Olympic gold not in baseball’s future
Growing up, I always wanted to play in the big leagues.
I remember hanging out at the Little League fields (the
modern-day pizza parlor), whacking the
”
T
”
more than the actual ball (it was so much easier), hitting the
first (and only) home run of my career, and imitating Ken Griffey
Jr. in the batter’s box during crucial T-ball situations.
Olympic gold not in baseball’s future
Growing up, I always wanted to play in the big leagues
I remember hanging out at the Little League fields (the modern-day pizza parlor), whacking the “T” more than the actual ball (it was so much easier), hitting the first (and only) home run of my career, and imitating Ken Griffey Jr. in the batter’s box during crucial T-ball situations.
But not once do I recall ever wanting to bring home Olympic gold.
It was never the goal growing up to reach the Olympics as a baseball player, and by the looks of it, not a whole lot has changed.
Three years have passed since the International Olympic Committee voted, in what was said to be a “surprise” decision at the time, to end both baseball and softball’s short stint on the Olympic program. Come 2012, when London will host the Summer Games, baseball and softball will be missing.
Baseball became an Olympic medal sport in 1992, while softball soon followed in 1996. Their collective departure will be the first sports removed from the Olympic program since 1936, when polo was given the heave-ho.
Next week’s Beijing Games will be the last time the two sports will be played on the Olympic level until 2016 at the earliest, when the two committees will be able to apply for reinstatement.
The IOC needs to open its eyes, though. Softball has no business being voted off, while baseball, unfortunately, has the upper hand.
Obviously, the decision to wipe away softball from the Olympic landscape hurts the sport much more than it hurts baseball, and its inclusion in the IOC’s vote could perhaps be because of its association with baseball, its inherent link to being solely American, and the fact that the US National team is just too good.
Softball, though, launched a campaign one year ago called Back Softball, which is trying to get the sport back on the Olympic program – a very smart move that I’m sure came to the delight of aspiring players everywhere.
The campaign has a 10-point blueprint that will look to grow the sport globally, increase the number of teams and players everywhere, and essentially cozy up to the IOC while further distancing itself from baseball.
The prize in softball is the gold medal. It is the end-all-be-all of the sport. But it’s not in baseball. It never has been and it never will be.
Like I said, no aspiring baseball player grows up with dreams of winning the gold medal, so although softball wants to be back in the Olympic fold – needs to be back in the Olympic program – big-money baseball will survive.
What’s unfortunate and sad is that the IOC seems to be booting softball for its association to baseball, while baseball is getting whacked because Major League Baseball won’t hand over its top players.
While stars like Jennie Finch, Cat Osterman and Lisa Fernandez will represent the US in Beijing in softball, MLB does not allow its top talent to adorn US unis, and instead sends Triple-A talent like Andrew Oliver, Ryan Lipkin and Kyle Gibson to China, while also barring other MLB players from other countries.
This, unfortunately, seems to be a sticking point with the IOC, which wants the top talent to play in order to find a gold-medal caliber team. MLB’s reluctance to break from its regular season is what stands in the way.
Coupled with its sub-standard drug policy and its successful push toward the World Baseball Classic – which is far better than any baseball tournament the Olympics offers – MLB seems to have, in their mind, developed a better baseball product.
MLB’s drug policy is lax, and any move toward the Olympics would result in Olympic-standard drug testing. Their recent move to keep anything they own or license under the tiniest of umbrellas, a move that would allow big league ball players to play in the Olympics seems like it’ll never happen.
It could be perceived as a greedy move by MLB, but while you shouldn’t expect anything less from Bud Selig or Donald Fehr, the IOC shouldn’t be steadfast on getting the top talent, either.
Without major league players, the Olympics become second fiddle for baseball, while making the World Baseball Classic, which was formed by MLB, all the more money.
I’m not necessarily a fan of MLB’s power in this situation, but the IOC needs to realize the damage of not having baseball on its program – the damage its causing in countries like Cuba and Japan that live for the Olympics.
Moving baseball back to featuring the top amateur talent – where college stars could flash their skills – would actually put an importance upon Olympic baseball once again.
And maybe, just maybe, aspiring baseball players in this country will grow up with gold-medal dreams.
“There isn’t any player growing up thinking they want to play in the Olympics,” Milwaukee pitcher Ben Sheets told the Associated Press in 2005, after he helped USA to the gold at the Sydney Games. “That was one of my greatest moments, but it has nothing to do with the big leagues.”
