Baseball has been played intermittently at the Olympics since 1904, but the sport wasn’t granted official medal status until 1992. Unfortunately, baseball’s full recognition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was only a footnote during that Olympiad because the Barcelona Games also marked the debut of the U.S. men’s basketball Dream Team. At the time, that juxtaposition didn’t seem very meaningful, but the IOC’s subsequent decision to eject baseball from the Olympics tells a completely different story.
In July 2005, the IOC revoked the medal status of baseball and softball in a secret vote that put 28 sports under scrutiny. Although several sports with more limited international participation were evaluated, the two American pastimes were the only ones eliminated. The IOC’s decision was not only exclusive, but also unprecedented in the modern games, as baseball and softball became the first sports voted out of the Olympics since polo was removed in 1936.
Olympic Baseball Results, 1992 to 2008
Source: http://www.ibaf.org
Although IOC officials coyly danced around an explanation for their action, baseball’s removal from the games was predicated upon MLB’s refusal to suspend the season so its players could participate, thereby creating several international baseball versions of the Dream Team, much like the Winter Olympics enjoys at the expense of the NHL. IOC President Jacques Rogge, who previously tried to have baseball voted out of the games as early as 2002, smugly alluded to his motives after the vote was announced, stating that the excluded events could be re-instated if the leaders of each sport “made their very best effort”.
I would like to invite the leaders of these sports that will not be included in the program to make their very best efforts during the coming years so as to be able to convince the session that they deserve to come back to the Olympic Games in 2016. We shall support them in their efforts.” – IOC President Jacques Rogge, quoted by USA Today, July 8, 2005
By “best effort”, Rogge clearly meant “allow MLB’s international superstars to participate”, so when the International Baseball Federation’s (IBAF) petition for readmission did not include such an assurance, it was predictably rejected. And, in its place, golf was selected. The message couldn’t have been clearer. If baseball couldn’t promise Ichiro Suzuki, Albert Pujols, and Derek Jeter, then the IOC would get Tiger Woods.
The removal of baseball and softball was academic at the time because the two sports were allowed to remain for the 2008 Olympics in Bejing. Now that the London Games have begun, and both sports are no longer included, more attention is again being paid to their exclusion. Instead of lamenting their absence, however, fans should be grateful that the sport’s most prominent international tournament is no longer under the corrupt umbrella of the IOC, nor in the shadow of hundreds of other events that garner more attention because most baseball fans remain understandably focused on the professional games being played back home.
As it turned out, the IOC’s decision to boot baseball from the Olympics was a blessing in disguise because it helped give birth to the World Baseball Classic (WBC). In fact, it was only three days after the IOC announced its decision that baseball unveiled the new international tournament, which promised to involve the game’s very best players. Instead of kowtowing to the strong arm tactics of the IOC, MLB and the IBAF brushed them aside. Once again, the message was just as clear. The Olympics could keep its medals because baseball’s international presence was strong enough to go it alone.
The IOC decision was unfortunate and I wish it was different. Baseball doesn’t depend on the Olympics. It never has.” – Former head of the MLBPA Donald Fehr, quoted by Bloomberg, July 11, 2005
Being eliminated from the Olympics is no big deal for baseball. Even though the exclusion has diminished the status of the IBAF, the actual impact on the sport in fledgling countries will likely be minimal. Unfortunately, the same can not be said for softball, which has become collateral damage in the IOC’s war against Major League Baseball. If not for its guilt by association, it stands to reason that softball would have been spared the chopping block, which is why the two sports recent decision to merge into a single federation is a curious one. Considering the underlying politics involved, a better approach for the International Softball Federation (ISF) would have been to emphasize its independence from baseball and recruit more international support by promoting the broad competitiveness on display during the 2008 Bejing Games. Instead, softball has more strongly hitched its wagon to baseball’s fate, so unless the ISF is aware of MLB’s willingness to compromise on the issue of allowing its players to compete, a combined effort to gain reentry in 2020 seems just as likely to fail.
If they don’t propose their best athletes it will be difficult. If they do, then they have a chance just like the others.” – IOC executive board member Denis Oswald, quoted by AP, July 22, 2012
The IOC is basically the international version of the NCAA. Its stated core principles are integrity in athletics, but it is really governed by politics and economics. Until MLB makes it financially worthwhile to the IOC, baseball will remain unwanted in the Olympic movement. In addition, baseball has also become a proxy through which the IOC can lash out at the U.S. Olympic Committee, whose financial dominance of the Games is resented by many international members (denying the bids of U.S. cities is another method used recently). So, instead of trying to appease the IOC’s greed and corruptness, the IBAF should walk away from the Olympics altogether, at least until Rogge final relinquishes his tight grip on the movement and the Olympics become a more welcoming venue for the sport. This way, softball can makes its own case unencumbered by baseball’s baggage, and the IOC can’t blame MLB when it decides to promote sports like squash, sports climbing, wakeboard and wushu instead.
