United States national baseball team

United States World Baseball Classic
Tournament Results
United States 2006	8th
Canada / United States 2009	4th
United States 2013	6th
United States 2017	1st
Medal Tally
Gold	1
Silver	-
Bronze	-

In 2005, Major League Baseball announced the formation of the World Baseball Classic, a 16-nation international competition to be held in March of 2006 for the first time. The tournament was the first of its kind to have the national teams of IBAF's member federations feature professional players from the major leagues around the world, including Major League Baseball.

On January 17, 2006, the United States announced its provisional 60-man roster (52 players in all), and whittled down the squad mixed with youth and experience to 30 players on February 14, 2006. Sixteen of the 30 Major League clubs were represented on the 2006 squad, including multiple representatives from the New York Yankees (4), Houston Astros (3), Washington Nationals (3), Atlanta Braves (2), Boston Red Sox (2), Chicago Cubs (2), Colorado Rockies (2), Houston Astros (2), and Texas Rangers (2). The fact that four Yankees were selected for the squad irked Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who was opposed to the WBC being held in the middle of spring training to the point where at his team's complex in Tampa, Florida, he posted a sign apologizing for their absence and mocking the tournament in the process. Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig promptly ordered him to take down the sign the next day.

Manager Buck Martinez brought his 17 years of professional experience as a major league catcher, and 1+ seasons as Toronto Blue Jays' (2001–2002) skipper to the U.S. team. Former big league managers Davey Johnson and Marcel Lachemann served as hitting coach and pitching coach, respectively.

Along with fellow North American rivals Canada and Mexico, the U.S. hosted the South Africa. Round One games were held at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona and Scottsdale Stadium in Scottsdale, Arizona. The top two teams advanced to Angel Stadium of Anaheim in Anaheim, California. Despite a surprising loss to Canada, the United States advanced to the second round via tiebreaker. However, second-round losses to South Korea and Mexico allowed Japan to advance over the Americans via tiebreak.

2006 WBC Results

7 March 1st Round, Pool B – Game 1	Mexico	0–2	United States	United States Chase Field Attendance: 32,727
		Boxscore

8 March 1st Round, Pool D – Game 3	Canada	8–6	United States	United States Chase Field Attendance: 16,993
		Boxscore

10 March 1st Round, Pool D – Game 6	United States	17–0 (F/5)	South Africa	United States Scottsdale Stadium Attendance: 11,975
		Boxscore

12 March 2nd Round, Pool 1 – Game 1	Japan	3–4	United States	United States Angel Stadium of Anaheim Attendance: 32,896
		Boxscore

13 March 2nd Round, Pool 2 – Game 3	United States	3–7	South Korea	United States Angel Stadium of Anaheim Attendance: 21,288
		Boxscore

16 March 2nd Round, Pool 2 – Game 5	United States	1–2	Mexico	United States Angel Stadium of Anaheim Attendance: 38,284
		Boxscore

The United States competed in Pool C of the 2009 World Baseball Classic along with Italy, Venezuela, and host Canada. The U.S. won the pool opener against Canada by a score of 6-, and secured advancement into Round 2 by defeating Venezuela in a 15–6 slugfest. Venezuela, however, came back to defeat the U.S. in the championship game of Pool C, 5–3.

On March 14, in their first match of round 2 against Puerto Rico, in Miami, Florida's Dolphin Stadium, the United States was mercy ruled for the first time in international competition, losing 11–1 in seven innings. Adam Dunn and Captain Derek Jeter were among the ones to voice their distaste with the severe beating. Manager Davey Johnson even stated "I should have stayed there", referencing a wedding he was at earlier in the day.

The United States came on strong the following day against the surprising Netherlands (who had already eliminated a tournament super power: The Dominican Republic), jumping out to a 6–0 lead in the fourth inning, and winning 9–3. With Puerto Rico losing to Venezuela 2–0 the following day, the U.S. would face Puerto Rico once again in the qualifying round. The loser would be eliminated from the tournament. With Puerto Rico leading 5–3 in the 9th inning, singles by Shane Victorino and Brian Roberts and walks by Jimmy Rollins and Kevin Youkilis cut the lead to 5–4 for New York Mets third baseman David Wright, who looped a barely-fair single into right that brought in Roberts and Rollins to win the game, 6–5, advancing to the semifinals while eliminating Puerto Rico. The United States would go on to lose to Japan 9–4 in the second semifinal.

