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by Robert Laidlaw |  Greece, August 25, 2004 – 

This story is part of a series running on baseball.com.au from August 15-25 commemorating the 20-year anniversary of the 2004 Australian Olympic Baseball team. Each day will feature a recap and story as if the tournament is happening now. Scroll to bottom of this story for more links and recaps.

PROUD AUSTRALIA WINS SILVER

ATHENS – AUGUST 25: Silver medal winning team of Australia pose for a picture after receiving their medals during the medal ceremony for baseball on August 25, 2004 during the Athens 2004 Summer Olympic Games at the Baseball Centre in the Helliniko Olympic Complex in Athens, Greece. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

Although Australia lost the gold medal game 6-2 in the 2004 Olympic baseball tournament in Greece, a silver medal was still a worthy prize for all the hard work.

But the gold medal could have been the Aussies with a bit of luck, as several controversial decisions went against them in the game.

The first was in the bottom of the fourth with Australia trailing 2-0. Australia had two runners on-base and two out when Tom Brice smashed the ball over the centrefielder’s head.

Brice had a three ball, one strike count on him when he unloaded with the big hit, which seemed to hit the home run fence as Cuban centrefielder Carlos Tabares juggled the catch. Replays would suggest otherwise.

WATCH THE REPLAY: 2004 Olympic Gold Medal Game

Tabares held the glove up in the air triumphantly and the umpire signalled an out, which retired the side.

Australian manager Jon Deeble argued the call long and hard, which caused his ejection.

The second major controversy came at the top of the sixth, when Cuba had two runners on and no outs, when catcher Ariel Pestano appeared to have upset the home plate umpire and was thrown out of the game.

After a long delay and arguments from the Cubans, Pestano was allowed to continue his at bat, which visibly upset the Australians, as they then proceeded to concede four runs and fell 6-1 behind.

BOX SCORE AND PLAY-BY-PLAY: Click here for detailed stats and box score

Starting pitchers John Stephens for Australia and Cuban Norge Vera were in control early, with neither side able to score through the first three innings.

At the top of the fourth, Osmani Urrutia ran out an infield single and Frederich Cepeda smashed a long home run – 2-0 Cuba.

Then the bottom of the fourth, where it seemed the Aussies were back in it but for the third out call made against Brice.

David Nilsson had walked and, with two out, Andrew Utting singled. But both were left stranded after that controversial call on Brice’s hit.

In the bottom of the fifth, Paul Gonzalez led of with a home run – what could have been? Australia was back in the game, just one run behind at 2-1.

But then the top of the sixth happened, which in the end was the deciding rally that won Cuba the gold medal.

Urrutia and Cepeda both collected singles, before Pestano’s at bat, which, after he was reinstated, collected a single up the middle to load the bases. Eriel Sanchez then collected a two-run hit, and it saw Stephens relieved on the mound by Ryan Rowland-Smith.

After Danny Miranda put two runners in scoring position with his sacrifice bunt, and with two out, Eduardo Paret hit a two-run double and it was 6-1 Cuba.

There was only one more run scored in the game, when in the bottom of the eighth, Utting and Brice collected two out walks, and Brett Tamburrino had a RBI single, for Australia’s second run.

Cuban reliever Adiel Palma pitched 3.2 innings for the win, conceding four hits and three walks for five strikeouts. Aussie starter Stephens took the loss, giving up 10 hits and no walks in five frames, for three K2s.

“The feeling afterwards was weird,” said Aussie outfielder Tom Brice. “There was the excitement of the day before, beating Japan. Going in, if we lost we still get a silver medal. It’s strange, you go out to win but the result is still better than expected going into the Olympics.”

The silver medal still tastes sweet.

“We didn’t win but came away with something amazing. I don’t think there are any other cases like that, you’re not the champion team but an Olympic silver medal will follow me forever,” he says.

For David Nilsson it was one of the toughest moments as a competitor he had experienced.

On balance, Nilsson had a wonderful MLB career, was the first Aussie to make the All-Star game (1999), and had been the MVP of Australia’s thrilling gold medal win against Cuba in the 1999 Intercontinental Cup, as well as playing in the 2000 Olympics.

