Baseball Preview
At the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, baseball will return to the Olympic program for the first time since Beijing 2008. The sport had previously been part of the program since 1992. In total, baseball has been on the official Olympic program at six Games (with Tokyo 2020 being the seventh) and has been contested as a demonstration sport at an additional seven Games.

Team USA will look to win its second official Olympic gold medal in baseball, having won gold at Sydney 2000. In the last edition of baseball at the Games in 2008, the U.S. won the bronze medal. Falling to Cuba in the semifinals, the U.S. team bounced back to claim a decisive 8-4 victory against Japan to secure third place in the tournament. Combined with a bronze medal from 1996, the U.S. has earned three official medals in baseball at the Olympic Games, second only to Cuba in the sport’s medal chart. Though still only a demonstration sport at the time, the U.S. also unofficially earned second in Los Angeles in 1984 and first in Seoul in 1988.

The U.S. hopes to continue this story of success and is looking to qualify for Tokyo 2020.

Updated on July 20, 2020. For more information, contact the sport press officer here.

The return of baseball to the Olympic Games: Tokyo 2020 marks the 14th time baseball will be contested at the Olympic Games, though for seven of those times, the sport was only a demonstration sport. From 1992 to 2008, the sport was on the Olympic program for five straight Games. As part of the International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Agenda 2020, the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee had the opportunity to add sports to the Olympic program and, with baseball being popular in the country, the sport was added to the 2020 Games.  

The U.S. player pool for baseball at the Olympic Games is quite broad. Should the U.S. qualify for Tokyo 2020 in the sport, the athletes would be pulled from professional baseball minor leagues and international leagues. 

Team USA had its first chance to qualify for Tokyo 2020 by participating in the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 in November 2019. The top-finishing team from the Americas region qualified for the Olympic Games, with Mexico taking the slot after a narrow 3-2 victory in the third-place game. Team USA will have the chance to punch its ticket at two additional qualifying tournaments, beginning with the WBSC Americas Baseball Olympic Qualifier, followed by the WBSC Baseball Final Qualifier. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 and the delay of the Tokyo Games, these dates are still being determined and will be announced at a later time. 
The official selection criteria has not been identified at this time.  Normally, professional athletes not listed on the 40-man rosters of Major League Baseball clubs are eligible for participation on the U.S. team.
• Nov. 2-17, 2019 – WBSC Premier12 tournament 
• TBD – WBSC Americas Baseball Olympic Qualifier
• TBD – WBSC Baseball Final Qualifier