2008 Olympics (Qualification)

The qualifications for the 2008 Olympics took place over a year and a half.

Automatic Entry

As the host country, the Chinese national team automatically qualified. China had gone 3-4 in the 2005 Baseball World Cup before sitting out the 2007 Baseball World Cup. In the 2006 World Baseball Classic, they were 0-3. They had never played in the Olympics in baseball previously.

Americas Qualifying Tournament

Held from August 25, 2006 through September 5, 2006 in Havana, the Americas Qualifying Tournament was the qualifying event for the 2008 Olympics, 2007 Baseball World Cup and 2007 Pan American Games. Team USA and the Cuban national team qualified for the 2008 Olympics by claiming the top two spots; both had gone 6-1. The US had been led by Bobby Hill (.522/.667/.739), Kurt Suzuki (.455/.478/.909) and Mark Reynolds (.320/.393/.800) while Heath Phillips (2-0, 1.38) led the staff. Suzuki, Reynolds and Phillips all made their MLB debuts in 2007. Cuba was led by Frank Montieth (2-0, 0.00), Norberto Gonzalez (1-0, 0.00), Ariel Pestano (.364/.517/.682), Yulieski Gourriel (.314/.400/.743) and Alexander Mayeta (.333/.436/.727). Canada and Mexico had clinched a spot in the final qualifying tournament.

Cuba had won Gold in the 1992 Olympics, 1996 Olympics and 2004 Olympics while the US had won Gold in the 2000 Olympics.

European Championship

The Dutch national team went 8-0 to win the 2007 European Championship (held in Barcelona, Spain in September of 2007) to clinch a spot. Rob Cordemans, Kenny Berkenbosch, Shairon Martis, Yurendell de Caster, Sharnol Adriana, Roger Bernadina, Hainley Statia and Raily Legito had led the team to their fifth straight European Championship. The Dutch team had fared okay in prior Olympic appearances.

Two other teams - the Great Britain national team (led by tourney MVP Brant Ust) and the Spanish national team - advanced to the final qualifying tournament.

Asian Championship

The Japanese national team went 3-0 to take the 2007 Asian Championship (held in Taiwan in December of 2007) title, with fine performances by Shinnosuke Abe and others. The Taiwanese national team and South Korean national team advanced to the final qualifying tournament; Taiwan was led by slugger Chin-Feng Chen. Abe was named tournament MVP.

Final Qualifying Tournament

Competing in the 2008 Final Olympic Qualification Tournament were Canada, Mexico, Germany, Spain, the Australian national team, South Korea, Taiwan and South Africa (winners of the 2007 African Continental Qualifier). South Korea (6-1), Taiwan (5-2) and Canada (6-1) won the three spots, beating out Mexico and Australia most notably. Top performers for the three winners included Korea's Seung-yeop Lee (.478/.500/.870), Taiwan's Chien-Fu Yang (2-0, 0.64) and Canada's Jimmy Van Ostrand (.556/.619/.944). Australia's Luke Hughes (.522/.577/.652) was one of the best players for teams that didn't make the cut.