But always striving for his best, Nilsson was disappointed in not winning an Olympic gold medal.

“In the locker room after game I did not feel we won silver, I felt we lost an opportunity for gold and was really shattered,” Nilsson said.

“But at the same time, we were silver medallist at the Olympics, so 15 minutes afterwards, I kept it (disappointment) to myself, as I did not want to spoil the moment. I was just frustrated about some of the things that happened,” he adds. “Then when we went out to the medal ceremony, and standing with the team, with silver around my neck, it was a wonderful moment. But, while it was one of the best moments in sport, it was still one of the most frustrating and disappointing.”

ON THE TOM BRICE HIT TURNED CATCH…

That ‘fly’ ball by Brice in the bottom of the fourth inning was a huge turning point in the game, as it could have set up a different outcome.

“My approach with a three balls and one strike count was to sit on a good pitch I could drive, and I was ready,” Brice said. “Sure enough, it was a fast ball down the middle, a bit of a cookie. The ball wasn’t carrying that day and initially I did not feel I hit it as far as I did.”

It carried far and camera angles seem to show a clear hit.

“There was some back spin on the ball, so it travelled further. As I ran down the line, I saw the outfielder run into fence, but did not see the ball, so thought it went over, until I saw the centrefielder with his glove in the air and massive smile on his face.”

“I was none the wiser, and thought he made an amazing play. It went from thinking I had hit a three-run homer, to us being out of the innings. But when I returned to the dugout the chatter was that the ball had popped out and hit the fence before it was caught, so it should have been a hit.”

“(Jon) Deeble was insistent in arguing the point longer than he would normally, and as it turned out, he was 100 percent right.”

“After the fact, it’s one of those things, the ump called me out, it is what it is, move on. Obviously annoying but sport sometimes goes your way, sometimes not.”

“It was the biggest game I played in. That’s sport, that’s life, it cannot be changed, so no point in dwelling on it.”

Here’s what Dave Nilsson had to say…

“As for Tom’s (Brice) hit, we thought we saw it clearly hit the fence from the dugout, but maybe it didn’t? It looked clear from where we were. The stuff that happens, with officiating, things that happen. I bit my lip at the interview after the game.”

“And when one of their main hitters was thrown out for arguing, I was right there. It was shocking (to see him back in the game).”

And Jon Deeble…

Jon Deeble knew in his heart the Tom Brice ball had hit the fence and wasn’t going to just let sleeping dogs lie, and argued hard for his team but to no avail, earning an ejection.

Although it’s never nice to be thrown out of a big game, Deeble stood up for his charges and fought tooth and nail for what he believed in, which is part of the reason Australia did so well in the Olympic campaign.

“My take, I thought it hit the fence,” Deeble said. “As a ran out of the dugout on the third base side, a cameraman told be it clearly hit the fence and wasn’t a catch, so I was confident in arguing our point.”

“But the umpires that day did not speak much English, which was frustrating. I went to the chief umpire and told him that ‘you guys need to get together’ but he refused to do it. It was so disappointing, and a kick in the guts.”

“Playing Cuba, when they get behind they start arguing, so I thought we could have won that gold medal, if that call had gone our way.”

“As for winning a silver medal, it’s something we should celebrate, as it’s still a magnificent achievement.”

Paul Gonzalez on his Gold Medal game homer

Instead of being Australia’s first run of the gold medal game with his homer in the fifth inning, Paul Gonzalez could have been the go-ahead run and the game situation could have been changed in Australia’s favour.

“While my home run kept us in it, who knows what would have happened if Tom Brice’s hit had been ruled fair,” Gonzalez said.

“Cuba plays with emotional momentum, and we had almost knocked them out of their mental state – they use so much emotion.

“If Tom’s hit had been called safe, the game would have seen us ahead, rather than 2-0 behind – it was a complete game changer. We had the arms to keep us in the ballgame if we were ahead.”

