Baseball at the 2000 Summer Olympics

Baseball at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad
Venues	Sydney Baseball Stadium Blacktown Olympic Park
Dates	17–27 September
Teams	8
Medalists
01 !  United States 02 !  Cuba 03 !  South Korea
← 1996 2004 →

01 !		United States
02 !		Cuba
03 !		South Korea

Baseball at the 2000 Summer Olympics was the third time an Olympic baseball tournament had been held as a full medal sport, and the ninth time it had been part of the Summer Olympic Games in any capacity. It was held in Sydney, Australia from 17 September through to the bronze and gold medal games on 27 September. Two venues were used for the Games: the Sydney Baseball Stadium and Blacktown Olympic Park. For the first time in Olympic competition, professional baseball players were eligible to participate, though no active players from Major League Baseball were available. Team USA, however, included Pat Borders, who had won World Series MVP with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1992, starting pitchers Roy Oswalt and Ben Sheets, who became MLB aces with the Houston Astros and Milwaukee Brewers respectively, and first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz, who won a World Series in 2004 with the Boston Red Sox. Last but not least, their manager was Tommy Lasorda, the Los Angeles Dodgers legend who had managed the Dodgers to two World Series in 1981 and 1988.

The United States won the gold medal by defeating Cuba 4–0 as Sheets pitched a three-hit shutout. Since becoming a medal sport, it was the first time Cuba had not won the gold medal. The gold medal game was also only the second game Cuba had lost in Olympic baseball, having lost to the Netherlands earlier in the tournament.South Korea won their first Olympic baseball medal, beating Japan in the bronze medal match 3–1.