Two spots in the Baseball at the 2004 Summer Olympics were available to baseball teams of the Pan American Baseball Confederation. To decide which teams would qualify, a tournament was held in 2003 in Panama, from 30 October to 10 November in the Estadio Nacional de Panamá and the Estadio Juan Demóstenes Arosemena in Panama City and the Estadio José Antonio Remón Cantera in Aguadulce. The tournament was won by Cuba, with Canada also qualifying for the Olympics.
Notably, the United States team did not qualify, after losing to Mexico in the quarterfinals. This elicited shock in the American media as the USA was the defending Olympic champions after winning the gold medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics.
Withdrawals
Although the tournament was originally scheduled to include 13 teams, four withdrew before their first game: Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Aruba and the Bahamas. As the Bahamas were a last-minute withdrawal, the tournament structure was left unbalanced, with one group larger than the other.
Preliminary round
Group A
Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | RF | RA | RD | PCT | GB | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Cuba | 3 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 8 | +8 | 1.000 | — | Advance to Final round |
2 | Canada | 3 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 14 | +4 | .667 | 1 | |
3 | Puerto Rico | 3 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 13 | −1 | .333 | 2 | |
4 | Mexico | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 18 | −11 | .000 | 3 |
31 October 2003 15:00 (UTC–5) |
Canada | 8 – 5 (F/11) | Puerto Rico | Estadio Nacional de Panamá, Panama City |
Boxscore |
1 November 2003 20:00 (UTC–5) |
Mexico | 1 – 5 | Puerto Rico | Estadio Nacional de Panamá, Panama City |
Boxscore |
2 November 2003 20:00 (UTC–5) |
Puerto Rico | 2 – 4 | Cuba | Estadio Nacional de Panamá, Panama City |
Boxscore |
3 November 2003 14:00 (UTC–5) |
Mexico | 4 – 5 (F/13) | Cuba | Estadio Juan Demóstenes Arosemena, Panama City |
Boxscore |
4 November 2003 20:00 (UTC–5) |
Canada | 8 – 2 | Mexico | Estadio Nacional de Panamá, Panama City |
Boxscore |
5 November 2003 15:00 (UTC–5) |
Cuba | 7 – 2 | Canada | Estadio Nacional de Panamá, Panama City |
Boxscore |
Group B
Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | RF | RA | RD | PCT | GB | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | United States | 3 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 0 | +20 | 1.000 | — | Advance to Final round |
2 | Panama (H) | 4 | 3 | 1 | 28 | 9 | +19 | .750 | 0.5 | |
3 | Colombia | 4 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 23 | −12 | .500 | 1.5 | |
4 | Brazil | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 16 | −8 | .333 | 2 | |
5 | Nicaragua | 4 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 27 | −19 | .000 | 3.5 |
(H) Hosts
30 October 2003 20:00 (UTC–5) |
Colombia | 0 – 6 | Panama | Estadio Nacional de Panamá, Panama City |
Boxscore |
31 October 2003 10:00 (UTC–5) |
United States | 7 – 0 | Nicaragua | Estadio Nacional de Panamá, Panama City |
Boxscore |
2 November 2003 11:00 (UTC–5) |
Brazil | 4 – 5 | Colombia | Estadio Juan Demóstenes Arosemena, Panama City |
Boxscore |
2 November 2003 15:00 (UTC–5) |
Panama | 11 – 5 | Nicaragua | Estadio José Antonio Remón Cantera, Aguadulce |
Boxscore |
3 November 2003 20:00 (UTC–5) |
Panama | 11 – 1 (F/7) | Brazil | Estadio Nacional de Panamá, Panama City |
Boxscore |
4 November 2003 10:00 (UTC–5) |
Colombia | 0 – 10 (F/7) | United States | Estadio Nacional de Panamá, Panama City |
Boxscore |
4 November 2003 14:00 (UTC–5) |
Nicaragua | 0 – 3 | Brazil | Estadio Juan Demóstenes Arosemena, Panama City |
Boxscore |
5 November 2003 10:00 (UTC–5) |
Nicaragua | 3 – 6 | Colombia | Estadio Juan Demóstenes Arosemena, Panama City |
Boxscore |
5 November 2003 20:00 (UTC–5) |
United States | 3 – 0 | Panama | Estadio Nacional de Panamá, Panama City |
Boxscore |
Note: The game between the United States and Brazil was delayed due to weather. Before it could be played it became irrelevant to the standings, and was therefore cancelled.
Final round
Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
A1 | Cuba | 5 | ||||||||||||
B4 | Brazil | 0 | ||||||||||||
A1 | Cuba | 10 | ||||||||||||
A3 | Puerto Rico | 0 | ||||||||||||
B2 | Panama | 3 | ||||||||||||
A3 | Puerto Rico | 5 | ||||||||||||
A1 | Cuba | 5 | ||||||||||||
A2 | Canada | 0 | ||||||||||||
B1 | United States | 1 | ||||||||||||
A4 | Mexico | 2 | ||||||||||||
A4 | Mexico | 1 | Third place | |||||||||||
A2 | Canada | 11 | ||||||||||||
A2 | Canada | 14 | A3 | Puerto Rico | 1 | |||||||||
B3 | Colombia | 6 | A4 | Mexico | 10 |
References
- "Torneo Panamericano de Calificación Olímpica". baseball.ch (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 5 October 2003. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
- Edwards, Eric (11 November 2003). "Cuba Wins Olympic Qualifier". Baseball America. Archived from the original on 8 October 2008. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
- Salmerón, José Luis (11 November 2003). "Cuba invencible: con boleto y corona". beisbolcubano.cu (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
- Lopresti, Mike (10 November 2003). "Olympics won't be the same without U.S. baseball team". USA Today. Archived from the original on 8 January 2009. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
- "Mexico upsets defending champions". ESPN.com. Associated Press. 7 November 2003. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
- "USA vs Brazil has not been rescheduled". ESPN.com. 1 November 2003. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
- "Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament Schedule". baseball.ch. Archived from the original on 12 December 2003. Retrieved 12 January 2025.