The eighth episode of the Olympic Baseball Rewind series, presented in collaboration with the Olympic Channel, takes us to the fourth gold medal game in the history of Olympic baseball.
Australia reached the final with of the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad Athens 2004 with a dramatic 1-0 win against Japan in the semi-finals.
Cuba earned the right to their fourth consecutive final, coming from behind to defeat Canada 8-5 in their semi-final. Cuba was trailing 3-2 after seven against starter Shawn Hill (who had made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut for the Montreal Expos), but managed to score six in the bottom of the eighth against relievers Chris Begg and Chris Mears. Shortstop Eduardo Paret, third baseman Michel Enriquez, second baseman Yulieski Gurriel, left fielder Frederich Cepeda, catcher Ariel Pestano and designated hitter Eriel Sanchez all had multi-hit games for Cuba. Betancourt pitched 3.1 innings in relief and earned the win. Pedro Lazo and lefty Norberto Gonzalez pitched in the top of the ninth and Gonzalez earned the save.
2004 Gold Medal Match-Up
Veteran right-hander Norge Vera took the mound for Cuba at the Helleniko Complex on 25 August 2004. Home plate umpire Willie Rodriguez (Puerto Rico) called playball. Current WBSC Umpire Commission Chairman Gustavo Rodriguez was part of the crew at second base. In the bottom half of the frame Australia handed the ball to John Stephens, a right-hander who had already played at the Major League Baseball (MLB) level (2002 Baltimore Orioles) and at the time was a AAA starter for the Boston Red Sox.
OLYMPIC Rewind-Baseball
The OLYMPIC Rewind-Softball series features past games from the 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008 Games.
