University Southern California Trojans
Trojans in the Olympics
June 21, 1999 | Baseball
The association between USC and Olympic baseball in the United States started back in 1964, when legendary Trojan coach Rod Dedeaux took a group of U.S. players to the Far East for a tour, and then to the Tokyo Games for an exhibition game against a Japanese team. The U.S. won, 6-2.
When baseball returned to the Olympics 20 years later, it was Dedeaux again that managed the U.S. team, leading the 1984 USA team to a silver medal as a demonstration sport here at the Los Angeles Games.
One of Dedeaux's assistants was Art Mazmanian, an All-American at USC in 1948 and the head coach at Mt. San Antonio College. Two USC baseball players were key members of the team: pitcher Sid Akins and first baseman Mark McGwire.
Akins appeared in 2 games as a relief pitcher, allowing no runs and 1 hit in 2.3 innings. McGwire started at first base, and though he hit just .190 (4-for-21) in the Olympics, he batted .391 with 26 RBI in 30 games in the pre-Olympic tour.
USC infielder Bret Barberie was on the USA's gold-medal winning team in the 1988 Seoul Games, the only gold medal won by the U.S. in the last 4 Olympics. It was once again a demonstration sport, however. Barberie came off the bench to play in 4 of the USA's 5 games, and was hitless in 2 at-bats.
The 1992 Barcelona Games, the first time that baseball was an official Olympic sport, marked the only time in the past four Olympics that the U.S. failed to medal and it was the only time no Trojans appeared on the roster.
Jacque Jones continued the USC-USA connection at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Jones, an outfielder, was one of the top players for the U.S.'s bronze-medal winning team. In 37 games (including the pre-Olympic tour), Jones hit .404 with a team-leading 61 hits, and knocked 15 home runs and 49 RBI. He ranked among the teams top 3 in 9 offensive categories.
At Atlanta, Jones was second on the team with a .433 average (13-for-30), and led the USA with 5 home runs (tied with Warren Morris) and 13 RBI.