Other stories:
– Semi Final Recap: Australia vs Japan
– Game 7 Recap: Australia vs Canada
– Game 6 Recap: Australia vs Netherlands
– Game 5 Recap: Australia vs Greece
– Game 4 Recap: Australia vs Japan
– Game 3 Recap: Australia vs Italy
– Game 2 Recap: Australia vs Chinese Taipei
– Game 1 Recap: Australia vs Cuba
– Preview: Australia looks to learn from success and failures past ahead of 2004 Olympics
– Roster: Meet the 2004 Australian Olympic Baseball team

by Robert Laidlaw |  Greece, August 24, 2004 – 

This story is part of a series running on baseball.com.au from August 15-25 commemorating the 20-year anniversary of the 2004 Australian Olympic Baseball team. Each day will feature a recap and story as if the tournament is happening now. Scroll to bottom of this story for more links and recaps.

AUSTRALIA TRIUMPH IN SEMI TO CLAIM FIRST OLYMPIC MEDAL

Above: Australia celebrates their win over Japan in the baseball semifinal game on August 24, 2004 during the Athens 2004 Summer Olympic Games at the Baseball Centre in the Helliniko Olympic Complex in Athens, Greece. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)

Story By Robert Laidlaw

In some eyes it was a shock. But, Australia covered itself in Olympic glory with a 1-0 semi-final victory over Japan in the 2004 Olympic baseball tournament in Greece.

The circumstances were exceptional and the formula was simple: win the game, play in the Gold Medal game, assure at least silver.

The problem? The Australians had to face arguably the greatest international pitcher we’ve ever seen – Daisuke Matsuzaka.

When his career was all said and done, the man they call “Dice-K” pitched 16 seasons in the Japanese Big Leagues and seven seasons in the MLB, winning a World Series ring with the Boston Red Sox.

He won two World Baseball Classic MVPs (2006 & 2009) and at the time his posting to the USA was the largest in history.

Japan may have had Matsuzaka, but Australia had Oxspring…and Jeff Williams.

The game was tense throughout, with pitching dominating on both ends.

The only run came at the top of the sixth inning, on a two-out RBI single by Brendan Kingman.

Chris Oxspring for Australia and Japan’s Daisuke Matsuzaka were duelling in what was the best pitching battle at the Olympics, with very few scoring opportunities allowed.

It was the second time Oxspring came up huge for his country this tournament, after pitching eight innings of one-hit, shutout ball in a group stage game vs Italy.

BOX SCORE AND PLAY-BY-PLAY: Click here for detailed stats and box score

Batting first, the Aussies went down in order, as Matsuzaka struck out the side. The Japanese were hitting the ball hard early but could not break through.

In the bottom of the first, Tom Brice took a diving catch in foul territory at rightfield for the second out. Yoshinobu Takahashi then collected the first hit of the game before the third out.

Kingman walked with one out at the top of the second, but then Matsuzaka picked up two more strikeouts.

With one out in the bottom of the second Yoshitomo Tani singled up the middle, but a 4-6-3 double play ended the threat.

The best early chance for Japan came in the bottom of the third, when lead-off man Kazuhiro Wada doubled and went to third base on Atsushi Fujimoto’s sacrifice bunt.

REPLAY: Re-watch the entire game here

Oxspring then struck out the next hitter, before Kingman made a diving tag at first base to relieve the tension.

At the top of the fifth Andrew Utting led off with a single, Australia’s first hit of the ballgame. But after Brice laid down a sacrifice bunt to put Utting at second, Matsuzaka struck out the next two batters.

Then the magnificent top of the sixth happened, where the Aussies battled hard and scored the only run of the game.

With one out Brett Roneberg singled to leftfield, with David Nilsson’s at bat crucial in setting up the run.

Nilsson battled hard with Matsuzaka and saw the count go full. He then fouled off three consecutive pitches, interspersed with two pick-offs, before collecting a walk and putting Roneberg on second base.

The next hitter was clean-up batter Glenn Williams, who hit a soft grounder towards second base, which, although putting Nilsson out, advanced Roneberg to third base.

Up stepped the dangerous big-hitting Kingman, who took ball one outside, before hitting a RBI single to rightfield to break the deadlock.

Known more for his towering home runs, Kingman’s single was his most important hit in his long and industrious career to that point.

The big question now was whether Australia could hold the lead to the end of the game.