2009 WBC Results

7 March 1st Round, Pool C – Game 1	Canada	5–6	United States	Canada Rogers Centre Attendance: 42,314
		Boxscore

8 March 1st Round, Pool D – Game 3	United States	15–6	Venezuela	Canada Rogers Centre Attendance: 13,094
		Boxscore

11 March 1st Round, Pool D – Game 6	Venezuela	5–3	United States	Canada Rogers Centre Attendance: 12,358
		Boxscore

14 March 2nd Round, Pool 1 – Game 2	United States	1–11 (F/7)	Puerto Rico	United States Dolphin Stadium Attendance: 30,595
		Boxscore

15 March 2nd Round, Pool 2 – Game 3	Netherlands	3–9	United States	United States Dolphin Stadium Attendance: 11,059
		Boxscore

17 March 2nd Round, Pool 2 – Game 5	Puerto Rico	5–6	United States	United States Dolphin Stadium Attendance: 13,224
		Boxscore

18 March 2nd Round, Pool 2 – Game 6	United States	6–10	Venezuela	United States Dolphin Stadium Attendance: 16,575
		Boxscore

22 March Semifinals	United States	4–9	Japan	United States Dodger Stadium Attendance: 43,630
		Boxscore

The United States team competed in Pool D of the 2013 World Baseball Classic along with Italy, Canada, and Mexico. The U.S. team lost to Mexico in the first round 5-2, but later won two games against Canada and Italy, securing their place for the second round, along with Italy, on Pool 2.

On March 12, they beat Puerto Rico 7-1, which then proceeded to face off against the Dominican Republic on March 14, losing 3-1 where they face off Puerto Rico once again the next day, as Puerto Rico beat the American team 4-3 (as revenge for being eliminated from the 2009 World Baseball Classic), thus eliminating them from the tournament.

2013 WBC Results

8 March 1st Round, Pool D – Game C	Mexico	5–2	United States	United States Chase Field Attendance: 44,256
		Boxscore

9 March 1st Round, Pool D – Game 5	Italy	2–6	United States	United States Chase Field Attendance: 19,303
		Boxscore

10 March 1st Round, Pool D – Game 6	United States	9–4	Canada	United States Chase Field Attendance: 22,425
		Boxscore

14 March 2nd Round, Pool 2 – Game 2	Puerto Rico	1–7	United States	United States Marlins Park Attendance: 32,872
		Boxscore

15 March 2nd Round, Pool 2 – Game 4	Dominican Republic	3–1	United States	United States Marlins Park Attendance: 34,366.
		Boxscore

16 March 2nd Round, Pool 2 – Game 5	Puerto Rico	4–3	United States	United States Marlins Park Attendance: 19,762
		Boxscore

The Americans won their first game over Colombia, 3-2, in 10 innings on a walk-off single by Adam Jones. After losing to the Dominican Republic after having a 5-run lead, the U.S. defeated Canada to reach the Second Round.

In the Second Round the Americans won the first game of the round defeating Venezuela 4-2. In the second game the U.S. was defeated by Puerto Rico 6-5 after giving up 4 runs in the 1st inning. The U.S. then defeated the Dominican Republic to advance to the Championship Round.

In the Championship Round Semifinals on March 21, the Americans defeated Japan 2-1 to advance to their first-ever appearance in the Final. In the Final on March 22, the U.S. once again faced Puerto Rico; the U.S. however, ended up winning 8-0 capturing the first ever World Baseball Classic Title for the United States. Following the conclusion of the tournament, Eric Hosmer, Christian Yelich, and Marcus Stroman were named to the 2017 All-World Baseball Classic team.[2]

2017 WBC Results

10 March 1st Round, Pool C – Game 2	Colombia	2–3	United States	United States Marlins Park Attendance: 22,580
		Boxscore

11 March 1st Round, Pool C – Game 4	United States	5–7	Dominican Republic	United States Marlins Park Attendance: 37,446
		Boxscore

12 March 1st Round, Pool C – Game 6	Canada	0–8	United States	United States Marlins Park Attendance: 22,303
		Boxscore

15 March 2nd Round, Pool F – Game 2	Venezuela	2–4	United States	United States Petco Park Attendance: 16,635
		Boxscore

17 March 2nd Round, Pool 2 – Game 4	United States	5–6	Puerto Rico	United States Petco Park Attendance: 34,463
		Boxscore

18 March 2nd Round, Pool 2 – Game 6	Dominican Republic	4–3	United States	United States Petco Park Attendance: 43,002
		Boxscore

