Australia national baseball team
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "about". Template:Use Australian English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Good article Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template other The Australian national baseball team represents Australia in international baseball tournaments and competitions. It is ranked as the top team in Oceania, and is the Oceanian Champion, having been awarded the title in 2007 when New Zealand withdrew from the Oceania Baseball Championship. After achieving a last (16th) place in the 2013 World Baseball Classic, its rank dropped to 13, which is the lowest rank Australia ever received. The highest rank it has achieved is 6th, and its current rank is 10th.[1]
The Australian team participated in the Summer Olympic Games in 1996, 2000, and 2004, but failed to qualify for 2008. The team has also participated in both of the other major international baseball tournaments recognised by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF): the Baseball World Cup and most recently the World Baseball Classic (WBC).[2]
The team is controlled by the Australian Baseball Federation, which is represented in the Baseball Confederation of Oceania (BCO). Prior to the BCO's formation, Australia competed in the Asian Baseball Championship under the Baseball Federation of Asia (BFA). Australia continues to have a relationship with the BFA; the 2011 resumption of the Asia Series includes the Australian Baseball League's champion team.[3] Team Australia came in 6th in the 12-team 2019 WBSC Premier12 Tournament, in November 2019.
Current roster
Template:Baseball tournament roster
Results and fixtures
The following is a list of professional baseball match results currently active in the latest version of the WBSC World Rankings, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.[4]
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2019
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2022
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2023
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2024
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World ranking
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". In January 2009 the International Baseball Federation created a ranking system so that the nations involved in international competition could be compared independently. Teams receive points based on the position they finish at the end of tournaments. The system takes into account results not only of the senior men's teams but also of junior teams. Weightings that emphasise the importance of certain tournaments are based on the number of teams competing, the number of continents represented (or eligible to be represented), and in the case of continental tournaments such as the Oceania Baseball Championship the relative strength of teams eligible. Only results within the previous four years are used, so points are added and removed over time.[2] Since the system began, the rankings have been adjusted after the completion of tournaments qualifying for the ranking process; the most recent was the 2009 Baseball World Cup.
When the rankings were first introduced, Australia was listed at 10th position.[5] The high-water mark was after the 2009 World Baseball Classic when they were in 9th.[6] The lowest position they have been in the ranking since its inception is 11th.[7][8][9] At the end of 2010, Australia had returned to their original position of 10th.[10]
International competition
In January 2009 the IBAF, in releasing the first edition of the world rankings, announced the classifications of various tournaments that contributed to the rankings themselves. In doing so, they identified that of the "world" tournaments, there were different levels with differing levels of weighting towards the ranks: major world championships, minor world championships, world qualifying tournaments and continental championships/qualifying tournaments.[2]
Major world championships
There are currently three recognised tournaments that are considered "major" by the IBAF: the World Baseball Classic, the Summer Olympic Games and the Baseball World Cup.[2] Of those, the Summer Olympics will be phased out of the rankings structure, as baseball will no longer be contested as an Olympic event.[11]
World Baseball Classic
Australia has competed in all four editions of the World Baseball Classic. All sixteen teams that played in the 2006 edition were invited to compete in the second in 2009.[12] By virtue of their third-place finish in their first-round pool, Australia qualified compete at the 2013 edition of the WBC.;[13] however, they were eliminated with an 0–3 record and finished in last place overall.
Australia, which has not progressed beyond the first round of competition, achieved its highest finish, 9th, in the 2017 tournament. Unusual for international competition in baseball, the squads selected in the World Baseball Classic tournaments featured players active in Major League Baseball in addition to Minor League, Nippon Professional Baseball and local players. Generally players in the Major Leagues are unavailable for international representative teams due to their contracts with the respective clubs.[14]
| <templatestyles src="Template:Color/styles.css" />World Baseball Classic record | Qualification record | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Template:Flagicon 2006 | Round 1 | 13th | 0 | 3 | 4 | 18 | No qualifiers held | |||||
| Template:Flagicon 2009 | Round 1 | 12th | 1 | 2 | 22 | 28 | ||||||
| Template:Flagicon 2013 | Round 1 | 16th | 0 | 3 | 2 | 14 | Automatically qualified | |||||
| Template:Flagicon 2017 | Round 1 | 9th | 1 | 2 | 15 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 27 | 7 | ||
| Template:Flagicon 2023 | Quarterfinals | 7th | 3 | 2 | 32 | 23 | Automatically qualified | |||||
| Template:Flagicon 2026 | To be determined | |||||||||||
| Total | Quarterfinals | 6/6 | 5 | 12 | 75 | 91 | 3 | 0 | 27 | 7 | ||
