Olympic Baseball Rewind: Watch China, Korea in extra-inning thriller at Beijing 2008 Games

Olympic Baseball Rewind: Watch China, Korea in extra-inning thriller at Beijing 2008 Games
06/08/2020
Korea featured stars from KBO. China was managed by Major League Baseball (MLB) veteran Jim Lefebvre. The roster was almost entirely made of players in the China Baseball League, formed in 2002.

Baseball made its last Olympic appearance at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad Beijing 2008. The final three episodes of the Olympic Baseball Rewind series, presented in collaboration with the Olympic Channel, will take us back to those days.

The eight squads that competed in Beijing were the hosts China; the top two finishers of the Americas Qualifier United States and Cuba; European Champions Netherlands; Japan as the winner of the Asian Baseball Championship; and the top three finishers of the Final Qualifier, played in Taichung, Taiwan, in early 2008: Canada, Korea and Chinese Taipei.

The ninth episode of the Olympic Baseball Rewind series takes us back to 2008's Day 2 of round-robin play, which featured a game between absolute beginners China and powerhouse Korea. China had been outscored by Canada, 10-0, on Day 1. Korea had defeated the USA, 8-7, in the debut game with a dramatic comeback in the bottom of the ninth.

China was managed by Major League Baseball (MLB) veteran Jim Lefebvre. The roster was almost entirely made of players in the China Baseball League, formed in 2002. Three of the players (pitcher Kai Liu, catcher Wei Wang and infielder Yu Bing Ya) were under contract with MLB organizations.

Korea was managed by Kyung Moon Kim, the skipper who recently led them to second place in WBSC Premier12 2019. The roster was loaded with Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) top players and had its brightest star in Seung Yeop Lee, the famed Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Yomiuri Giants Lion King.

On 14 August 2008, Seung Jun Song, a former Minor League Baseball (MiLB) pitcher for the Boston Red Sox took the mound for Korea at the Wukesong Baseball Field. Home plate umpire Kazuhiko Kuwabara (Japan) called 'play ball'. In the bottom half of the frame, China handed the ball to veteran Chenhao Li.

OLYMPIC Rewind-Baseball

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