Baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification

Six national teams will qualify to compete in baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo (postponed to 2021[1] due to the COVID-19 pandemic). As host, Japan automatically qualified. Israel also qualified, by winning the Africa/Europe Qualifying Event in September 2019.

Main article: Baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics

In addition, two teams qualified through the 2019 WBSC Premier12 tournament in November 2019. Mexico qualified as the best team from the Americas, and South Korea qualified as the best team from Asia or Oceania (other than already-qualified Japan).[2]

Another team from the Americas will qualify through the Americas Qualifying Event in Arizona. The last spot will be awarded to the winner of the Final Qualifying Tournament.[3][4]

Timeline
EventDateLocationVacanciesQualified
Host nation 3 August 20161 N/A 1  Japan
Africa/Europe Qualifying Event 18–22 September 2019 Bologna / Parma 1  Israel
2019 WBSC Premier12 2–17 November 2019 Tokyo2 2  Mexico
 South Korea
Americas Qualifying Event TBD (postponed)[5] Arizona 1
Final Qualifying Tournament TBD (postponed)[6] Taichung / Douliu 1
TOTAL6

1Baseball was included into the 2020 Olympics during the IOC session on 3 August 2016.
2The WBSC Premier12 was played in Japan, Mexico, South Korea, and Taiwan, with the final in Tokyo.

Africa/Europe Qualifying Event
Drew Maggi bats for Italy during the qualifying tournament

Israel qualified to play baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics by winning a two-continent qualifying tournament for Europe and Africa. The tournament was a round robin, and was held in Parma and Bologna, Italy, on September 18–22, 2019. It featured six teams: the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Israel, and the Czech Republic (the top five teams in the 2019 European Baseball Championship), and South Africa (the winner of the 2019 African Baseball Championship).

Petr Čech of the Czech Republic led the tournament in batting average (.500), and Danny Valencia of Israel led in runs (7), home runs (3), RBIs (9), walks (5), and slugging percentage (1.000). Pitchers Orlando Yntema of the Netherlands and Joey Wagman of Israel tied for the lead with two wins, and Wagman led in complete games (1) and strikeouts (14).[7]

As the winner of the tournament, Israel qualified to compete in the Tokyo Olympics. The second-place team in the event, the Netherlands, will receive another qualification opportunity in the Final Qualifying Tournament.[3]

Standings
Qualified for 2020 Summer Olympics
Qualified for Final Qualifying Tournament
Team W L Pct. R RA
 Israel41.8003411
 Netherlands41.8002615
 Czech Republic32.6002717
 Spain23.4001620
 Italy23.4002326
 South Africa05.000846

[8]

September 18, 2019
 Netherlands  4–1  Czech Republic Nino Cavalli Stadium, Parma
Attendance: 140
Boxscore
September 18, 2019
 South Africa  postponed1  Italy Nino Cavalli Stadium, Parma
Boxscore
September 18, 2019
 Spain  0–3  Israel Gianni Falchi Stadium, Bologna
Attendance: 100
Boxscore
September 19, 2019
 South Africa  1–7  Spain Gianni Falchi Stadium, Bologna
Attendance: 100
Boxscore
September 19, 2019
 Netherlands  1–8  Israel Nino Cavalli Stadium, Parma
Attendance: 160
Boxscore
September 19, 2019
 Czech Republic  1–5  Italy Gianni Falchi Stadium, Bologna
Attendance: 864
Boxscore
September 20, 2019
 South Africa  4 – 10 (10)  Italy Nino Cavalli Stadium, Parma
Attendance: 150
Boxscore
September 20, 2019
 South Africa  1 – 11 (8)  Czech Republic Nino Cavalli Stadium, Parma
Attendance: 260
Boxscore
September 20, 2019
 Israel  8–2  Italy Nino Cavalli Stadium, Parma
Attendance: 1,213
Boxscore
September 20, 2019
 Spain  2–6  Netherlands Gianni Falchi Stadium, Bologna
Attendance: 250
Boxscore
September 21, 2019
 South Africa  1–7  Netherlands Gianni Falchi Stadium, Bologna
Attendance: 110
Boxscore
September 21, 2019
 Italy  3–4  Spain Nino Cavalli Stadium, Parma
Attendance: 1,230
Boxscore
September 21, 2019
 Czech Republic  7–4  Israel Gianni Falchi Stadium, Bologna
Boxscore
September 22, 2019
 Israel  11 – 1 (8)  South Africa Nino Cavalli Stadium, Parma
Attendance: 225
Boxscore
September 22, 2019
 Spain  3–6  Czech Republic Nino Cavalli Stadium, Parma
Attendance: 62
Boxscore
September 22, 2019
 Netherlands  8–3  Italy Gianni Falchi Stadium, Bologna
Attendance: 520
Boxscore

1 game postponed 4–4 in 6th inning; continued September 20.[9]

2019 Premier12
Main article: 2019 WBSC Premier12

The top 12 teams on the WBSC men's baseball ranking list at the end of 2018 qualified for the 2019 Premier12 competition, which was held in November 2019. Teams from the Americas, Asia, and Oceania were able to qualify for the 2020 Olympics through this tournament. Mexico earned a quota spot as the top finisher from the Americas, and South Korea earned a spot as the top finisher from Asia or Oceania (excluding the already qualified host, Japan).[2]

