European Championship

From BR Bullpen

The European Baseball Championship is a biennial tournament between the national teams of Confederation of European Baseball (CEB) members. It was first held in 1954, a year after the founding of the CEB. The competition has been dominated by the Netherlands and Italy which have combined to win 34 of the 37 Championships and placing one-two 20 times.

It has also served as the European qualification tournament for the Olympics since the Games' first tournament in 1984. In that year, Italy earned a spot in the Olympics as the 1983 tournament's winner. The second place team (the Netherlands) advanced to a play-out versus the third place nation at the 1983 Pan American Games. After 1987, the Netherlands received the European slot in the games as the tournament's winner. The second place team (Italy) advanced to a play-out versus the third place nation at the 1987 Pan American Games.

For the 1992 Olympics, with Italy earning a spot in the games as the 1991 tournament's winner. The second place team (the Netherlands) advanced a play-out versus the third place nation at the 1991 Pan American Games. Spain, the third-place team, was the Olympic host nation and also played.

For both the 1996 and 2000 Olympics, the top two teams from the previous year's Championships advanced to the Olympics. In both years the Netherlands and Italy finished in first and second place respectively.

The 2003 tournament also served as a pre-qualification tournament for the 2004 Olympics, with the top seven teams earning spots in the European Olympic Qualification Tournament. Greece, which placed second, was exempted due to it have already qualified as the host nation of the Olympics. The event was a qualifier for the 2008 Olympics and was a pre-qualifier for the 2020 Olympics (the top five teams going to the 2019 Europe/Africa Olympic Qualifier).

European Championships[edit]

Year Host City Dates Teams Gold Silver Bronze
1954 Antwerp, Belgium June 26 - June 27 4 Flag of Italy Italy Flag of Spain Spain Flag of Belgium Belgium
1955 Barcelona, Spain July 5 - July 10 5 Flag of Spain Spain Flag of Belgium Belgium Flag of Germany Germany
1956 Rome, Italy July 10 - July 15 5 Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Belgium Belgium Flag of Italy Italy
1957 Mannheim, Germany July 7 - July 13 5 Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Germany Germany Flag of Italy Italy
1958 Amsterdam, Netherlands June 5 - June 12 6 Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Italy Italy Flag of Germany Germany
1960 Barcelona, Spain September 22 - September 25 4 Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Italy Italy Flag of Spain Spain
1962 Amsterdam, Netherlands July 21 - July 29 7 Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Italy Italy Flag of Spain Spain
1964 Milan, Italy August 29 - September 6 5 Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Italy Italy Flag of Spain Spain
1965 Madrid, Spain August 29 - September 5 5 Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Italy Italy Flag of Germany Germany
1967 Antwerp, Belgium August 6 - August 12 5 Flag of Belgium Belgium Flag of United Kingdom United Kingdom Flag of Germany Germany
1969 Wiesbaden, Germany July 27 - August 3 7 Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Italy Italy Flag of Spain Spain
1971 Parma and Bologna in Italy September 5 - September 12 9 Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Italy Italy Flag of Germany Germany
1973 Haarlem, Netherlands June 30 - July 8 6 Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Italy Italy Flag of Spain Spain
1975 Barcelona, Spain July 25 - August 3 6 Flag of Italy Italy Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Germany Germany
1977 Haarlem, Netherlands July 23 - July 31 6 Flag of Italy Italy Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Belgium Belgium
1979 Trieste, Italy August 11 - August 19 4 Flag of Italy Italy Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Belgium Belgium
1981 Haarlem, Netherlands July 11 - July 19 4 Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Italy Italy Flag of Sweden Sweden
1983 Florence, Italy July 28 - August 7 6 Flag of Italy Italy Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Belgium Belgium
1985 Haarlem, Netherlands July 6 - July 14 6 Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Italy Italy Flag of Belgium Belgium
1987 Barcelona, Spain July 17 - July 26 7 Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Italy Italy Flag of Spain Spain
1989 Paris, France September 6 - September 15 8 Flag of Italy Italy Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Spain Spain
1991 Rome, Italy August 2 - August 11 8 Flag of Italy Italy Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Spain Spain
1993 Stockholm, Sweden July 9 - July 18 8 Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Italy Italy Flag of Sweden Sweden
1995 Haarlem, Netherlands July 7 - July 16 10 Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Italy Italy Flag of Belgium Belgium
1997 Paris, France August 30 - September 6 12 Flag of Italy Italy Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Spain Spain
1999 Parma and Bologna in Italy July 23 - July 31 12 Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Italy Italy Flag of France France
2001 Bonn and Cologne in Germany July 28 - August 5 12 Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Russia Russia Flag of Italy Italy
2003 Amsterdam, Haarlem, and Rotterdam in the Netherlands July 23 - July 27 12 Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Greece Greece Flag of Spain Spain
2005 Blansko, Chocen, Olomouc, and Prague in the Czech Republic July 7 - July 17 12 Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Italy Italy Flag of Spain Spain
2007 Spain September 5 - September 16 12 Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of United Kingdom United Kingdom Flag of Spain Spain
2010 Stuttgart, Heidenheim and Tuebingen in Germany July 23-August 1 12 Flag of Italy Italy Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Germany Germany
2012 Haarlem, Rotterdam and Utrecht in Netherlands September 7-September 16 12 Flag of Italy Italy Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Spain Spain
2014 Regensburg in Germany and Ostrava, Brno, Blansko and Trebic in the Czech Republic September 12-September 21 12 Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Italy Italy Flag of Spain Spain
2016 Hoofddorp in Netherlands September 9-September 18 12 Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Spain Spain Flag of Italy Italy
2019 Bonn and Solingen in Germany September 7-September 15 12 Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Italy Italy Flag of Spain Spain
2021 Turin in Italy September 12-September 19 16 Flag of Netherlands Netherlands Flag of Israel Israel Flag of Italy Italy
2023 Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Trebic and Blansko in Czech Republic September 24-October 1 16 Flag of Spain Spain Flag of United Kingdom United Kingdom Flag of Netherlands Netherlands

Medaling Nations[edit]

Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
Flag of Belgium Belgium 1 2 6 9
Flag of Germany Germany 0 1 7 8
Flag of France France 0 0 1 1
Flag of Greece Greece 0 1 0 1
Flag of Israel Israel 0 1 0 1
Flag of Italy Italy 10 17 5 32
Flag of Netherlands Netherlands 24 9 1 34
Flag of Russia Russia 0 1 0 1
Flag of Spain Spain 2 2 15 19
Flag of Sweden Sweden 0 0 2 2
Flag of United Kingdom United Kingdom 0 3 0 3

The following countries have never won a Medal but have played in the event (best finish in parentheses): Flag of Czech Republic Czech Republic (5th, 2001, 2005, 2012, 2016, 2019, 2021 and 2023), Flag of Croatia Croatia (7th, 2021), Flag of Hungary Hungary (16th, 2023), Flag of Ukraine Ukraine (9th, 1995), Flag of Slovenia Slovenia (10th, 1995), Flag of San Marino San Marino (5th, 1971), Flag of Austria Austria (10th, 2019), Flag of Slovakia Slovakia (16th, 2021) and Flag of Switzerland Switzerland (12th, 2023). The Soviet Union's only appearance prior to breakup was 6th in 1991.