21 March Semifinals	United States	4–3	Japan	United States Dodger Stadium Attendance: 33,462
		Boxscore

22 March Finals	United States	8–0	Puerto Rico	United States Dodger Stadium Attendance: 51,565
		Boxscore

Medal record
Olympic Games
	2000 Sydney	Team
	1996 Atlanta	Team
	2008 Beijing	Team

Although single exhibition games had been played in conjunction with five previous Olympics, the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles was the first to feature a tournament in the program, and also the first time that the sport was played in Olympics held in the United States. Eight teams competed in the tournament held at Dodger Stadium. Cuba, after winning the gold medal at the 1983 Pan American Games, was to participate, but did not as a result of the Soviet-led boycott. The U.S. national team finished second to Japan; however, no medals were given as baseball was a demonstration sport. Professional baseball players were introduced in 2000, though no active players from Major League Baseball have competed since then, and the Americans were forced to rely on minor leaguers. Cuba and some other nations used their strongest players, as they had no commitments with the MLB. The IOC cited the absence of the best players as the main reason for baseball being dropped from the Olympic program.[3]

Baseball was open only to male amateurs in 1992 and 1996. As a result, the Americans and other nations where professional baseball is developed relied on collegiate players, while Cubans used their most experienced veterans, who technically were considered amateurs as they nominally held other jobs, but in fact trained full-time. In 2000, pros were admitted, but the MLB refused to release its players in 2000, 2004, and 2008, and the situation changed only a little: the Cubans still used their best players, while the Americans started using minor leaguers.[4][3]

Summer Olympics record									Qualification
Year	Host	Round	Position	W	L	RS	RA
1912	Sweden	Exhibition only [lower-alpha 1]		1	0	13	3
1936	Germany	Exhibition only [lower-alpha 2]		0	1	5	6
1956	Australia	Exhibition only		1	0	11	5
1964	Japan	Exhibition only		1	0	6	2
1984	United States	Final	2nd [lower-alpha 3]	4	1	38	10		Host
1988	South Korea	Final	1st [lower-alpha 3]	4	1	36	18
1992	Spain	Bronze Match	4th	5	4	53	42
1996	United States	Bronze Match	3rd	7	2	93	41		Host
2000	Australia	Final	1st	8	1	49	16		1999 Pan American Games
2004	Greece	Did not qualify							Quarter-finalist, 2004 Americas Olympic Baseball Qualifying Tournament
2008	People's Republic of China	Bronze Match	3rd	6	3	50	36		2008 Americas Olympic Baseball Qualifying Tournament
2020	Japan	To be determined							To be determined
Total [lower-alpha 4]	4/5			26	10	245	135

The United States baseball team won its only gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. The team beat Cuba in the Gold Medal game by a score of 4-0.

The United States qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics by winning the American Qualifying Tournament. They won the Bronze medal at the Beijing games, finishing behind South Korea (Gold) and Cuba (Silver).

At the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting on July 8, 2005, baseball and softball were voted out of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, becoming the first sports voted out of the Olympics since polo was eliminated from the 1936 Summer Olympics.[5]

Team USA is being managed by Scott Brosius, and is trying to qualify for baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics. It failed to qualify at the 2019 WBSC Premier12 Tournament in November 2019.[6]

It will next try to qualify at the Americas Qualifying Event at a time to be determined.[7]

Team USA came in second in the 2015 WBSC Premier12 Tournament.

Team USA came in fourth in the 12-team 2019 WBSC Premier12 Tournament in November 2019. Two quota spots were allocated from the Tournament, of the spots for six baseball teams at the 2020 Olympic Games, with third-place Mexico as the top finisher from the Americas earning one spot and Team USA not earning a spot.[8] Team USA did not include players who were on their teams' 40-man MLB rosters, being made up of minor league players, including former First Round MLB draft picks Jo Adell, Tanner Houck, and Brent Rooker (2017 MLB draft), Alec Bohm and Xavier Edwards (2018 MLB draft), and Andrew Vaughn (2019 MLB draft). Other teams used their top-level players.[9][10]

The U.S. lost the inaugural Amateur World Series in 1938. The U.S. won its first Amateur World Series in 1973, and repeated a year later.

In 1988, the Amateur World Series became the International Baseball Federation's (IBAF) World Cup.

Since 1938, the U.S. has won 15 medals: four gold (1973, 1974, 2007, 2009), seven silver (1938, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1978, 1988, 2001), and four bronze (1939, 1940, 1982, 1984).

The U.S. was usually represented by college players in these tournaments, while Cuba used its best players.