| <templatestyles src="Template:Color/styles.css" />Australian World Baseball Classic Record by opponent | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Tournaments met |
W-L record |
Largest victory | Largest defeat | Current streak | ||
| Score | Tournament | Score | Tournament | ||||
| File:Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China | 2 | 2–0 | 11–0 (F/8) | Japan 2017 | – | W2 | |
| File:Flag of Chinese Taipei for Olympic games.svg Chinese Taipei | 1 | 0–1 | – | 4–1 | Taiwan 2013 | L1 | |
| File:Flag of Cuba.svg Cuba | 3 | 0–3 | – | 4–3 | Japan 2017 & 2023 | L3 | |
| File:Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic | 1 | 1–0 | 8–3 | Japan 2023 | – | W1 | |
| File:Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg Dominican Republic | 1 | 0–1 | – | 6–4 | United States 2006 | L1 | |
| File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy | 1 | 0–1 | – | 10–0 (F/7) | United States 2006 | L1 | |
| File:Flag of Japan.svg Japan | 2 | 0–2 | – | 7–1 | Japan 2023 | L2 | |
| File:Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico | 1 | 1–1 | 17–7 (F/8) | Mexico 2009 | 16–1 (F/6) | Mexico 2009 | L1 |
| File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands | 1 | 0–1 | – | 4–1 | Taiwan 2013 | L1 | |
| File:Flag of South Korea.svg South Korea | 2 | 1–1 | 8–7 | Japan 2023 | 6–0 | Taiwan 2013 | W1 |
| File:Flag of Venezuela.svg Venezuela | 1 | 0–1 | – | 2–0 | United States 2006 | L1 | |
| Overall | 5 | 5–12 | Against File:Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg CHN | Against File:Flag of Mexico.svg MEX | L1 | ||
| 11–0 (F/8) | Japan 2017 | 16–1 (F/6) | Mexico 2009 | ||||
United States, 2006
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". Prior to formally starting their campaign, Australia played an exhibition game, which they lost, against a Boston Red Sox squad at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers, Florida.[15] This was also the site of their training camp.[16]
Australia competed in Pool D—along with Dominican Republic, Italy and Venezuela—in the first round at Cracker Jack Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The other three teams were able to field a large number of Major League players. Of players born outside the United States on 2006 Major League Opening Day rosters, the Dominican Republic (85) and Venezuela (43) had more than all other countries and between them accounted for more than 57% of foreign-born players in the leagues.[17] Italy is among the top nations in Europe and had access to Italian-American players under the eligibility rules for the tournament. Thus, Australia was considered the underdog in the pool.[18]
Having failed to win any of their round-robin pool games, they finished last in their pool, and were eliminated with Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Italy, Netherlands, Panama and South Africa. The eventual champions were Japan.[19]
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Mexico, 2009
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". Australia was based in Peoria, Arizona—the site of the Seattle Mariners spring training camp—for their preparation for the formal start of their 2009 campaign. Unlike 2006, in which they had one exhibition game, they competed against three different Major League clubs: the Seattle Mariners, the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago White Sox.[20] Their game against Seattle was Ken Griffey Jr.'s first game playing for the Mariners since October 1999,[21] and was also their first victory as part of a World Baseball Classic tour.
Australia was drawn in Pool B for the 2009 tournament, along with Cuba, Mexico and South Africa, competing at Foro Sol Stadium in Mexico City.[22] After beating Mexico in their opening game,[23] they lost their next two games to Cuba[24] and Mexico,[25] and were eliminated from the tournament.[26] The Australians set a WBC record against Mexico: 22 hits in a single game is more than any other team has achieved in either tournament.[27]
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Taiwan, 2013
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". In June 2011, it was announced that the field for the 2013 WBC would be expanded to include an additional 12 teams and that a qualifying round would be several months prior to the main tournament. The qualifying tournament involved the 12 newly invited teams, as well as the four lowest-placed teams from the 2009 tournament; all teams who did not win a game. The qualifying tournament broke the teams into four pools of four teams each, which competed in a six-game, modified double-elimination format, similar to the first round of the 2009 tournament, with the winners of the sixth game in each pool proceeding to the main tournament. Australia, having finished 12th after beating Mexico in their first game in 2009, automatically qualified for the main tournament.[13]
The main tournament combined elements of both previous WBC editions. The first round was split all teams into four pools, where the teams competed in a round-robin, as was the case in the 2006 tournament. The second round used the same modified double-elimination format as used in the 2009 tournament and the 2013 qualifying tournament. The final round was contested in the same manner as both previous tournaments: the top two teams from each group in the second round qualifying for the two semi-final matches, the winners of which played in the championship game.[28]
Australia was drawn into Pool B, which was held at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taiwan. In their opener, they fell to host and qualifiers Chinese Taipei, 4–1. They followed up with a 6–0 loss to South Korea before finishing with a 4–1 defeat to the Netherlands.
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Pool B Game 1
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| File:Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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