The game was played on 1 December 1956 from 12:30p.m. at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.[2] Due to the field being set up between the running tracks, right field was only 225 feet (69 m), 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, where one that bounces (or rolls) on or over the track shall be declared a ground rule double. 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, when Chalky White of South Australia 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.[3]
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. Very few fans were present at the start of the game, but over 100,000 had arrived by the sixth inning.[4][2] This was due to the finals for the 1500 metres, 4 × 400 metres relay, and finish of the men's marathon.
^Harris, J.O. History of Queensland Baseball pp.95
October 29, 2023
baseball, 1956, summer, olympics, demonstration, sport, 1956, summer, olympics, melbourne, though, nominally, foreign, demonstration, sport, that, olympiad, australia, long, history, baseball, dating, back, least, 1889, australians, were, first, field, full, t. 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 were the first to field a full 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 Baseball at the1956 Summer OlympicsDemonstration sportGames played1DateDecember 1 1956VenueMelbourne Cricket GroundCityMelbourne AustraliaBaseball at the Summer Olympics 19521964 Contents 1 Game 2 Game score 3 Rosters 3 1 United States 3 2 Australia 4 See also 5 Sources 6 ReferencesGame editThe game was played on 1 December 1956 from 12 30 p m at the Melbourne Cricket Ground 2 Due to the field being set up between the running tracks right field was only 225 feet 69 m 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 where one that bounces or rolls on or over the track shall be declared a ground rule double 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 when Chalky White of South Australia 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 3 The game was eventually called at 2 40 p m after six completed innings and a final score of 11 5 with the Americans batting first Very few fans were present at the start of the game but over 100 000 had arrived by the sixth inning 4 2 This was due to the finals for the 1500 metres 4 400 metres relay and finish of the men s marathon Game score editTeam 1 2 3 4 5 6 TotalUnited States 2 0 4 0 2 3 11Australia 0 1 0 0 1 3 5Umpire Gunnah Mollah 5 Rosters editUnited States edit Leonard Weissinger Manager Walter Koziatek Vane Sutton Angelo Barro Anthony Denicole Joe Belak Joseph Poglajen Garethe Methvin Rudolph Martinez John Clement Ken Cochran Ken Lowe Floyd Lasser Alvin Pfeffer John Riley George Zucca Tom Black Jesse Finch Richard Griesser Bruce Holt Ben Dolson Australia edit Reg Darling Manager Eddie Moule Peter Box Robert Teasdale Max Lord Barry Wappett Colin Payne Ken Smith Max Puckett Neil Turl Norman Tyshing Ken Morrison Norman White Peter McDade John Langley Neville Pratt Ross Straw Trevor CookeSee also edit1956 Claxton Shield Australian football at the 1956 Summer OlympicsSources editCava Pete Summer 1992 Baseball in the Olympics Citius Altius Fortius 1 1 7 15 Official Report XVI Olympiad Melbourne 1956 References edit Harris J O History of Queensland Baseball pp 96 a b Olympic Games Melbourne Cricket Ground Archived from the original on 25 March 2014 Retrieved 22 March 2014 Clark Joe 2003 A History of Australian Baseball Time and Game University of Nebraska Press ISBN 0 8032 6440 2 Cava Harris J O History of Queensland Baseball pp 95 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Baseball at the 1956 Summer Olympics amp oldid 1131832075, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