Amateur World Series and Baseball World Cup record
Year	Host	Round	Position		W	L	RS	RA		Year	Host	Round	Position		W	L	RS	RA		Year	Host	Round	Position		W	L	RS	RA
1938	United Kingdom			2 of 2	1	4	14	20		1974	United States			1	9	1				1994	Nicaragua			8	4	4
1939	Cuba			3 of 3	0	6				1978	Italy			2	9	1				1998	Italy			8	4	3
1940	Cuba			3	9	3				1980	Japan			4	8	3				2001	Taiwan			2	7	3
1941	Cuba			6	2	6				1982	South Korea			3	6	3				2003	Cuba			5	7	2
1942	Cuba			5	1	11				1984	Cuba			3	8	4				2005	Netherlands			7	7	4
1969	Dominican Republic			2	9	1				1986	Netherlands			4	7	4				2007	Taiwan			1	9	1
1970	Colombia			2	10	3				1988	Italy			2	11	2				2009	Italy			1	14	1
1972	Nicaragua			2	13	2				1990	Canada			7	5	4				2011	Panama			4	7	4
1973	Nicaragua			1	10	0														Total	25/39	4   7   4			-	-	-	-

1938 Amateur World Series

13 August	Great Britain	3 – 0	United States	United Kingdom Wavertree Stadium, Liverpool

15 August	Great Britain	8 – 6	United States	United Kingdom Kingston upon Hull

17 August	Great Britain	0 – 5	United States	United Kingdom Spotland Stadium, Rochdale

19 August	Great Britain	4 – 0	United States	United Kingdom The Shay, Halifax

20 August	Great Britain	5 – 3	United States	United Kingdom Leeds

The U.S. was in group A of the 2007 IBAF World Cup, along with Republic of China, Japan, Mexico, Panama, Italy, Spain and South Africa. The U.S. went 6–1 to win their group, with their only loss coming on November 9, 2007 against Italy. It was the U.S.'s first loss to Italy in 21 years and the first time it ever lost to Italy with professional players, as the team consisted of minor league prospects.

This one loss, however, would be their only. The U.S. went on to beat Korea, Netherlands, and Cuba to capture the gold.

In Round 1 of the 2009 Baseball World Cup, the U.S. (2–1) finished second in Group E and advanced with first-place Venezuela (3–0). In Round 2, the U.S. was joined by the nine other first- and second-place teams from Round 1, four wild-card teams, and the two principal host teams (Italy and the Netherlands). The 16 teams were divided into Groups F and G. The U.S. (7–0) defeated each of the other seven teams in Group G. In Round 3, the first four teams in Group F were renamed Group 1 and the first four teams in Group G were renamed Group 2. The U.S. finished first in Group 2 with a record of 7–0; Cuba finished first in Group 1, with a 5–2 record. In the Final Round, Group 1 and 2's fourth-place teams competed for overall seventh place; the two third-place teams competed for overall fifth place; and the two second-place teams competed for the bronze medal. In the gold-medal game, the U.S. defeated Cuba, 10–5.

Tournament awards were given to Justin Smoak (MVP) and Todd Redmond (best won/loss average (pitcher)). Smoak (first base) was also named to the tournament All-Star Team, along with Jon Weber (outfield) and Terry Tiffee (designated hitter).

The Intercontinental Cup is a tournament between the members of the IBAF. It was first held in 1973 in Italy, and was held every other year following until 1999. Since, there has been a competition in 2002 & 2006, both of which, the U.S. has chosen to sit out. The tournament has been dominated by Cuba, who has won ten gold & three silver in the 16 tournaments. Japan is second in medal ranking, with two gold, five silver & five bronze, and the U.S. is third, with two gold, four silver & two bronze. The United States use college players in this tournament, while Cuba sends its best players.

Future big leaguers have competed in the Intercontinental Cup for the U.S. including Joe Carter, Terry Francona, Mickey Morandini, John Olerud, and Robin Ventura.

The U.S. and Cuba have been archrivals at the Pan American Games ever since the event began in 1951. The U.S. has finished second behind Cuba eight of the 12 times they have brought home the gold. Likewise, when the U.S. won the gold medal at the 1967 Pan American Games, Cuba finished second. The U.S. roster is usually composed of promising college players, while Cuba is able to send its best players.

In total, the U.S. has won one gold medal, ten silver medals, and three bronze. The only games the U.S. failed to medal in were 1979 and 1995. For the 1995 games, the U.S. did not send their national team, but instead the St. John's University baseball team, who finished 0–4 against the international all-star teams.