The first baseball game in Olympic history was an demonstration game between host country Australia and the United States on December 1, 1956. There were 114,000 people in attendance, making it the largest crowd ever to witness a baseball game. This large turnout was not due to international excitement to see our national pastime but was a result of the game being scheduled before that days track and field events.
The game was only six innings and no future stars or legends took part that day as the Australian team consisted of the country's top amateur players and the United States team was comprised of servicemen stationed in Asia as part of the military's Far East Command. The USA won the game 11 to 5 and more details on the game including rosters and the box score can be found here. The wonderful Ebbets Field Flannels has made some cool reproductions of the USA team's hat and jersey.
2 Comments
1/27/2017 11:12:35 pm
I am the Daughter of one of the US pitchers of the 1956 Demonstration game held in Melbourne ( Gareth E Methvin). He was the 5th pick for the Olympic demo game, at 20yo. I am looking to give my dad, Gareth, a copy of this game for his 61st Birthday. Can anyone help me get a copy of this? It would be such a treat to watch with him...Any photos or info on video please email me. I have looked everywhere and I am at a loss...Please help me locate
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