Demonstration sport | |
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Tournament details | |
Country | Australia |
City | Melbourne |
Venue(s) | Melbourne Cricket Ground |
Dates | December 1, 1956 |
Teams | 2 |
Final positions | |
Champions | ![]() |
Runner-up | ![]() |
Tournament statistics | |
Games played | 1 |
Baseball at the 1956 Summer Olympics was a demonstration sport at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. Though it was nominally the "foreign" demonstration sport of that Olympiad, Australia had a long history of baseball dating back to at least 1889. The Australians fielded the senior national team in an exhibition match against the United States, represented by a detachment from the United States Far East Command. Many Sheffield Shield cricket players – who were quite successful at baseball as a winter sport – were unable to be selected on the basis that they were professional players.[1]
Held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the game was notable for its high turnout; at the time, it was thought to be the largest audience for a baseball game in history, though the exact number of spectators remains in question.[2][3]
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