Baseball at the 1984 Summer Olympics was a demonstration sport. It would become an official sport 8 years later at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Although single exhibition games had been played in conjunction with five previous Olympics, it was the first time that the sport was officially included in the program, and also the first time that the sport was played in Olympics held in the United States. Eight teams competed in Los Angeles, California, in the tournament. Games were held at Dodger Stadium. Cuba originally qualified but withdrew as a result of the Soviet-led boycott.
The semifinals pitted the first-place team of each division against the second-place team of the other division. Thus, the United States (3–0) played against Korea (2–1), which had a tied record with Japan (2–1) but had lost in head-to-head competition against them. The first-place Japanese played against Chinese Taipei (2–1).
Since baseball was a demonstration sport, no official medals were awarded. The winners of the semifinals played each other for first and second place, with the Japanese team prevailing, 6–3.