Baseball at the 1964 Summer Olympics was a demonstration sport at the Tokyo games. It was the fifth time a baseball exhibition was held at the Olympics. The United States played two games against two different Samurai Japan lineups – one a collegiate team, the other made up of adult amateur players.
Game
The game was played on October 11, 1964, at Meiji Jingu Stadium in Tokyo.[1]
The U.S. team was made up of college baseball players—including eight future Major League Baseball players–and was coached by Rod Dedeaux, the longtime head baseball coach at the University of Southern California (USC).[2][3] Dedeaux brought an impressive pedigree to the U.S. side; he had already won four College World Series titles with the Trojans, most recently in 1963. Future major league players on the U.S. team were pitchers Alan Closter, Dick Joyce, and Chuck Dobson; catchers Jim Hibbs and Ken Suarez; outfielder Shaun Fitzmaurice; first baseman Mike Epstein; and second baseman Gary Sutherland.[4] Fitzmaurice hit a home run on the first pitch of the game.[4] Most of the other players on the roster went on to play baseball professionally in the minor leagues.
The Japanese collegiate team also had several future Nippon Professional Baseball players, including Tokuji Nagaike, a two-time Pacific League MVP with the Hankyu Braves, and Shozo Doi, a four-time NPB All-Star with the Yomiuri Giants.
Prior to the game, players held their own "opening ceremony", as they had not been included in the official opening of the Olympiad, due to baseball's status as a demonstration sport.[5] Additionally, the U.S. baseball team was housed at a YMCA rather than in the Olympic Village.[3] Outside of the Olympics, contemporary news reports note that the U.S. baseball team played a series of exhibition games in Japan and South Korea.[6][7]
The first game, against the Japanese collegiate team, was a 2-2 draw after nine innings,[8] while the second game, against the Japanese adult amateurs, was won by the American team, 3-0.[9] Approximately 50,000 fans watched the games.[4]
United States
Japan
