Olympic Rewind Series - Barcelona 1992: Baseball's first Gold Medal Game - CUB v TPE

Olympic Rewind Series - Barcelona 1992: Baseball's first Gold Medal Game - CUB v TPE
30/07/2020
Cuba beat the US, while Chinese Taipei defeated Japan in the semifinals for the right to compete for the historic first-ever gold.

The second episode of the Olympic Baseball Rewind Series, presented in collaboration with the Olympic Channel, takes us again to the Barcelona 1992 Games and to the first official baseball gold medal game.

Cuba dominated the opening round with seven wins. Japan, Chinese Taipei and the United States all finished with a 5-2 record, taking a comfortable lead on fifth place finisher Puerto Rico (2-5).

Cuba cruised to the gold medal game with a 6-1 win against the US. Chinese Taipei outhit Japan (9 hits to 5) to win the other semifinal by a score of 5-2.

Cuba was at the time the dominating international power. Manager Jorge Fuentes could field an impressive team that relied on a stellar infield with Antonio Pacheco at second, Omar Linares at third and German Mesa at shortstop. Victor Mesa and Luis Ulacia provided the speed and Orestes Kindelan added home run power. The pitching staff was highlighted by left-hander Omar Ajete (cover photo), a Cuba Serie Nacional 179-game winner, and right-hander Orlando El Duque Hernandez. The latter would go on to become a Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series winner.

Lai Fa Lee, who had been on Chinese Taipei coaching staff since the 1984 Olympics demonstration tournament and became the manager at the 1989 IBAF Intercontinental Cup, put together a team made of experienced players who were not on the rosters of the four clubs participating to the new Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). He also had a young star in right-handed pitcher Chien Fu Kuo Lee, who would go on to sign an 800,000 US$ deal for the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Hanshin Tigers.

The gold medal game of the Barcelona Olympics was played on 5 August 1992 at the Estadi La Feixa Llarga, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat.

OLYMPIC Rewind-Baseball

  • 29/7 Barcelona 1992 - Opening Round: USA v Spain
  • 30/7 Barcelona 1992 - Gold Medal Game: Cuba v Chinese Taipei
  • 31/7 Atlanta 1996 - Opening Round: Italy v Korea
  • 01/8 Atlanta 1996 - Gold Medal Game: Cuba v Japan
  • 02/8 Sydney 2000 - Opening Round: Netherlands v Cuba
  • 03/8 Sydney 2000 - Gold Medal Game: Cuba v USA
  • 04/8 Athens 2004 - Semi-Final: Australia v Japan
  • 05/8 Athens 2004 - Gold Medal Game: Cuba v Australia
  • 06/8 Beijing 2008 - Opening Round: Korea v China
  • 07/8 Beijing 2008 - Semi-Fina: Cuba v USA
  • 08/8 Beijing 2008 - Gold Medal Game: Korea v Cuba

The OLYMPIC Rewind-Softball series features past games from the 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008 Games.