2 | 6 | 1
8:00PM  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  | 10  |  | R  | H  | E

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Japan  | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1  | 7 | 6 | 0
Cuba | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2  | 8 | 12 | 1

### Day 3 (July 22)

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10:00AM  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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Netherlands | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 |  | 16 | 18 | 1
Australia  | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |  | 6 | 7 | 2
3:00PM  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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Italy  | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0  | 2 | 10 | 1
Nicaragua | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x  | 7 | 5 | 2
8:00PM  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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South Korea  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0  | 2 | 8 | 4
United States | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | x  | 7 | 10 | 3

### Day 4 (July 23)

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10:00AM  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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Netherlands  | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |  |  | 2 | 4 | 0
Cuba | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 7 | x |  |  | 18 | 17 | 0
3:00PM  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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Nicaragua | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0  | 8 | 14 | 4
South Korea  | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0  | 3 | 8 | 1
3:00PM  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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Australia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0  | 9 | 14 | 0
Japan  | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3  | 6 | 11 | 3

### Day 5 (July 24)

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3:00PM  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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United States | 6 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |  |  | 15 | 11 | 0
Italy  | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  |  | 3 | 6 | 2
8:00PM  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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Cuba | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0  | 14 | 20 | 0
South Korea  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5  | 11 | 17 | 2

### Day 6 (July 25)

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10:00AM  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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Nicaragua | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  |  |  | 5 | 10 | 0
Netherlands  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  |  |  | 0 | 5 | 1
3:00PM  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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Italy | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0  | 12 | 15 | 3
Australia  | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0  | 8 | 12 | 3
8:00PM  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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Japan  | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  |  | 5 | 6 | 1
United States | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | X |  |  | 15 | 14 | 0

### Day 7 (July 27)

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10:00AM  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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Japan | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1  | 13 | 13 | 1
Nicaragua  | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0  | 6 | 11 | 2
3:00PM  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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Italy  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 |  |  | 6 | 11 | 7
Cuba | 0 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | x |  |  | 20 | 19 | 0
8:00PM  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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Australia  | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  |  | 5 | 9 | 1
United States | 7 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | x |  |  | 15 | 13 | 0

### Day 8 (July 28)

[edit]

10:00AM  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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Netherlands  | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0  | 3 | 10 | 0
South Korea | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x  | 11 | 16 | 1
3:00PM  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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Cuba | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0  | 10 | 13 | 0
United States  | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1  | 8 | 13 | 2
8:00PM  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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Australia  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 5 | 2
Nicaragua | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |  | 10 | 13 | 0

### Day 9 (July 29)

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10:00AM  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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Netherlands | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3  | 8 | 13 | 1
Italy  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3  | 7 | 9 | 1
3:00PM  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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Nicaragua  | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0  | 7 | 13 | 1
Cuba | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X  | 8 | 12 | 1
8:00PM  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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South Korea  | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |  |  | 4 | 8 | 2
Japan | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 1 |  |  | 14 | 19 | 0

### Day 10 (July 30)

[edit]

10:00AM  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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United States | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 |  |  | 17 | 18 | 1
Netherlands  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  |  | 1 | 3 | 3
3:00PM  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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Italy  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 1 | 6 | 1
Japan | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 |  | 12 | 13 | 0
8:00PM  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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Australia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0  | 11 | 14 | 2
South Korea  | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0  | 8 | 10 | 3

## Knockout round

[edit]

| Semifinals | | | Gold medal game |

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|  |  |  | | |  |  |  |
| 1 |  Cuba | 8 | |
| 4 |  Nicaragua | 1 |
| |  Cuba | 13 |
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| | |  Japan | 9 |
| 3 |  Japan | 11 |
| 2 |  United States | 2 | | | Bronze medal game
| |  Nicaragua | 3
| |  United States | 10

### Semifinals (August 1)

[edit]

Team  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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Nicaragua  | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0  | 1 | 6 | 2
Cuba | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | x  | 8 | 14 | 2
Team  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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Japan | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1  | 11 | 15 | 0
United States  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0  | 2 | 6 | 1

