Baseball at the 1996 Summer Olympics
| Baseball at the Games of the XXVI Olympiad | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | |||||||||
| Dates | July 20 – August 2, 1996 | |||||||||
| Teams | 8 | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
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Baseball had its second appearance as an official medal sport at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States, with games played at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium. Eight nations competed, with the preliminary phase consisting of a single round-robin tournament. Playoffs were then held, with the four highest ranked teams advancing. For the semifinals, the first place team played the fourth place team and the second place team played the third place team. The winners of those semifinals competed against each other for the gold medal, with the loser getting the silver medal. The teams defeated in the semifinal played a match for the bronze medal.
Baseball was an event open only to amateurs for the second and last time. Meanwhile, Cuba, which went undefeated in the tournament, used its best players as they were amateurs in name only, with all necessary funding coming from the state.