Teams

Americas Qualifying Event

One quota spot will be allocated to the winner of the eight-team Americas Qualifying Event. All six American teams that competed in the 2019 Premier12 but did not qualify for the Olympics in that tournament will receive a place at this Qualifying Event. In addition, this event will include the top two finishers at the 2019 Pan American Games that did not qualify for the 2019 Premier12. The event was originally scheduled to be held March 22–26, 2020, in Arizona but was postponed to a date to be determined due to the coronavirus pandemic.[10]

The teams that finish in second and third place in this event will progress to the Final Qualifying Tournament.[3]

2019 Premier12

2019 Pan American Games
Main article: Baseball at the 2019 Pan American Games

Group A
Advance to Super Round
Team W L Pct. R RA
 United States00.00000
 Puerto Rico00.00000
 Dominican Republic00.00000
 Nicaragua00.00000
TBD
 Puerto Rico   Dominican Republic Surprise Stadium, Surprise
TBD
 United States   Nicaragua Surprise Stadium, Surprise
TBD
 Nicaragua   Puerto Rico Tempe Diablo Stadium, Tempe
TBD
 Dominican Republic   United States Tempe Diablo Stadium, Tempe
TBD
 Nicaragua   Dominican Republic Surprise Stadium, Surprise
TBD
 Puerto Rico   United States Surprise Stadium, Surprise

Group B
Advance to Super Round
Team W L Pct. R RA
 Colombia00.00000
 Cuba00.00000
 Venezuela00.00000
 Canada00.00000
TBD
 Venezuela   Cuba Tempe Diablo Stadium, Tempe
TBD
 Colombia   Canada Tempe Diablo Stadium, Tempe
TBD
 Colombia   Venezuela Surprise Stadium, Surprise
TBD
 Canada   Cuba Surprise Stadium, Surprise
TBD
 Canada   Venezuela Tempe Diablo Stadium, Tempe
TBD
 Cuba   Colombia Tempe Diablo Stadium, Tempe

Super Round
Qualified for 2020 Summer Olympics
Qualified for Final Qualifying Tournament
Team W L Pct. R RA
A100.00000
B100.00000
A200.00000
B200.00000
TBD
 A2 B1 Surprise Stadium, Surprise
TBD
 B2 A1 Surprise Stadium, Surprise
TBD
 A2 B2 Surprise Stadium, Surprise
TBD
 A1 B1 Surprise Stadium, Surprise

Final Qualifying Tournament

The Final Qualifying Tournament will take place in Taichung and Douliu, Taiwan, with the winner earning the final qualification spot for the 2020 Olympics. Six teams will take part: the runner-up from the Africa/Europe Qualifying Event, the runner-up and third-placed teams from the Americas Qualifying Event, the top two finishers from the 2019 Asian Baseball Championship that have not already qualified for the Olympics, and Australia, which was chosen to represent the Oceania region.[4][11][12]

The tournament was originally scheduled to be held from April 1–5, 2020, but was later initially postponed to June 17–21 in order to protect the health & safety of players and spectators against the spread of the coronavirus.[13] Following the decision to postpone the 2020 Olympic Games to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the WBSC announced the tournament was again postponed with the new dates to be announced sometime in the near future.[14]

2019 Africa/Europe Qualifying Event

2019 Asian Baseball Championship
Main article: 2019 Asian Baseball Championship

Oceania representative

2020 Americas Qualifying Event

References
  1. "Joint Statement from the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee". olympic.org (press release). International Olympic Committee. 24 March 2020. Archived from the original on 19 April 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  2. "(Premier12) S. Korea beats Mexico to qualify for 2020 Olympic baseball tournament | Yonhap News Agency". En.yna.co.kr. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
  3. "WBSC announces hosts, dates of Tokyo 2020 Olympic Baseball/Softball Qualifiers". 20 January 2019.
  4. "WBSC reveal groups and schedule for Baseball Americas Olympic Qualifier". 20 November 2019.
  5. "Americas Olympic Baseball qualifier postponed". World Baseball Softball Confederation. 12 March 2020.
  6. "Final Olympic Baseball Qualifier postponed to a date TBD". World Baseball Softball Confederation. 25 March 2020.
  7. "2019 Stats Leader Board", olympicbaseball.wbsc.org.
  8. "Europe/Africa Qualification Event Official Schedule" (PDF).
  9. "Baseball Europe/Africa Qualifier", wbsc.org.
  10. "Olympic baseball qualifying tournament in Surprise, Tempe postponed due to coronavirus". USA Today. March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  11. "Tokyo 2020: Two Baseball spots still up for grabs". WBSC. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  12. "Final Baseball Qualifier: Australia confirmed as Oceania representative". WBSC. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  13. "Final Olympic Baseball Qualifier postponed to June". WBSC. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  14. "Final Olympic Baseball Qualifier postponed to a date TBD". World Baseball Softball Confederation. 25 March 2020.
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