1986 Amateur World Series

The 1986 Amateur World Series was the 29th and last Amateur World Series before the event was renamed the Baseball World Cup. It was held from July 19 through August 2 in Haarlem and Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The Netherlands became the second European country to host the event as Italy had done so once before.

Team Summaries[edit]

Belgium finished last at 1-10 in their second (and most recent as of 2007) Amateur World Series/Baseball World Cup. They scored the fewest (21) and allowed the most runs (145, 35 more than the next team).
Colombia was 10th at 3-8. They allowed 110 runs, second to Belgium, and scored 34, second-worst after Belgium. Oddly, they finished ahead of the Netherlands Antilles, who both scored more and allowed fewer.
Cuba outscored opponents 122-24 in going 10-1 with a loss to Taiwan their sole blemish. Among the top performers were Luis Casanova (.409, a tourney-high 19 RBI and 6 HR), Antonio Pacheco (.457), Omar Linares (.457), Víctor Mesa (.409), Jorge Luis Valdés (1-0, 0.00), 19-year-old Pablo Abreu (3-1, 1.55) and Rene Arocha (2-0, 2.13).
Italy tied for 5th at 6-5. They were third with 87 runs but allowed 72. Giuseppe Carelli led the event with a .478 average and tied for the lead with 19 RBI, while Roberto Bianchi (.414, 5 HR) led with 18 runs. Claudio Taglienti (2-0, 1.32) was their best pitcher.
Japan tied for 5th at 6-5. They were the opposite of Italy, showing okay offense (63 runs) but plenty of pitching - their 32 runs allowed were the third-fewest. Takashi Inomata (2-0, 1.96) allowed 8 hits but 12 walks in 18 innings, striking out 20. A M. Fujoshi led the event with 3 triples. Yukihiro Nishizaki was 2-1 with a 1.73 ERA.
Netherlands Antilles finished 11th at 2-9, ahead of only Belgium. They scored 37 runs and allowed 90 despite some home-field edge.
Netherlands had more direct home field advantage and tied for 7th at 5-6, being outscored 67-49. They presumably would have fared even better had they joined with the Netherlands Antilles.
Puerto Rico tied for 7th at 5-6, outscoring opponents 56-45. Roberto Santana (.369) led the Series with 6 stolen bases. Eddie Rodriguez (1.28) had two saves.
South Korea won its second Silver Medal ever with a 8-3 record. They were second to Cuba in offense (95 runs) while allowing 50. Chung-il Ryu hit .395 with 8 doubles, 11 runs and 5 steals, leading in doubles. Ki-bum Kim (1-0, 1.20) and Dong-hee Park (3-0, 2.16, 27 K in 25 IP) led the staff.
Chinese Taipei won its first Bronze in an Amateur World Series (though they had won Silver in 1984), going 8-3 and the only team to beat Cuba. They scored 73 runs but allowed 31, second-fewest after Cuba. Shih-Hsin Wu (.382) had their best average. Ming-Shan Kang (2-1, 0.35) led the Series in ERA while Ping-Yang Huang (0-1, 2 Sv, 0.67) was second.
United States just missed a Medal, going 7-4 and outscoring their opponents 78-39. They were 4th in runs and 4th in fewest runs allowed. The top hitters were OF Todd Azar (.391, .696 SLG), SS Bill Narleski (.350, 15 RBI) and future major league OFer Steve Finley (.346, .592 SLG, 12 RBI). Mike Goff (2-0, 0.78) and future major leaguer Jeff Plympton (2-1, 1.06) led the staff. Dave Hollins, Mike Remlinger, John Vander Wal, John Orton, Terry Shumpert, Bob Zupcic, Gil Heredia, and Scott Servais all went on to productive big-league careers.
Venezuela tied for 7th at 5-6. They scored 63 runs but allowed 73, the fourth-highest total. OF Jesus Cartagena batted .377 to lead their club.