In the bottom of the sixth, Shinya Miyamoto had a one-out single and reached second base on a balk but was left stranded.

Then in the bottom of the seventh frame the Japanese took advantage of two, two-out errors to have runners at the corners, which saw a pitching change, with Jeff Williams relieving Oxspring. A fly ball to third base ended the threat.

Australia had two hits at the top of the eighth, which saw Japan relieve Matsuzaka on the mound with Hitoki Iwase, who also saw a fly ball to third base finish the inning.

In the bottom of the eighth and ninth innings, Japan could not get a baserunner, although its final batter, Yoshitomo Tani hit the ball hard through Williams on the mound, but Gavin Fingleson backhanded the ball behind second base, his throw hit the dirt but Kingman gloved the ball to get the desperate runner.

Australia is through to the gold medal play-off, with at least a silver medal the reward for winning the semi-final.

Oxspring threw 6.2 innings for the win, conceding five hits and no walks for five strikeouts, while reliever Williams was credited with the save, after 2.1 shutout innings, for three K2s.

For Japan, Matsuzaka gave up five hits and three walks in 7.2 frames for 13 strikeouts in taking the loss.

Above: Australia’s pitcher Jeff Williams is lifted by teammate and first baseman Brendan Kingman after the final out in the 9th inning as Japan’s Yoshitomo Takahashi (R)lies on the ground after sliding into first in their Olympic Games semi-final 24 August 2004 in Athens. Australia won 1-0. AFP PHOTO / Timothy CLARY (Photo credit should read TIMOTHY CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)

WHAT OXSPRING SAID

“It is the greatest honour to put the uniform on and represent Australia, and an amazing experience,” successful pitcher Oxspring said. “Our scouting report looked at who we were going to face, and we tried to go with the game plan that we thought would bring success.”

“We had some experienced heads – Jeff Williams, Graeme Lloyd, Tony Harris, Phil Dale and Jon Deeble – who had been there before and provided titbits from their experiences.”

“There were some moments in the game that were key to our success. There were times on both sides where it could have swayed. Luckily we were able to capitalise and went up 1-0. Jeff Williams shut the door like always, which was excellent.”

“Obviously there was some apprehension before the game, as you know it was going to be tough, and that Japan is a force – we knew how much experience was on that team, and we were highly aware of the significance of the game.”

“As always there is anxiety and nerves, which is just natural. It’s about whether you can overcome them. Luckly I was able to.”

“To be quite honest I was probably more nervous and apprehensive after I came out. In a game you just focus on what you need to do and not on anything in the background. On the bench you look at all aspects, which is nerve-wracking and exciting at the same time.”

“With the last out I was ecstatic. We jumped around, screamed, celebrated, laughed, just the significance of what it meant for us, and the sport. We accomplished something.”

“Baseball is a unique sport. As a youngster the dream was MLB, not the Olympics, but at the same time, there is nothing better than representing your country at the sport you are devoted to.”

WHAT JON DEEBLE SAID

“It was just the belief our guys had that got us through,” said manager Jon Deeble.

“In 2000 we weren’t a team but we’ve came a long way since then and played like a team. It comes down to leadership, which includes me.”

“The players led, all of them. We called it executing perfectly, from me to the players and the staff. The score was not important, we wanted to execute, to get everything right.”

“Japan threw their best at us but we had the experience to hold out own – (Brendan) Kingman played Double A, Nilsson was a MLB All-Star, Willo (Glenn Williams) was a Big Leaguer, which was pivotal for us.”

Other scores:
– Semi Final: Cuba d Canada 8-5.

Gold medal game: Cuba v Australia.
Bronze medal game: Japan v Canada.

Other stories:
– Game 7 Recap: Australia vs Canada
– Game 6 Recap: Australia vs Netherlands 
– Game 5 Recap: Australia vs Greece
– Game 4 Recap: Australia vs Japan
– Game 3 Recap: Australia vs Italy
– Game 2 Recap: Australia vs Chinese Taipei
– Game 1 Recap: Australia vs Cuba
– Preview: Australia looks to learn from success and failures past ahead of 2004 Olympics
– Roster: Meet the 2004 Australian Olympic Baseball team

by Robert Laidlaw |  Greece, August 22, 2004 – 

This story is part of a series running on baseball.com.au from August 15-25 commemorating the 20-year anniversary of the 2004 Australian Olympic Baseball team. Each day will feature a recap and story as if the tournament is happening now. Scroll to bottom of this story for more links and recaps.

THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

In an unusual scenario, Australia went into the final round of the 2004 Olympic baseball tournament in Greece against Canada knowing it had qualified for the medal rounds in fourth, no matter the game’s result.

As it turned out Australia lost 11-0, with Canada blowing the margin out with six runs at the top of the ninth inning.

David Nilsson was rested and Adrian Burnside started his only game from the mound in the Olympics for Australia.

The first two innings scoreless but at the top of the third Canada got on board with three runs, and went 5-0 up in the fourth frame on Ryan Radmanovich’s two-run home run.

Through the next four digs it was scoreless, until the Canadians mounted a big six-run rally, which included Jeremy Ware’s three-run dinger at the top of the ninth.

Burnside pitched four innings for the loss, conceding six hits and three walks for three strikeouts. Phil Devey gave up two hits in six frames for the win for Canada.

The result sorted out the semi-finals, with Australia finishing fourth to play ladder-leaders Japan and Canada to meet Cuba, with the winners advancing to the gold medal game.

“You never want to lose a game but we were safe for the medal rounds and we knew we would be strong for the semi-final, which was our main focus,” manager Jon Deeble said.

“If we had won we would have been playing Cuba but because we lost we were faced with Japan, a team we had beaten earlier in the tournament, although they were probably going to go with their best pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka against us.”

BOX SCORE AND PLAY-BY-PLAY: Click here for detailed stats and box score

Australia will have a rest day before facing tournament favourite Japan in the semi-finals on August 24. If Australia win, they are guaranteed a medal.

Here are other scores from Day 7 of the Olympic Baseball tournament and the final standings:
– Chinese Taipei 5 def Netherlands 1
– Cuba 5 def Italy 0
– Japan 6 def Greece

Here are the Australian stat leaders after pool play

HITS

Glenn Williams – 11
Gavin Fingleson – 11
Brett Roneberg – 9
Dave Nilsson – 8
Rodney Van Buizen – 7
Brendan Kingman – 5
Tom Brice – 5
Craig Lewis – 4
Andrew Utting – 3
Paul Gonzalez – 2
Brett Tamburrino – 2
Trent Oeltjen – 1
Ben Wigmore – 1

RBI

Fingleson – 9
Van Buizen – 9
Roneberg – 7
Kingman – 5
Brice – 4
Utting – 4
Gonzalez – 4
Nilsson – 3
Williams – 3
Tamburrino – 1

HR

Roneberg – 3
Kingman – 1
Fingleson
Nilsson – 1
Gonzalez – 1
Van Buizen – 1

Semi Final Match-Ups: Japan #1 vs Australia #4, Cuba #2 vs Canada #3

Other stories:
– Game 6 Recap: Australia vs Netherlands 
– Game 5 Recap: Australia vs Greece
– Game 4 Recap: Australia vs Japan
– Game 3 Recap: Australia vs Italy
– Game 2 Recap: Australia vs Chinese Taipei
– Game 1 Recap: Australia vs Cuba
– Preview: Australia looks to learn from success and failures past ahead of 2004 Olympics
– Roster: Meet the 2004 Australian Olympic Baseball team

by Robert Laidlaw |  Greece, August 21, 2004 – 

This story is part of a series running on baseball.com.au from August 15-25 commemorating the 20-year anniversary of the 2004 Australian Olympic Baseball team. Each day will feature a recap and story as if the tournament is happening now. Scroll to bottom of this story for more links and recaps.

Australia will play for a medal at the 2004 Olympics after a resounding 22-2 victory over the Netherlands. The win guarantees Australia a spot in the top four and the semi-finals with one group stage game to play.

It’s also their fourth win in a row after starting the tournament 0-2.

With a spot in the medal rounds on the line, it didn’t take long for Team Australia to put the game to bed.