Baseball at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...

was a

demonstration sport A demonstration sport, or exhibition sport, is a sport which is played to promote it, rather than as part of standard medal competition. This occurs commonly during the Olympic Games but may also occur at other sporting events. Demonstration sport ...

at the

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. It would become an official sport 36 years later at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

. 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 The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, represented by a detachment from the United States Far East Command. Many

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams representing the six states of Australia. The Sheffield Shield is named after Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield, Lor ...

cricket players – who were quite successful at

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

as a winter sport – were unable to be selected on the basis that they were

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

players. Held at the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the Lis ...

, 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.

Game

The game was played on 1 December 1956 from 12:30p.m. at the

. Due to the field being set up between the

running track An all-weather running track is a rubberized, artificial running surface for track and field athletics. It provides a consistent surface for competitors to test their athletic ability unencumbered by adverse weather conditions. Historically, v ...

right field A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In t ...

was only , so special ground rules were put in place, stating that a ball hit over the running track on the full will be declared a

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

, where one that bounces (or rolls) on or over the track shall be declared a

ground rule double A ground rule double is a baseball rule that awards two bases from the time of pitch to all baserunners including the batter (baseball), batter-runner, as a result of the ball leaving play after being hit fairly and leaving the field under a cond ...

. This rule was put in place to stop baseball cleats damaging the track for the events after the baseball. As the visiting team, the Americans batted first, scoring two runs off three hits. Australia did not strike back until the bottom of the second

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other tea ...

, when Chalky White of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

hit a solo home run off Vane Sutton. Sutton made up for his error in the top half on the third inning, with a grand slam to send the score out to a commanding 6–1. The Americans again put the pressure on Australia in the fifth inning as two errors led to another two runs to the US, putting them in a comfortable position. The game was eventually called at 2:40p.m., after six completed innings and a final score of 11–5, with the Americans batting first. Dick Griesser

Very few fans were present at the start of the game, but thousands more had arrived by the sixth inning. This was due to the finals for the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track and field, track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap, totaling 1600 meters. It is traditionally the final event of ...

, and finish of the men's

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

. The stadium announcer claimed that it was the largest audience for a baseball game anywhere in the world up to that point. However, the actual number of spectators is unclear, largely because the baseball game was just one event at the Cricket Ground that day, and ticket sales were not counted separately for each event. The most reliable number, according to

National Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United St ...

, is 86,425, which was the official number of gate receipts collected that day. After the Olympics, the U.S. team would go on to play several exhibition games against local amateur teams in Australia, playing the

Claxton Shield The Claxton Shield was the name of the premier baseball competition in Australia held between state-based teams, as well as the name of the trophy awarded to the champion team. From the summer of 1989–90 until 2001–02, and again since 2010� ...

squads of

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Victoria, and

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Game score

Venue

Rosters

Manager: Col. Leonard Weissinger,

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

Coach: SSgt. Walter Koziatek, USAF * 2nd Lt Ken Cochran ( C) ** PFC Ken Lowe ( C) * 1st Lt W. Bruce Holt, ( 1B) ** Lt Floyd Lasser ( 1B) * PFC Alvin Pfeffer ( 2B) * Pvt George Zucca ( SS) * 2nd Lt John Riley ( 3B) * 2nd Lt Ben Dolson (

UTIL In economics, utility is a measure of a certain person's satisfaction from a certain state of the world. Over time, the term has been used with at least two meanings. * In a normative context, utility refers to a goal or objective that we wish ...

) * SNA Tom Black, ( LF) * A2C Jesse Finch ( CF) * PFC Richard Griesser ( RF) * TSgt Vane Sutton ( SP) * CPL Joe Belak ( RP) * 1st Lt John Clement ( RP) * 1st Lt Anthony Denicole ( P - DNP) * SN Joseph Poglajen ( P - DNP) * A2C Garethe Methvin ( P - DNP) * PFC Rudy Martinez ( P - DNP)

Manager: Reg Darling * Robert Teasdale ( C) ** Barry Wappett ( C) * Colin Payne ( 1B) * Ken Smith ( 2B) * Max Puckett ( 3B) * Neil Turl ( SS) * Norman Tyshing ( LF) * Ken Morrison ( CF) * Norman White ( RF) * Eddie Moule ( SP) * Peter Box ( RP) * Max Lord ( RP) * Ross Straw ( P) * Peter McDade * John Langley * Neville Pratt * Trevor Cooke The Australian team included two future members of the Baseball Australia Hall of Fame, Ross Straw (inducted 2005) and Norman White (inducted 2011). American outfielder Dick Greisser was a future Collegiate All-American, and would go on to be inducted into the University of Arizona Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.

Sources

Official Report
XVI Olympiad Melbourne 1956.

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baseball at the 1956 Summer Olympics Events at the 1956 Summer Olympics

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

1956 in baseball

Olympic demonstration sports