
Baseball at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing will be held over an eleven day period starting August 13 and concluding with the medal finals on August 23. All games will be played at Wukesong Baseball Field, a temporary venue constructed at the Beijing Wukesong Culture & Sports Center. Olympic baseball is competed by men only, women compete in the similar sport of softball.
The International Olympic Committee has voted to remove baseball from the program for the 2012 Olympics, so this is the last time that baseball will be contested at the Olympics unless it is reinstated at a future date.
This is also the first time that the IBAF's new extra-inning rule officially takes effect.
Eight teams will compete in the Olympic baseball tournament, and the competition consists of two rounds. The preliminary round follows a round robin format, where each of the teams plays all the other teams once. Following this, the top four teams advance to a single elimination round culminating in the bronze and gold medal games.
| Event | Date | Location | Vacancies | Qualified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host Nation | - | - | 1 | China |
| American Qualifying Tournament | Aug 25 - Sept 7, 2006 | Havana | 2 | United States Cuba |
| European Championship | Sept 7 - Sept 16, 2007 | Barcelona | 1 | Netherlands |
| Asian Baseball Championship | Nov 27 - Dec 3, 2007 | Taichung | 1 | Japan |
| Final Qualifying Tournament | Mar 7 - Mar 14, 2008 | Taichung and Douliou | 3 | Canada Korea Chinese Taipei |
| TOTAL | 8 | |||
Note 1: Chinese Taipei is the official IOC designation for the state officially referred to as the Republic of China (ROC), commonly known as Taiwan. (See also political status of Taiwan for details.)
| Team | Qualification criteria | Appearance |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | 1st place of Final Qualifying Tournament | 2nd |
| China | Automatic as host nation of the Olympics | 1st |
| Chinese Taipei | 3rd place of Final Qualifying Tournament | 3rd |
| Cuba | 2nd place of American Qualifying Tournament | 5th |
| Japan | 1st place of Asian Baseball Championship | 5th |
| South Korea | 2nd place of Final Qualifying Tournament | 3rd |
| Netherlands | 1st place of European Championship | 4th |
| United States | 1st place of American Qualifying Tournament | 4th |
All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8)
| August 13 — 10:30 at WKB Field 2
Netherlands- August 13 — 11:30 at WKB Main Field Canada- |
August 13 — 18:00 at WKB Field 2
United States August 13 — 19:00 at WKB Main Field Japan |
| August 14 — 10:30 at WKB Field 2
United States August 14 — 11:30 at WKB Main Field China |
August 14 — 18:00 at WKB Field 2
Canada August 14 — 19:00 at WKB Main Field Japan |
| August 15 — 10:30 at WKB Field 2
Chinese Taipei August 15 — 11:30 at WKB Main Field Cuba |
August 15 — 18:00 at WKB Field 2
South Korea August 15 — 19:00 at WKB Main Field Netherlands |
| August 16 — 10:30 at WKB Field 2
Canada August 16 — 11:30 at WKB Main Field Chinese Taipei |
August 16 — 18:00 at WKB Field 2
Netherlands August 16 — 19:00 at WKB Main Field South Korea |
| August 18 — 10:30 at WKB Field 2
Japan August 18 — 11:30 at WKB Main Field South Korea |
August 18 — 18:00 at WKB Field 2
Netherlands August 18 — 19:00 at WKB Main Field China |
| August 19 — 10:30 at WKB Field 2
Canada August 19 — 11:30 at WKB Main Field Cuba |
August 19 — 18:00 at WKB Field 2
China August 19 — 19:00 at WKB Main Field Chinese Taipei |
| August 20 — 10:30 at WKB Field 2
China August 20 — 11:30 at WKB Main Field South Korea |
August 20 — 18:00 at WKB Field 2
Chinese Taipei August 20 — 19:00 at WKB Main Field United States |
| Semifinals | Gold Medal Match | ||||||
| 2008-08-22 - Beijing | |||||||
| 1 | |||||||
| 4 | |||||||
| 2008-08-23 - Beijing | |||||||
| Bronze Medal Match | |||||||
| 2008-08-22 - Beijing | 2008-08-23 - Beijing | ||||||
| 2 | |||||||
| 3 | |||||||
| August 22 — 10:30 at WKB Main Field | August 22 — 18:00 at WKB Main Field |
August 23 — 10:30 at WKB Main Field
August 23 — 18:00 at WKB Main Field
This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.