Baseball
The United States earned a qualification spot in baseball by placing in the top two at the 2006 Americas Olympic Qualifying Event. This marked the return of the United States national baseball team to the Olympics after not qualifying in 2004; the United States had appeared in all three of the official baseball tournaments, and nearly all of the exhibition and demonstration events, before then. The American team sought its second gold medal in the sport, but finished winning the bronze.
- Team roster and tournament statistics
USA Baseball named its Olympic roster on July 16, 2008. The Olympic team was made up of anyone not on an Major League Baseball 25-man roster at the time of the tournament.
Manager: Davey Johnson, Bob Watson (General Manager)
Coaches: Marcel Lachemann – Pitching Coach, Reggie Smith – Hitting Coach, Rick Eckstein – 3rd Base Coach, Dick Cooke – Auxiliary Coach, Rolando de Armas – Auxiliary Coach.
| № | Player | Pos | GP | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | TB | BB | SO | SB | OBP | SLG | BA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Donald, JasonJason Donald | SS | 8 | 21 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 1 | .536 | .571 | .381 |
| 3 | Nix, JaysonJayson Nix | 2B | 3 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 0 | .267 | .500 | .214 |
| 6 | Marson, LouLou Marson | C | 5 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | .438 | .308 | .308 |
| 7 | Gall, JohnJohn Gall | LF | 8 | 33 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 15 | 2 | 7 | 0 | .286 | .455 | .242 |
| 10 | Hessman, MikeMike Hessman | 3B | 5 | 22 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 0 | .091 | .227 | .091 |
| 14 | Schierholtz, NateNate Schierholtz | CF | 9 | 37 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 15 | 2 | 9 | 0 | .275 | .405 | .216 |
| 17 | Brown, MatthewMatthew Brown | 1B | 9 | 32 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 10 | 18 | 6 | 8 | 2 | .390 | .563 | .281 |
| 18 | Barden, BrianBrian Barden | SS | 9 | 34 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 15 | 4 | 9 | 1 | .342 | .441 | .265 |
| 19 | Teagarden, TaylorTaylor Teagarden | C | 5 | 16 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 0 | .381 | .313 | .188 |
| 24 | Fowler, DexterDexter Fowler | PR | 9 | 28 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 0 | .300 | .429 | .250 |
| 26 | Tiffee, TerryTerry Tiffee | DH | 9 | 37 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 5 | 18 | 2 | 6 | 0 | .341 | .486 | .324 |
| 44 | LaPorta, MatthewMatthew LaPorta | RF | 6 | 19 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 0 | .333 | .474 | .158 |
| Team totals | 9 | 306 | 50 | 76 | 10 | 48 | 135 | 34 | 80 | 4 | .333 | .441 | .248 | ||
| № | Player | GP | GS | W | L | SV | IP | H | R | HR | SO | BB | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Knight, BrandonBrandon Knight | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10.2 | 13 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 6.75 |
| 21 | Koplove, MikeMike Koplove | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0.00 |
| 29 | Strasburg, StephenStephen Strasburg | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 1 | 1.64 |
| 30 | Cahill, TrevorTrevor Cahill | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 2.25 |
| 34 | Arrieta, JakeJake Arrieta | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 0.00 |
| 35 | Weathers, CaseyCasey Weathers | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0.00 |
| 37 | Stevens, JeffJeff Stevens | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 9.00 |
| 39 | Jepsen, KevinKevin Jepsen | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0.00 |
| 40 | Anderson, BrettBrett Anderson | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12.2 | 13 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 3 | 4.98 |
| 45 | Duensing, BrianBrian Duensing | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1.17 |
| 47 | Cummings, JeremyJeremy Cummings | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1.80 |
| 49 | Neal, BlaineBlaine Neal | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.2 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7.38 |
| Team totals | 9 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 82.2 | 64 | 36 | 10 | 72 | 22 | 3.05 | |
- Group stage
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 1 | |||||||||||
| South Korea | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 1 | |||||||||||
| WP: Suk Min Yoon (1–0) LP: Jeff Stevens (0–1) Home runs: USA: Nate Schierholtz (1), Mike Hessman (1) KOR: Dae-Ho Lee (1) |
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| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | - | 7 | 10 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Netherlands | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||||||||||
