The Olympics have always had a love-hate relationship with baseball. In the first decades of the games, host cities staged various exhibitions, including a competition in 1956 in Melbourne that drew 114,000 spectators, but it was not until 1984 in Los Angeles that we saw the first Olympic tournament of baseball, although it is not an official sport.
The United States, fielding a team of college players including Mark McGwire, Barry Larkin, Will Clark, BJ Surhoff and Bill Swift, played to sold-out crowds at Dodger Stadium but lost 6-3 to Japan in the match for the first place. Baseball was again a demonstration sport at the Seoul Games in 1988, along with another team from the United States. the college kids beat Japan 5-3 in the game for first place behind Jim Abbott’s full game and both home runs of Tino Martinez. Medals were awarded, but were not counted in each nation’s medal total.
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Baseball finally became an official Olympic sport in 1992 and was held at every Olympiad until 2008 – Cuba won gold in 1992, 1996 and 2004, the United States. in 2000 and South Korea in 2008 – but was then dropped (along with softball) in 2012 and 2016. The IOC’s rationale was that the two sports did not have enough global participation and that in the case of baseball , the best players were not participating. United States. had gone from being a college player to being a minor league player, but the IOC has always suppressed the sport for the London and Rio games.
Baseball and softball are now back, at least for Tokyo, as two of the five sports the Tokyo organizing committee deemed “event-based” and added to its program. After various qualifying tournaments, six countries will participate, a reduction from an eight-team tournament in 2008. Here’s a look at what to watch out for in the tournament and a few key players.
From July 28, each team plays matches against the other teams in its group. The teams then enter into a sort of double-elimination group (the two third-place teams meeting first in a playoff match). The gold medal game will be played in August. 7 at Yokohama Stadium – in front of empty stands, as will be the case for the entire Olympics after Japan announced a COVID-19 state of emergency in early July.
For players affiliated with MLB teams, only players not on the 40-player rosters were allowed to participate, so the US, Mexico and Dominican Republic teams are a mix of young prospects. , former major leagues or veteran minor leagues. The Japanese and Korean professional leagues, however, are closing their leagues to allow their top professionals to compete.
United States: Manager Mike Scioscia forms a team that combines major league veterans like Todd Frazier, Scott Kazmir, Edwin Jackson and David Robertson with prospects like Oakland A shortstop Nick Allen, the first player Boston Red Sox goalie Tristan Casas, Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson, Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Shane Baz and new Minnesota Twins pitcher Joe Ryan. Frazier has become the team’s de facto captain, and while he and Kazmir have appeared in majors this season, the younger ones are the players to watch. Baz might be the pitcher you want to start against Japan, as he has a 2.26 ERA between Double-A and Triple-A, with 82 strikeouts in 55.2 innings. Ryan, who was just traded from the Rays to the Twins, is also in the Triple-A, where he has a 3.63 ERA with 75 K in 57 innings. Don’t be surprised to see both in the majors later this season.
The team’s top hitter might actually be Tyler Austin, who spent part of four seasons in major tournaments from 2016 to 2019. He was one of the top hitters in Japan’s Central League, hitting .314 /.413/.603 with 19 home runs. One of the coolest stories of the Olympics is that of infielder Eddy Alvarez, who was one of the flagship of the United States. during the opening ceremony. He won a silver medal at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games as part of the 5,000-meter short track speed skating relay team. He appeared in 12 games with the Marlins last season and will become the rare athlete to compete in the Winter and Summer Olympics. While Japan is the favorite, the United States certainly has a chance. It will be interesting to see if Scioscia ends up relying more on veteran pitchers or prospects.
Japan: Masahiro Tanaka is the household name for MLB fans. Tanaka returned to Japan this season and throws for Rakuten, where he posted a 2.86 ERA in 13 starts. He might not be the staff ace, however. Koyo Aoyagi leads the Central League with a 1.79 ERA and Masato Morishita is second at 2.29, while Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1.82) leads the Pacific League.
