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Baseball starts at the Olympics under the uncertainty of its future

The sport of diamond has become a mass phenomenon within Japan. However, it faces this Olympic event with the certainty that it will not be part of the Paris 2024 program, something that the World Baseball and Softball Confederation will seek to reverse in the face of the 2028 Olympic calendar.

On July 28, specifically the night of the 27th for the Western Hemisphere, the voice of ‘play ball’ will be heard again at an Olympic event after 13 years of silence. This day Japan and the Dominican Republic, nations considered powers within the discipline, will meet at the Fukushima stadium, a city located 257.7 kilometers from Tokyo.

From that moment, and until August 7, six novenas will be seeking to achieve one of the three medals in dispute. In addition, its work will go further by offering a colorful, dynamic show that manages to hook the public in order to integrate it back into the Olympic program from the games in Los Angeles, United States, in 2028.

“Our journey will not stop at Tokyo 2020 as there is a bright and strong future ahead for baseball and softball. We have our sights set on the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games and beyond because we know there are many positives, “said Riccardo Fraccari, president of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), in January 2021. .

Although baseball is also a popular sport in the United States, the task does not seem easy because the discipline will have to rival other sports that seek to be part of the Olympic program such as cricket, flag football and lacrosse.

In 2013, as part of the effort to bring the sport of diamond back to the Olympics, the International Baseball and Softball Federations merged into what is now called the world confederation. Since its formation, in addition to the return of both sports to the Tokyo program, they achieved the inclusion of ‘baseball 5’, a similar game with reduced dimensions, in the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.

Japan, favorite to win gold in baseball

For the present Olympic event, the Japanese team is the favorite to hang the gold medal. If it did, it would be the first gold for the Japanese ninth that has managed to be among the four best teams in the Olympic tournament from 1992 to 2008, getting a silver medal (1996) and two bronzes (1992 and 2004).

On this occasion, manager Atsonuri Inaba, a former player with 20 seasons of experience in the professional league in Japan and a former member of the Olympic team in 2008, has worked to form a team of experience that will be leveraged in the pause that Japanese professional baseball will give for the development of the Games

Among the members of the local team, made up of 24 players, is the pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, with a past in Major League Baseball, and the outfielder of the Orix Buffaloes, Masataka Yoshida, who is currently the batting leader in the League. of the Pacific of Japanese baseball.

“I’m going to try my best to win the gold medal this time,” said Tanaka, who was part of the team that failed to reach the podium in 2008.

Japan will share Group A with two Latin American nations, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. The Aztecs, who won their ticket to Tokyo by being the best representative of America in the ‘Premier 12’ tournament (where they occupied third place), will be led by Benjamín Gil, a former baseball player older and with four titles as manager in the Mexican ball, and will have on the roster, among others, Adrián González, who after playing with six teams in MLB came out of retirement to participate in the Olympics.

For its part, the Dominican Republic arrives after winning the last qualifying tournament in Puebla, Mexico, but arrived in Tokyo with a list of former stars in the Major Leagues, such as José Bautista or Melky Cabrera, and others on the rise such as Julio Rodriguez

United States, after its second Olympic gold

Despite being considered the inventor of the sport, the United States has only won a gold medal in the discipline. This was in Sydney 2000, when professional players were authorized to be part of the rosters of the participating teams.

On this occasion, the American ninth will be led by Mike Scioscia, a three-time winner of the World Series (as the Major League final series is known), and the roster includes youth players, and members of the league system. minors in MLB, and other experienced with past of ‘all star’ in the considered best baseball in the world.

“I am extremely honored and excited … It is truly a unique experience that I hope will end with the United States winning Olympic gold,” Scioscia said.

The Americans will be part of group B along with South Korea, current Olympic champion after their title in Beijing 2008 and a nation that will also lead the best of their professional league, in addition to Israel, winner of the qualifier from Europe and Africa, who will seek ninth surprise just as he did in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, where he advanced to the second phase of the tournament.

With AFP and EFE

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