| WP: Stephen Strasburg (1–0) LP: Shairon Martis (0–1) Home runs: USA: Matt Brown (1), Matt Laporta (1) NED: None |
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| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cuba | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 0 | |||||||||
| United States | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 0 | |||||||||
| WP: Pedro Luis Lazo (1–0) LP: Jeff Stevens (0–2) Home runs: CUB: Alfredo Despaigne (2) USA: Jayson Nix (1) |
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| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 1 | |||||||||||
| United States | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 1 | |||||||||||
| WP: Brian Duensing (1–0) LP: Chris Reitsma (0–1) Home runs: CAN: None USA: Brian Barden (1) |
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| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | |||||||||||
| United States | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | X | 9 | 9 | 0 | |||||||||||
| WP: Jake Arrieta (1–0) LP: Chenhao Li (0–1) Home runs: CHN: Yang Yang (1) USA: None |
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| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese Taipei | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | |||||||||||
| United States | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | X | 4 | 10 | 2 | |||||||||||
| WP: Brandon Knight (1–0) LP: Wen-Hsiung Hsu (0–1) Sv: Kevin Jepsen (1) Home runs: TPE: Chih-Sheng Lin (1) USA: John Gall (1) |
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| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 0 | |||||||||
| Japan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | |||||||||
| WP: Jeff Stevens (1–2) LP: Hitoki Iwase (0–2) Sv: Casey Weathers (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
- Preliminary round summary
The top four teams advanced to the semifinal round.
| Team | G | W | L | RS | RA | WIN% | GB | Tiebreaker |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Korea | 7 | 7 | 0 | 41 | 22 | 1.000 | - | - |
| Cuba | 7 | 6 | 1 | 52 | 23 | .857 | 1 | - |
| United States | 7 | 5 | 2 | 40 | 22 | .714 | 2 | - |
| Japan | 7 | 4 | 3 | 30 | 14 | .571 | 3 | - |
| Chinese Taipei | 7 | 2 | 5 | 29 | 33 | .286 | 5 | 1–0 |
| Canada | 7 | 2 | 5 | 29 | 20 | .286 | 5 | 0–1 |
| Netherlands | 7 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 50 | .143 | 6 | 1–0 |
| China | 7 | 1 | 6 | 14 | 60 | .143 | 6 | 0–1 |
- Semifinal
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 2 | |||||||||||
| Cuba | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | X | 10 | 14 | 2 | |||||||||||
| WP: Norge Luis Vera (2–0) LP: Stephen Strasburg (1–1) Sv: Pedro Luis Lazo (2) Home runs: USA: None CUB: Alfredo Despaigne (3), Frederich Cepeda (2), Alexei Bell (1), Ariel Pestano (2) |
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- Bronze medal match
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 1 | |||||||||||
| United States | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 8 | 9 | 0 | |||||||||||
| WP: Brett Anderson (1–0) LP: Kenshin Kawakami (0–1) Home runs: JPN: Masahiro Araki (1), Norichika Aoki (1) USA: Matt LaPorta (2), Matt Brown (2), Jason Donald (1) |
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- Final rank
- 3 ! Bronze
Read more about this topic: United States At The 2008 Summer Olympics
Famous quotes containing the word baseball:
“Baseball is the religion that worships the obvious and gives thanks that things are exactly as they seem. Instead of celebrating mysteries, baseball rejoices in the absence of mysteries and trusts that, if we watch what is laid before our eyes, down to the last detail, we will cultivate the gift of seeing things as they really are.”
—Thomas Boswell, U.S. sports journalist. “The Church of Baseball,” Baseball: An Illustrated History, ed. Geoffrey C. Ward, Knopf (1994)
“Spooky things happen in houses densely occupied by adolescent boys. When I checked out a four-inch dent in the living room ceiling one afternoon, even the kid still holding the baseball bat looked genuinely baffled about how he possibly could have done it.”
—Mary Kay Blakely (20th century)
“Compared to football, baseball is almost an Oriental game, minimizing individual stardom, requiring a wide range of aggressive and defensive skills, and filled with long periods of inaction and irresolution. It has no time limitations. Football, on the other hand, has immediate goals, resolution on every single play, and a lot of violence—itself a highlight. It has clearly distinguishable hierarchies: heroes and drones.”
—Jerry Mander, U.S. advertising executive, author. Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television, ch. 15, Morrow (1978)