Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

was a demonstration sport for the seventh time. Eight teams competed in

Jamsil Baseball Stadium Jamsil Baseball Stadium () is a baseball stadium located at 25 Olympic-ro, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea. The stadium holds 25,000 people and was built from April 1980 to July 1982. It makes up the Seoul Sports Complex along with the nearby Seoul ...

in the baseball tournament. The format used was the same as the tournament of four years earlier. Five teams that had competed in the 1984 tournament returned.

Teams

* ( 1987 Asian Baseball Championship fifth place) (invited) * ( 1987 Pan American Games fourth place, defeat 1987 European Baseball Championship silver medalist in a playoff) * ( 1987 Asian Baseball Championship gold medalist) * (1984 Olympics gold medalist) * ( 1987 European Baseball Championship gold medalist) * ( 1987 Pan American Games bronze medalist) * (Hosts) * ( 1987 Pan American Games silver medalist)

Preliminary round

There were two pools for the preliminary round. Teams played each of the three other teams in their division.

Blue Division

---- ----

White Division

---- ----

Knockout round

Semifinals

The semifinals pitted the first-place team of each division against the second-place team of the other division. Thus, Japan (3-0) played against Korea (2-1), which had a tied record with the United States (2-1) but had lost in head-to-head competition against them. The first-place Americans played against Puerto Rico (2-1).

Third-place final

The third-place final pitted the losers of the semifinals against each, with the winner taking third place and the loser taking fourth.

First-place final

The winners of the semifinals played each other for first and second place. In a rematch of the 1984 final, the reigning champion Japanese team lost to the United States. Since baseball was a demonstration sport, no official medals were awarded.

Rosters

United States

Source:1988 United States Olympic Team Roster
", USABaseball.com, accessed December 29, 2008. *

Jim Abbott James Anthony Abbott (born September 19, 1967) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the California Angels, New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, and Milwaukee Brewers, from 1989 to 1999. He ...

, P *

Bret Barberie Bret Edward Barberie (born August 16, 1967) is an American former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Montreal Expos, Florida Marlins, Baltimore Orioles, and Chicago Cubs. Before his professional career, B ...

, IF *

Andy Benes Andrew Charles Benes (born August 20, 1967) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from 1989 to 2002, most prominently as a member of the San Diego Padres where he was na ...

, P *

Jeff Branson Jeffrey Dale Branson (born March 10, 1977)"Catching up with....Jeff Branson". ''Soap Opera Digest''. July 8, 2013. p. 45. is an American actor. He is known for his role as Ronan Malloy on ''The Young and the Restless'', Jonathan Lavery on '' Al ...

, IF * Mike Fiore, OF *

Tom Goodwin Thomas Jones Goodwin (born July 27, 1968) is an American professional baseball coach and former player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 14 seasons, primarily as a center fielder, from 1991 to 2004. As a player, he was listed at and ...

, OF *

Ty Griffin Tyrone Vontrace Griffin (born September 5, 1967) is an American retired professional baseball second baseman. He played in minor league baseball and in international competition for the United States national baseball team. Career Griffin atten ...

, IF *Andrew Kobliska, OF *

Tino Martinez Constantino "Tino" Martinez (born December 7, 1967) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, and Tampa Bay Devil Rays from 1990 t ...

, IF * Bill Masse, OF *

Ben McDonald Larry Benard McDonald (born November 24, 1967) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. The first overall pick in the 1989 MLB Draft, McDonald played for the Baltimore Orioles and Milwaukee Brewers from 1989 through 1997. Baseball career Col ...

, P *

Mike Milchin Michael Wayne Milchin (born February 28, 1968) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for one season. He played for the Minnesota Twins for 26 games during the 1996 season and the Baltimore Orioles for 13 games during the 1996 seas ...

, IF/P *

Mickey Morandini Michael Robert "Mickey" Morandini (born April 22, 1966), is an American former professional baseball second baseman and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and Toronto Blue Jays. His car ...

