Baseball at the 1964 Summer Olympics

Baseball at the 1964 Summer Olympics was a demonstration sport and consisted of a single game. It was the fifth time that a baseball exhibition had been held, and was the last time that only one game was played.

Game[]

The U.S. team of college baseball players—which included eight future Major League Baseball players and was coached by Rod Dedeaux^[1]—defeated a Japanese amateur all-star team, 6–2.^[2] Approximately 50,000 fans watched the game.^[2] The game was played on October 11, 1964,^[3] at Meiji Jingu Stadium in Tokyo.^[4]

Future major league players on the U.S. team were pitchers Alan Closter, Dick Joyce, and Chuck Dobson; catchers Jim Hibbs and Ken Suarez; outfielder Shaun Fitzmaurice; first baseman Mike Epstein; and second baseman Gary Sutherland.^[2] Fitzmaurice hit a home run on the first pitch of the game.^[2] Most of the other players on the roster went on to play baseball professionally in the minor leagues.

Prior to the game, players held their own "opening ceremony", as they had not been included in the official opening of the Olympiad, due to baseball's status as a demonstration sport.^[5] Additionally, the U.S. baseball team was housed at a YMCA rather than in the Olympic Village.^[4] Outside of the Olympics, contemporary news reports note that the U.S. baseball team played a series of exhibition games in Japan and South Korea.^[6][7]

United States roster[]

Source:^[8]

Sources[]

• Cava, Pete (Summer 1992). "Baseball in the Olympics". Citius, Altius, Fortius. 1 (1): 7–15.

References[]

Further reading[]

• Tomizawa, Roy (October 1, 2015). "Baseball at the 1964 Tokyo Games: Hidden in Plain Sight". The Olympians. Retrieved August 10, 2021.

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