Action during the gold medal match.
Cuba’s Baseball5 Victory Echoes History
by Philip Barker at the Complexe Tour L’Oeuf, Dakar
Cuba beat Chinese Taipei to win the inaugural Youth Olympic Games Gold in baseball5.
The victory also provided an echo of the first time baseball was included on the full Olympic programme, 34 years ago in Barcelona. On that occasion Cuba also won gold; just as this year, they defeated Chinese Taipei in the final.
It is in fact over a century ago that baseball was played as part of the Jeux de L’enfance, a series of competitions for youngsters in the YOG age range held during the 1924 Olympics.
The competitions were not part of the Olympic competition, but took place on a day when the Stade de Colombes was not being used for other sport. The Ranelagh club in Paris took on the Paris all stars. The matches are however included in the Official Report by French Organisers.
At the senior Olympic level, baseball has been demonstrated or exhibited a number of times as it sought recognition. Many regard the turning point to have been the 1984 Olympics when eight teams took part in a demonstration tournament played at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
At the 1986 International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session in Lausanne the decision was taken to grant full Olympic status.
“October 13th 1986 will always stand out in my memory as the most important day in the history of international amateur baseball,” said Robert Smith, President of what was then known as the International Baseball Association.
“It opened doors long closed to international amateur baseball and offered incentive for countries to begin baseball programmes.”
After another trial event in 1988, the stage was set for the official debut in 1992.
The official poster of Barcelona 1992 (photo: IOC)
Although organisers had hoped to include Major League Baseball players, ultimately this was not possible. Which meant that “From the first day, the Cuban team were considered hot favourites,” the Barcelona Official Report asserted.
“There are some rivals to reckon with and as coach I don’t want to say that we’re the candidates for the gold, but personally I think so,” Cuba’s Head Coach Jorge Fuentes said.
In the 1992 Final held at Estadi de Beisbol de Llobregat, they faced Chinese Taipei. Pitcher Giorge Dias dismissed eight batters at the home plate and Cuba hit three home runs to win 11-1.
“The Cuban team which played in Barcelona will go down in history as one of the most powerful of all time,” insisted the Olympic Report.
Baseball remained on the Olympic programme until 2008. After its removal, the IBA joined with their softball counterparts to form the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) which successfully lobbied for the return of both sports to the Olympic stage.
A first day cover for the 1992 US Olympic baseball stamp.
In 2017, baseball5 was introduced as a game which could be played by both boys and girls. There are no bats and no home runs as the ball is struck with the hand to begin each playing sequence.
WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari described it as “a new five-on-five, five-inning street version of the game of Baseball/Softball that can be played anywhere. This faster urban discipline will help drive baseball and softball to new places not possible before.”
It is a similar initiative to that taken by basketball which has introduced 3×3 which is being played on exactly the same arena here in Dakar.
It was chosen for inclusion in the Youth Olympics long before the Dakar Games were postponed because of COVID-19.
The tournament in Dakar attracted eight teams and was played over five days.
When Cuba and Chinese Taipei entered the arena for the final, each player tossed a ball io the crowd. The Cubans always seemed to be a notch ahead. They took the first set 2-1 and clinched gold with a 7-1 success in the second.
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