Baseball at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Baseball at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing was held from August 13 to August 23. All games took place at Wukesong Baseball Field, a temporary venue built at the Beijing Wukesong Culture & Sports Center. For the third time in Olympic history, professional baseball players could join, but no active players from Major League Baseball were able to play.

This tournament was special because it was the last time baseball would be part of the Olympics for a while. The International Olympic Committee decided not to include baseball in the 2012 Olympics or the 2016 Summer Olympics. But later, in 2016, they brought baseball back for the 2020 Games.

During the 2008 tournament, a new rule was used for the first time ever in extra innings. Starting from the 11th inning, each team began with two runners already on base. South Korea won the gold medal after beating Cuba 3–2 in the final. The United States team took home the bronze medal.

Venues

Medalists

Competition format

Eight teams took part in the Olympic baseball tournament. The tournament had two rounds. In the first round, each team played against every other team once. After this, the top four teams moved on to a single-elimination round, which ended with games for the bronze and gold medals.

Qualification

The qualification process determined which teams could compete in the baseball events at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

^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

Team squad

Group stage

All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8).

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
(H) Hosts
Notes:

August 13

August 14

August 15

August 16

August 17

August 18

August 19

August 20

Knockout stage

Semifinals

Bronze medal match

Gold medal match

Final standings