| Sport | Baseball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1985 |
| Continent | Americas |
| Most recent champion(s) |  United States (2023) (2nd title) |
| Most titles |  Cuba (4 titles) |
The Copa América (English: Americas Cup) is the top international baseball tournament contested among national teams from the Americas. Organized under the auspices of WBSC Americas (previously COPABE) under various names since 1985, including as the Pan American Championship (Spanish: Premundial Panamericano or Campeonato Panamericano), it has historically served as the qualifier for major international tournaments like the Olympics and the Pan American Games. The Pan American Championship was suspended after the cancellation of the Baseball World Cup in 2011, though the World Baseball Softball Confederation is reportedly planning on reviving the tournament under the Copa América name.
Names and history
The Pan American Baseball Confederation (COPABE) was formed in 1984, during the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) congress in Cuba during the 1984 Amateur World Series. The first tournament, known as the Copa Simón Bolívar, was organized in 1985. Serving as a mid-tier international baseball event in the Americas organized by the IBAF (and since 2013, the World Baseball Softball Confederation), the tournament now known as the Copa América has since held been held on an irregular basis.
The 1998 Panamerican Championship served as a qualifier for the 1998 Baseball World Cup as well as the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, which themselves would serve as a qualifier for the 2000 Summer Olympics. The 2000 tournament served as a qualifier for the 2001 Baseball World Cup in Taiwan.
In 2002, the tournament was rebranded as the "Serie de las Américas" and acted as a qualifier for the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo. The 2003 tournament was a direct qualifier for the Athens Summer Olympics held the following year; the 2003 tournament became notorious after the United States national baseball team failed to qualify for the Olympics.
COPABE first rebranded the tournament as the Copa América in 2007, based on a proposal by the Venezuelan Baseball Federation, with the hope that turning it into a more formal event would encourage the participation of Major League Baseball players. The 2008 Copa América was held in Venezuela, with Puerto Rico taking the championship. However, despite talks of making the tournament a recurring event, it was not continued.
Despite the abandonment of the "Copa América" idea, the IBAF scheduled a Panamerican qualifier tournaments in 2010, which acted as a qualifier for the 2011 Pan American Games and the 2011 Baseball World Cup. Another qualifier event for the Baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics was scheduled for the six American teams that did not qualify directly for the Olympics at the 2019 WBSC Premier12, as well as the top two finishers at the Pan American Games that did not participate in the Premier12. The event, initially scheduled to be held in March 2020 in Arizona, was postponed to May 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2025 revival
In November 2024, ESPN reported that the WBSC had approved a plan to revive the Copa América tournament, scheduled to be played in November 2025 with the 12 best-ranked national teams in the Americas by WBSC World Rankings. According to a source, the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic are all being considered to host the tournament.
Results
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See also
References
- "COPABE". IBAFAmerica.net. International Baseball Federation. Archived from the original on October 14, 2016.
- ^ "Béisbol Internacional COPABE". Asociación de Béisbol del Distrito Capital (in Spanish). Venezuelan Baseball Federation (FEVEBEISBOL). Archived from the original on December 30, 2021.
- ^ Rojas, Enrique (5 November 2024). "Fuente: WBSC Américas aprueba Copa América de Béisbol 2025" (in Spanish). ESPN Deportes. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
- "History of Pan American Baseball Confederation". WBSCamericas.org. World Baseball Softball Confederation. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
- Morgan, T. Kent (29 July 2019). "Remembering the 1999 Pan Am Games". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- Lopresti, Mike (10 November 2003). "Olympics won't be the same without U.S. baseball team". USA Today. Archived from the original on 8 January 2009. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
- "Cuba Not to Attend Baseball America Cup". CRIENGLISH.com. September 25, 2008. Archived from the original on 26 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
- "Copa América de Beisbol se realizará en 2025". La Vision (in Spanish). 15 November 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
- "Torneos 2010" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 October 2016.
- "Tokyo 2020 Olympics: WBSC Baseball Americas Qualifier to be staged from 31 May to 5 June in The Palm Beaches & St. Lucie County, Florida". World Baseball Softball Confederation. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
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