| Demonstration sport | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Tournament details | |
| Country | Australia |
| City | Melbourne |
| Venue(s) | Melbourne Cricket Ground |
| Dates | December 1, 1956 |
| Teams | 2 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  United States |
| Runner-up |  Australia |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Games played | 1 |
Baseball at the 1956 Summer Olympics was a demonstration sport at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. It would become an official sport 36 years later at the 1992 Summer Olympics. 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, 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]
Held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, 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.[2][3]
- ^ Harris, J.O. History of Queensland Baseball pp.96
- ^ Jim Gates. "Clicking Turnstiles". National Baseball Hall of Fame. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
- ^ "U.S. 11-5 IN BASEBALL". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 December 1956.