This may surprise you, but outside the USA (yes, there is a world outside the USA) the Olympics are kind of a big deal, and getting baseball into them matters out here.
As an Australian fan of the game, we rarely get to see our best players in action, with live coverage of games to this part of the world an expensive exercise for anything beyond a handful of games a week, with our players scattered across a couple of MLB clubs and the rest generally in MiLB action, yet even though it’s EIGHT YEARS since Australia won Silver at Athens, fans of the game in this country recall that as a highlight, and those who watched the game still recall the controversial outfield decision that may have cost this country Gold. Why do I mention this aspect of the Olympics? Because it underlines the passion fans in this, and other non-US territories have towards seeing the game played on the biggest global stage.
Then again, you probably don’t realise that the rest of the world, even baseball fans, think it’s still a bit arrogant that the MLB championship (effectively the US championship) is called the “World” series.
Despite what you seem to believe, the game isn’t in rude health on the world stage, but then again, perhaps that’s not really what Americans want.
I am not sure how much you read of what I wrote above because your attempt to foist an “ugly American” tone upon my argument isn’t justified. I am not disputing the importance of the Olympics, but the IOC’s hostile attitude toward the sport is obvious, so MLB and the IBAF should simply walk away until a more amendable administration takes over. In the meantime, the WBC is an excellent way for people to see their country’s best players together on one team.
If getting baseball into the Olympics really matters to other countries, then maybe they should be more vocal in their support. If you, and others in Australia, feel deprived, your beef is with the IOC, who seemingly think the only thing that gives a sport redeeming value is merchandising and TV ratings. The 2004 tournament of which you speak worked just fine without using major leaguers, but apparently, the IOC only cares about an opportunity to make even more money.
As for the “World Series” being arrogant, well, unless you dispute that MLB is a collection of the best players from around the world, not just the U.S., it seems like a very appropriate title. Otherwise, it’s mostly semantics. Besides, I am more interested in seeing multi-ethnic teams compete for being “World best” anyway.
Do Irish cab drivers know what baseball is? Would a sweet Kenyan girl even recognize the sport? Even in England, baseball is considered some weird, boring American sport- where they struggle to pronounce player names. Sure, we may see a red sock or Yankee hat on CNN in the annual Indonesian monsoons, but that’s a fashion product of MTV’s yo raps rather than baseball’s appeal.
As a lover of baseball, and fan of this blog, despite the savage and brutal attack on the insightful Australian commenter, I don’t think baseball belongs in the Olympics and agree on the misnomer of the word series. While its beloved by hundreds of millions in a handful of nations, it’s not identifiable worldwide and it’s unique skills are not antiquated feats – running, swimming, jumping, archery, etc. Its a team sport, with one league that matters worldwide.
As for titles, it was called the world series well before the first foreign born players were prominent (a topic id love to see addressed by TCB,) and well before the Montreal fiasco (Toronto doesn’t count as foreign.)
Finally, for as much as I’d love to see Steven strausburg mow down 20 fifth generation Italian American college students on “team Italy” or team china’s collection of those who did a us summer internship, that would get as old as watching the dream team reenact globetrotter skits.
[…] you missed seeing baseball in the Olympics? Neither have I. In fact, the sport is better off distancing itself from the Summer Games. Unfortunately, the same isn’t true for softball, which has decided to join forces with […]
It would take a lot of guts for someone (a new commissioner with a vision perhaps) to take these steps to integrate baseball in the world market:
1) Shorten the baseball season to 144-148 games. This would give a lot of flexibility to play the tournament either at the all star break with players at their peak, or much later in spring training when the weather gets warmer
WBC:
2) The preliminary rounds would take one year before the WBC (either in midseason or in the spring)
3) Play in the WBC (the top 16 teams) the following year
Olympic baseball:
4) Allow 5 Major-League caliber players to play with their national teams. The rest of the team would still be composed of amateur/semipro/minor league players under the age of 23. Men’s Olympic soccer teams allow only 3 players over 23 to play.
3) There would always be an All Star game. However in the year the Olympics are played the midsummer break would last 2 or 3 weeks (similar to hockey) therefore justifying the reason why there should be less than 162 games.
The MLB would have to reach an agreement with the Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese and even Cuban leagues along with the IBAF and IOC to reach a middle ground.
A baseball team with 5 world renowned players (be it USA or the Dominican Republic or Venezuela) would be a better showcase to the world in the Olympics.