Baseball at the 1992 Summer Olympics

For the first time in Olympic history, baseball was on the Olympic Program as a full medal sport, although it had been a demonstration sport multiple times – 1912, 1936, 1956, 1964, 1984, and 1988, with the Finnish variant game of pesäpallo demonstrated in 1952. The 1992 games were played at the Estadio de Béisbol de Llobregat, or the Llobregat Baseball Stadium, in the town of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat; and at the Estadio de Béisbol de Viladecans, or the Viladecans Baseball Stadium, in the town of Viladecans. Both towns were neighboring suburbs of Barcelona.

The tournament consisted of eight teams who participated in a round-robin tournament, which advanced the top four teams to the semi-finals, where a single-elimination semi-final, final, and a bronze medal game determined the top four places. The eight teams were chosen as follows – Spain as the host nation; Cuba as the winner of the 1990 World Cup; Italy as the winner of the 1991 European Championship; the top two teams from the 1991 Pan American Games, with Puerto Rico and the United States qualifying (the USA had finished third but advanced because champion Cuba was already qualified); and the top two teams from the 1991 Asian Championships, with Japan and Chinese Taipei qualifying. Finally, the Dominican Republic, which had placed fourth at the 1991 Pan American Games, defeated the Netherlands, runner-up at the 1991 European Championships, in a play-off for the final spot.

Cuba had been the dominant nation in international baseball since about 1970, and they confirmed that status in Barcelona, winning all seven games in the round-robin and then defeating Chinese Taipei, 11-1, in the final game.