, OF *

Charles Nagy Charles Harrison Nagy (born May 5, 1967) is an American former Major League Baseball All-Star right-handed pitcher who played for 14 seasons in the major leagues from to . He played for the Cleveland Indians and San Diego Padres. He served as th ...

, P * Doug Robbins, C *

Scott Servais Scott Daniel Servais ( '); born June 4, 1967) is an American professional baseball manager and former player who currently manages the Seattle Mariners. A major league catcher for eleven seasons, Servais was previously the assistant general m ...

, C *

Dave Silvestri David Joseph Silvestri (born September 29, 1967) is a former infielder in Major League Baseball from 1992 to 1999. He also played for the United States baseball team at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Playing career Silvestri attended the University o ...

, IF *

Joe Slusarski Joseph Andrew Slusarski (born December 19, 1966) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1991 to 2001 for the Oakland Athletics, Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, and Atlanta Braves. He ...

, P * Ed Sprague, IF *

Robin Ventura Robin Mark Ventura (born July 14, 1967) is an American former professional baseball third baseman and manager. Ventura played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox, New York Mets, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Do ...

, IF * Ted Wood, OF *

Mark Marquess Mark Edward Marquess (born March 24, 1947) is an American college baseball coach. He served as the head coach of the Stanford Cardinal baseball team from 1977 to 2017. Early life and professional baseball career Born and raised in Stockton, Cal ...

, head coach *

Skip Bertman Stanley "Skip" Bertman (born May 23, 1938) is a former college baseball coach and athletic director at Louisiana State University (LSU). He led the LSU Tigers baseball team to five College World Series championships and seven Southeastern Confer ...

, assistant coach * Dave Bingham, assistant coach *

Ron Polk Ronald George Polk (born January 12, 1944) is an American professional coach in NCAA Division I college baseball. He was a long-time head baseball coach at Mississippi State and is considered to be the "Father of Southeastern Conference Basebal ...

, assistant coach

Japan

Source:1988 Japan Olympic Team Roster (Japanese)
*1 Masafumi Nishi, IF *2 Hiroki Katsuragi, IF *3 Kunji Yonezaki, IF *6

Kenjiro Nomura Kenjiro Nomura may refer to: * Kenjiro Nomura (baseball) * Kenjiro Nomura (artist) Kenjiro Nomura (1896–1956) was a Japanese American painter. Immigrating to the United States from Japan as a boy, he became a well-known artist in the Pacific Nor ...

, IF *8 Terushi Nakajima, OF *9 Hirofumi Ogawa, IF *10 Daisuke Tsutsui, IF *11

Tetsuya Shiozaki is a former Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of t ...

, P *12 Tomio Watanabe, P *14 Tetsu Suzuki, P *15 So Kikuchi, P *16

Shuji Yoshida is a former Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of t ...

, P *18

Takehiro Ishii Takehiro Ishii (石井丈裕, born October 25, 1964) is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He played for the Japan national baseball team in 1988, and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Seibu Lions and the Nippon-Ham Fig ...

, P *19

Hideo Nomo is a Japanese former baseball pitcher who played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and Major League Baseball (MLB). He achieved early success in his native country, where he played with the Kintetsu Buffaloes from to . He then exploited a l ...

, P *20 Atsuya Furuta, C *21 Makoto Maeda, OF *22 Atsuyoshi Otake, C *25

Yasushi Matsumoto is a former Japanese football player. Playing career Matsumoto was born in Mie Prefecture on June 17, 1969. After graduating from high school, he joined Japan Soccer League club Mitsubishi Motors is a Japanese multinational automobile ma ...

, OF *27 Kenji Tomashino, OF *28 Tsuyoshi Omori, IF *30 Yoshinobu Suzuki, head coach *31 Katsuji Kawashima, assistant coach *32 Masatake Nakayama, assistant coach

Canada

Rob Butler Robert Butler may refer to: Politicians * Robert Butler (U.S. commander) (1786–1860), U.S. commander receiving the former East Florida for the United States in 1821, from Spain *Cuthbert Butler (politician) (Robert John Cuthbert Butler, 1889� ...

