Baseball
The United States, which had barely missed medalling in the first official Olympic baseball tournament, tried again in 1996. This time, they were successful. In the preliminary round, they defeated six of their seven opponents, losing only to the undefeated Cubans. The Americans were second place in the round, pitting them in a semifinal match against the third-place Japanese team. In a game much more reminiscent of the Japanese victory in the 1992 bronze medal game than the American win in the 1996 preliminary round, the United States was defeated and found itself playing in their second bronze medal game in as many Olympiads. This time, however, they defeated Nicaragua to win their first baseball medal.
Men's Team Competition:
- United States (7-2) — Bronze Medal
Read more about this topic: United States At The 1996 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)
“I don’t like comparisons with football. Baseball is an entirely different game. You can watch a tight, well-played football game, but it isn’t exciting if half the stadium is empty. The violence on the field must bounce off a lot of people. But you can go to a ball park on a quiet Tuesday afternoon with only a few thousand people in the place and thoroughly enjoy a one-sided game. Baseball has an aesthetic, intellectual appeal found in no other team sport.”
—Bowie Kuhn (b. 1926)
“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)