On the offensive side, 27-year-old outfielder Masataka Yoshida is the player to watch. He leads the Pacific League with an average of .343 and .989 OPS and has 46 walks and just 19 strikeouts. Outfielder Yuki Yanagita is the leading puncher as he leads the Pacific League with 22 homers while hitting .296. Japan’s throwing depth certainly makes them the gold medal favorite, although empty stadiums take away some of the field advantage they would have otherwise held.
Mexico: The big name here is five-time all-star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who last played in the majors in 2018. He’s 39 and played for Guadalajara in the Mexican League, where he hits .340 /.412/ .531 with six home runs in 43 games. The pitching staff includes several former Major Leaguers, including Oliver Perez, who made five appearances earlier this season for Cleveland. Other people with MLB background include Fernando Salas, Hector Velazquez, Manny Banuelos and Sammy Solis. Familiar outfielders include Danny Espinosa and Ryan Goins. Mexico qualified when they upset the United States in the 2019 Premier12 tournament (the United States qualified earlier this year in a different tournament), so don’t overlook Mexico’s chance to surprise.
Dominican Republic: Most of the best Dominican talent is locked in the United States. major or minor leagues, but the Dominican Republic has managed to field an interesting team. Headliners are Jose Bautista, who last played in the majors in 2018, and Mariners outfielder Julio Rodriguez, one of the minors’ top prospects. Melky Cabrera and Emilio Bonifacio are recognizable names, but the pitch is thin, drawing on former major leaguers like Jumbo Diaz, Dario Alvarez and Jairo Ascencio. With the lack of pitching depth and the reliance on some overwhelmed hitters, the Dominicans are far behind.
South Korea: Leveraging its top-flight professional league, South Korea is a big favorite for medals with a vital additional incentive: Military service is compulsory for all male citizens, but the government is waiving this requirement for gold medalists. South Korea are the reigning Olympic champions – Hyun-Jin Ryu beat Cuba in the 2008 gold medal game – but their pitching team are not considered as strong this time around, with several some of the best Korean pitchers – like Ryu and Kwang Hyun Kim – now pitcher in the big leagues.
Leading the way will be veteran wide receiver Eui-ji Yang, a longtime KBO star who hits .348 with 20 homers and leads the league with an OPS of 1.111. Outfielder Hyun-Soo Kim has been a staple for Korean teams in international tournaments – you may recall his brief stint with the Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies – although his numbers have fallen this season (0.288, 12 circuits). First baseman Baek-ho Kang will be 22 in a few days but is already one of the best hitters in the KBO, leading the league with an average of .395 with 10 homers. Tae-in Won, a 21-year-old right-hander who dominates the KBO with a 2.54 ERA, appears to be the ace of the squad, but the staff will be relying heavily on his box, which includes a few relievers who kick off the ’90s superior to Sang-woo Cho and Wook-suk Ko.
Israel: Israel was the surprise winner of the 2019 Europe / Africa qualifying tournament, beating the favorite team of the Netherlands. The squad’s roster is made up almost entirely of US-born players, including four-time All-Star Ian Kinsler, who last played in the majors in 2019. Infants Danny Valencia and Ty Kelly also have big league experience, as does wide receiver Ryan Lavarnway. Among the more experienced pitchers are Jake Fishman (3.86 ERA in triple A for the Marlins this year), Alex Katz (6.68 ERA for the Cubs), as well as former Major Leaguers Josh Zeid, Zack Weiss and Jeremy. Bleich.
One of the most interesting aspects of the Olympic tournament will be the strict guidelines for clock and pace of play. A 20 second throwing clock is used when no runners are on base. The pitchers receive a warning and are then penalized with a awarded ball to the batter. Batters, on the other hand, must keep one foot in the batter’s box between pitches. There’s also a 30-second clock for a coach or manager’s visit to the pitcher’s mound, and a 90-second clock for pitch changes and between innings.
Either way, the reduced tournament and lack of fans will make this much less interesting, and the World Baseball Classic has overtaken the Olympics as the best international tournament. Yet in a baseball mad Japan it will be a big deal with a lot of eyeballs watching on TV and there will be a lot of pressure on the home team to take the gold. Anything can happen in a short tournament where it boils down to one game, but Japan feels like the easy choice here.
