2008 Copa América (baseball)

See also: America's Cup (disambiguation) and Copa America (disambiguation)

The 2008 Copa América de Béisbol was held in the Venezuelan cities of Puerto Ordaz and El Tigre, from September 26 to October 7. The tournament acted as a qualifier for the 2009 World Cup.^[1] The competition was used to select the teams that represented Central and South America — including the Caribbean — in the Baseball World Cup.^[1]

Format and participation

The tournament is split up into 2 groups. Group A consists of Venezuela, Nicaragua, Colombia, Netherlands Antilles and Mexico, and Group B consists of Puerto Rico, Brazil, Aruba, Guatemala and Panama.

Cuba did not compete because they already qualified for the 2009 World Cup as they were Olympic competitors the same year.^[2]

Results

Puerto Rico won the tournament, defeating Nicaragua 4:1 in the final.^[3]

Final Standing

Place Team  Puerto Rico  Nicaragua  Mexico 4  Netherlands Antilles 5  Venezuela 6  Panama 7  Brazil 8  Aruba 9  Guatemala and  Colombia

2008 Americas Baseball champions  Puerto Rico First title

Notable players

• C: César Quintero, Panama (.577/.593/.846)
• 1B: Carlos Rivera, Puerto Rico (MVP) (.375/.444/.719, 3 HR, 10 RBI)
• 2B: Ofilio Castro, Nicaragua (.480/.536/.640, 7 R, 7 RBI)
• SS: Andy González, Puerto Rico (.379/.455/.517, 8 R)
• 3B: Agustín Murillo, Mexico (.323/.353/.742, 4 2B, 3 HR, 7 R, 11 RBI)
• OF: Willie Vasquez, Venezuela (.414/.469/.483)
• OF: Ardley Jansen, Netherlands Antilles (.444/.467/.963, 4 HR, 8 R, 8 RBI)
• OF: Danilo Sotelo, Nicaragua (.385/.393/.462)
• DH: José Velázquez, Puerto Rico (.308/.379/.462)
• RHP: Johnny Gregorius, Netherlands Antilles (2-0, 0 R, 5 H in 15 IP)
• LHP: Raymond Martes, Netherlands Antilles (1-1, 5.02)

See also

• Baseball awards#Americas
• Baseball at the Pan American Games
• Baseball at the Central American and Caribbean Games
• Baseball at the South American Games
• 2004 Americas Olympic Baseball Qualifying Tournament