Review: Baseball makes a hit in Greece

ATHENS, Aug 26 (Reuters) -- The team that did near the worst in Olympic baseball drew the most fans while the team among the most feared were not there.

Such was the Olympic baseball competition, where Cuba won the gold, the defending champions United States lost out on a spot in Athens after falling in a qualifying tournament and a rag-tag team of Greek-Americans won over the locals by wearing the uniform of host nation Greece.

There were few surprises in Cuba winning the gold in baseball. The island nation has taken three of the four gold medals in baseball since it was reinstated as an Olympic sport.

Cuba beat Australia in the gold-medal game 6-2 as Cuban catcher Ariel Pestano was the hit of the tournament with a batting average of over .500.

The only time Cuba have lost in an Olympic gold medal game was against the United States in Sydney.

SCORE REVENGE

The Cuban players said it would have been nice to score revenge by beating the Americans for the title but they were thrilled to land a gold for the nation where baseball is the national passion.

Australia scored the biggest win in their baseball history with a victory over Japan in the semi-finals.

The win guaranteed the Aussies their first medal in the sport and helped take the sting out of a poor performance in Sydney when they played to a 2-5 record in front of the home fans.

"This will be a stepping stone for Australian baseball," said catcher Dave Nilsson.

Japan came into Athens with high hopes that their "Dream Team" of stars from their pro league would restore pride to the baseball powerhouse, after they had suffered the humiliation of losing out on a medal in Sydney with a loss to rival South Korea.

For the people of Greece, the fondest baseball memory will probably come from the most meaningless game in the preliminary round when Greece scored their one and only victory of the Olympics, against Italy.

Greece is a place where every part of the nation is steeped in history, except for the baseball diamond.

Greece were given a spot in the baseball competition as the host nation and cobbled together a team mostly made from Greek-Americans toiling away in the backwaters of U.S. professional baseball.

The Greek team sold out their games in Athens. Their baseball games drew raucous and rowdy crowds who bellowed and danced in the stands as if a European Championship football match had broken out instead of a baseball game.

"This is one of the most unknown sports in our country, but we are always ready to celebrate for a Greek team," said Christos Sotiropoulos, a Greek Olympic volunteer.

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