### Bronze medal match (August 2)

[edit]

Team  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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United States | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0  | 10 | 12 | 1
Nicaragua  | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0  | 3 | 3 | 2

### Final (August 2)

[edit]

Team  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  |  | R  | H  | E

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Japan  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2  | 9 | 9 | 1
Cuba | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | x  | 13 | 14 | 0

## Final standing

[edit]

| Place  | Team

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|  Cuba
|  Japan
|  United States
4. |  Nicaragua
5. |  Netherlands
6. |  Italy
7. |  Australia
8. |  South Korea
|  1996 Olympic champions

Cuba
Second title

## Sources

[edit]

* Official Olympic Report via Wayback Machine

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Harral, Emily (31 August 2019). "The Utility Player: An Examination of the Role of Baseball in Cuban Society". Honors Theses. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
2. ^ "The Olympic Team No Dream". CBS News. Associated Press. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
3. ^ OlympicTalk (January 8, 2021). "Tommy Lasorda, only manager of World Series, Olympic champions, dies at 93 - OlympicTalk | NBC Sports". Olympics.nbcsports.com.

## External links

[edit]

* Atlanta 1996 Baseball Men Results at Olympics.com

* v
* t
* e

Olympic champions in baseball

List of Olympic medalists

* 1992:  Cuba
* 1996:  Cuba
* 2000:  United States
* 2004:  Cuba
* 2008:  South Korea
* 2020:  Japan

* v
* t
* e

Events at the 1996 Summer Olympics (Atlanta)

* Archery
* Athletics
* Badminton
* Baseball
* Basketball
* Boxing
* Canoeing
* Cycling
* Diving
* Equestrian
* Fencing
* Field hockey
* Football
* Gymnastics
* Handball
* Judo
* Modern pentathlon
* Rowing
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* Shooting
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* Swimming
* Synchronized swimming
* Table tennis
* Tennis
* Volleyball
* Water polo
* Weightlifting
* Wrestling

* v
* t
* e

Baseball at the Summer Olympics

Tournaments|

* 1896–1908
* 1912
* 1920–1932
* 1936
* 1948
* 1952
* 1956
* 1960
* 1964
* 1968–1980
* 1984
* 1988
* 1992
* 1996
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* 2012–2016
* 2020
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Qualifications|

* 1992
* 1996
* 2000
* 2004
* 2008
* 2020

Squads|

* 1984
* 1992
* 1996
* 2000
* 2004
* 2008
* 2020

Related topics|

* 1919 Inter-Allied Games
* 1968 International Amateur Tournament
* Amateur World Series

Italicised years indicate baseball was featured as a demonstration sport.

* List of medalists
* List of venues

* v
* t
* e

Baseball in the United States

WBSC Americas

Governing bodies|

* USA Baseball (international)
* Commissioner of Baseball (professional)

National teams|

* Men's
* U-18
* Women's

Competitions|

| Professional|

* Major League Baseball
* American League
* National League

| Minor (MiLB)|

| Triple-A|

* International League
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|

Double-A|

* Eastern League
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High-A|

* Midwest League
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Single-A|

* California League
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Rookie|

* Arizona Complex League
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Independent|

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* MLB Draft League

Collegiate|

* NCAA
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* College World Series
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* DIII
* NAIA
* Collegiate summer baseball

Youth|

* Little League World Series

Awards & honors|

| MLB|

* Records
* Awards

|

Other|

* Minor league awards
* Collegiate awards

Hosted events|

* World Baseball Classic
* 2006
* 2009
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* 2017
* 2023
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* 1984
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* Pan American Games
* 1959
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* Caribbean Series
* 1990
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* 2024
* 1974 Amateur World Series
* Global World Series
* 1955
* 1956
* 1957

Related articles|

* History of baseball in the United States
* Negro league baseball
* Baseball color line
* National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
* Comparison of MLB and NPB

*[Pos]: Position
*[Pld]: Played
*[W]: Won
*[L]: Lost
*[RF]: Runs for
*[RA]: Runs against
*[RD]: Run difference
*[PCT]: Win percentage
*[GB]: Games behind
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template