29/07/2020 1 Minute Read

Olympic Rewind Series: Watch USA, Spain open the Barcelona 1992 Baseball Tournament

The baseball part of the Olympic Rewind series will feature 11 past games in their entirety. We will run them in collaboration with the Olympic Channel on a daily basis through Saturday 8 August.

Today, Wednesday 29 July, marks the first episode of the Olympic Baseball Rewind Series, presented in collaboration with the Olympic Channel, to mark the original opening day of the baseball tournament at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games this year.

Baseball made its debut as an official medal sport at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. The eight participants competed against each other in group play. After the qualifying round, the top four finishers advanced to the semifinals.

Spain hosted USA on Day 1 that also saw Italy @ Chinese Taipei, Dominican Republic @ Cuba and Japan @ Puerto Rico.

USA, led by the University of Miami head coach Ron Fraser (1933-2013), had on their roster a 19-year old Nomar Garciaparra, a 20-year old Jason Varitek and a 21-year old Jason Giambi. They would all become legendary Major League Baseball (MLB) players. Pitcher Rick Helling (pictured above), at the time a 22-year old, would go on to become a 20-game winner for the Texas Rangers. He was on the roster of the 2003 World Series champions Florida Marlins.

Spain had finished third, behind Italy and the Netherlands, in the European Championship 1991. The roster had its star in pitcher and slugger Felix Cano. A 19-year old Xavier Civit, would go on to have a 145-game Minor League Baseball career for the Montreal Expos.

USA and Spain met at the Camp Municipal de Beisbol de Viladecans, a 4,000 seat facility founded in 1945 and renewed for the Games.

The Olympic Rewind Baseball series consists of 10 more games that will be made available on a daily basis through Saturday 8 August.

OLYMPIC Rewind-Baseball