Baseball

Sport Overview

Baseball at Los Angeles 2028 

Venue: Dodger Stadium

Competition Dates: July 13-19 (Days -1-5)

Events: 1 (1 men) 

The exact origins of baseball are unclear. Various games featuring a bat and a ball have been played since the 14th century. The official rules of baseball date back to 1845 and are credited to Alexander Cartwright, who one year later organized the first game in the United States. But that came eight years after the first game in North America was played in Beachville, Ontario.

At the Olympic Games, baseball and softball are considered one sport, with baseball being a men’s event and softball being a women’s event.

In a baseball game, while one team assumes nine defensive positions (three in the outfield, four around the infield bases, catcher, pitcher), the other team sends its own nine players to bat in a pre-determined lineup.

The objective for the batter is to hit the ball thrown by the pitcher and advance around three bases to home plate, scoring a run. When the defending team gets three of the batting team’s players out, the teams switch. The team with the most runs scored after nine innings of alternating batting and fielding is the winner. If the teams are tied at the end of regulation, as many extra innings as necessary are played until a winner is decided.

While the outfield measurements can vary from stadium to stadium, the dimensions of the infield diamond are standard with 90 feet between the bases and a distance of 60 feet 6 inches from the pitching rubber to home plate. 

Canada’s Olympic Baseball History (Pre-LA 2028)

Canada played in two official Olympic baseball tournaments, finishing fourth at Athens 2004 and sixth at Beijing 2008. Canada also participated at Los Angeles 1984 and Seoul 1988 where baseball was a demonstration sport. 

Canada has won four medals at the Pan American Games, highlighted by back-to-back gold medals at Guadalajara 2011 and Toronto 2015. Baseball has been part of the Pan Am Games since the first edition in 1951. 

Olympic Baseball History

Baseball was a demonstration sport at St. Louis 1904, Stockholm 1912, Berlin 1936, Melbourne 1956, Tokyo 1964, Los Angeles 1984 and Seoul 1988. At those last two Olympic Games, a full tournament was held, rather than just a single game exhibition. Baseball made its official Olympic debut at Barcelona 1992 and was featured in the next four Games before it was removed from the program.

The World Baseball Softball Confederation was established in April 2013 as a joint international governing body for both sports aiming to return to the Olympic program. Baseball made its return to the Olympic program at Tokyo 2020, the result of an initiative that gives organizing committees the chance to include sports which are of great cultural importance or popularity in the host nation. After an absence at Paris 2024, baseball was included again at LA 2028 as an OCOG-proposed sport.