* Bill Byckowski * Rheal Cormier * Randy Curran * Gregory Duce * Marc Griffin * Stewart Hillman * Peter Hoy * Lome Franklin Humber * Rick Johnston * James Kotkas * Alan Mauthe * Thomas Nelson * Greg O'Halloran * Barry Parisotto * Greg Roth * David Rypien * Warren Sawkiw *

Matt Stairs Matthew Wade Stairs (born February 27, 1968) is a Canadian former professional baseball outfielder, first baseman, and designated hitter, who holds the record for most pinch-hit home runs in Major League Baseball (MLB) history with 23. His pinc ...

* Dave Wainhouse

Australia

* Anthony Adamson * Barrie Bahnert * David Buckthorpe * Scott Cameron * David Clarkson * Jon Deeble * Malcolm Gregg * Shaun Harbar * Gregory Harvey * Kim Jessop * Geoffrey Martin * Parris Mitchell * Michael Nind * Matthew Sheldon-Collins * Peter Hartas * Tony Thomson * Peter Vogler * Grant Weir * Darren Welch * Peter Wood

Chinese Taipei

* Chin-Mou Chen * Yi-Hsin Chen * Tai-Chuan Chiang * Cheng-Chin Hong * I-Chung Hong * Chiung-Lung Huang * Ping-Yang Huang * Cheng-Cherng Kuo * Chien-Fu Kuo Lee * Chu-Ming Lee * I-Tseng Lin * Tzung-Chiu Lin * Chen-Jung Lo * Kuo-Chong Lo * Chi-Chen Tseng * Hung-Chin Tu * Kuang-Huei Wang * Fu-Lien Wu * Shih-Hsin Wu * Chieh-Jen Yang

The Netherlands

* Frank Bos * Eric de Bruin * Peter Callenbach * Robert Eenhoorn * Rikkert Faneyte * Ron Giroldi * Bill Groot * Gerlach Halderman * Jacky Jacoba * Marcel Joost * Robert Knol * Frank Koot * Harry Koster * Marcel Kruyt * Alfred de Leeuw * Hans van Renselaar * Ronald Stoovelaar * Bart Volkerijk * Eric de Vries * Haitze de Vries

Puerto Rico

* Albert Bracero * Elliot Cianchini * Luis O. Davila * Jesus I. Feliciano * James C. Figueroa * Anthony Garcia * Efrain Garcia * Eddie Horrio * Jose Lorenzana * Victor L. Martinez * Roberto Mateo * Jose V. Melendez * Angel A. Morales * Benedicto Poupart * Mariano Quinones * Luis Ramos * Jorge Robles * Abimael Rosario * Roberto Santana * Wilfredo Velez

South Korea

* Baek Jae-woo * Chang Ho-ick * Cho Kye-yun * Choi Hae-myoung * Choi Hoo-jae * Hwang Dae-yeon * Kang Ki-woong * Kang Young-soo * Kim Dong-soo * Kim Ki-bum * Kim Kyung-ki *

Kim Tae-hyoung Kim Tae-hyoung (Korean: 김태형; born September 12, 1967) is a South Korean professional baseball manager and former player. As manager of the Doosan Bears, he led the team into seven consecutive Korean Series appearances between 2015 and 2 ...

* Kwon Taek-jae *

Lee Kang-chul Lee Kang-chul (Hangul: 이강철; born May 24, 1966, in Gwangju, South Korea) is a South Korean former professional baseball pitcher and current manager of the KT Wiz. A submarine-style pitcher,Song Jin-woo Song Jin-woo (Hangul: 송진우, Hanja: 宋津宇; born February 16, 1966) is a retired South Korean left-handed pitcher who played for the Hanwha Eagles his entire career. Song played in the KBO League for 21 seasons between and . He current ...

Final standings

References

*
Official Report
Official Report Volume 2: Competition Summary and Results. 1988. {{Baseball at the Summer Olympics 1988 Summer Olympics events

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

1988 in baseball

Olympic demonstration sports Men's events at the 1988 Summer Olympics