Baseball at the 1912 Summer Olympics
Baseball had its first appearance at the 1912 Summer Olympics as a demonstration sport. It became an official sport 70 years later at the 1992 Summer Olympics. A game was played between the United States, the nation where the game was developed, and Sweden, the host nation. The game was held on Monday, 15 July 1912 and started at 10a.m. on the Ostermalm Athletic Grounds in Stockholm; the U.S team won after six innings.
A second exhibition match was played between two American teams the next day, which notably included multi-sport Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe, a Major League Baseball player and future American football Hall of Famer.
Game result
The Americans were represented by various members of the American Olympic track and field athletics delegation. The Swedish team was the Västerås baseball club, which had been formed by Swedish industrialist J. Sigfrid Edström in 1910 as the first baseball club in Sweden.Four of the Americans played for Sweden, as the Swedish pitchers and catchers were inexperienced. One area of concern was that the Swedes were unfamiliar with breaking balls; nevertheless, the Swedes were able to hold their own until the fifth inning, registering one extra-base hit. One Swede eventually relieved Adams and Nelson, the American pitchers.
Six innings were played, with the Americans not batting in the sixth and allowing the Swedes to have six outs in their half of the inning.
The game was umpired by George Wright, a retired American National League baseball player.
Since baseball was a demonstration sport, no official medals were awarded.