Japan, US and Cuba chase baseball gold in likely Olympic farewell

Thursday 24th July, 06:36 AM JST

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13 Comments

some14some at 08:14 AM JST - 24th July

Include SKorea and go for a lucky draw and decide the winner now. Avoid playing in Beijing Olympics, summer heat, pollution, food problems...and let's hope it will return in 2016 and qualified teams may prove their might then.
thepro at 01:03 PM JST - 24th July

Not if Australia beats you again, Japan. Haw.
larguero at 01:32 PM JST - 24th July

It is a pity the USA does not look beyond the olympics. Baseball is popular only in ten countries. For most of the people in this world, baseball is bottom in popularity. My opinion is that baseball is not full of entertainment, and you have to know the players, statistics, tactics, etc. to fully appreciate the sport. It is not like simple sports as football, tennis or basketball. If people don't know the players and know it is a second category tournament, they will not follow baseball at all. If baseball becomes a world sport (as rugby is aiming to become), they will get much more money than what they would be losing if shortening one season to prepare for the olympic. But this is just my opinion. I am not interested at all in alympic baseball and will love to see football and swimming.
yosun at 01:38 PM JST - 24th July

" fake game matter " caused Taiwan professional baseball looked hopeless, an Olympics gold may save it more or less, if lucky enough~
Sarge at 05:06 PM JST - 24th July

"baseball gold"

Who decided baseball is an Olympic sport?
Beelzebub at 06:07 PM JST - 24th July

Who decided baseball is an Olympic sport?

Well, it's still more of a sport than girls in leotards twirling hula hoops and rolling balloons. Obviously the modern-day Olympics have become one big marketing event for corporations (with a generous dollop of nationalistic fervor thrown in for good measure). I'm disconnecting my TV for the duration....
westurn at 11:09 PM JST - 24th July

Who writes this crap ???

"World Baseball Classic winner Japan, defending Olympic champion Cuba and a talented U.S. squad lead the chase for baseball gold at Beijing in what looks to be the sport’s Olympic farewell."

A talented US Squad ??? Try reigning world cup champions, having defeated the Cubans 6-3 last November in the "International Baseball Federation Baseball World Cup held in Taiwan from November 6 through November 18, 2007." !!!

And lets not forget July 13th 2008 !

"Cal State Fullerton's Jared Clark homered in the top of the sixth to break a 1-1 tie as the U.S. national team defeated Cuba 4-1 today in the championship game of the 24th Haarlem Baseball Week in the Netherlands.

The U.S. improved to 14-0 on the 2008 tour and finished 7-0 in the Haarlem Baseball Week.

The Cuban team is the same team, minus one player, that won the silver medal in the 2006 World Baseball Classic and the gold medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics. It also is the same team that will compete in the Beijing Games.

Today's victory marked the first time, according to the USA Baseball, that a U.S. collegiate national team defeated the Cuban Olympic team in a tournament title game. The Americans also beat Cuba 1-0 last Sunday."

Thats the college kids ! Bwahaha ! Good Luck USA, it should be a great tourney !
westurn at 11:14 PM JST - 24th July

Wrong Larquero... and Sarge for that matter !

According to Wikipedia:

"Worldwide, baseball is estimated to be the seventh most popular sport, behind Association football (soccer), cricket, field hockey, tennis, volleyball and table tennis."

Imagine that... top 10 !
Blue_Tiger at 11:44 PM JST - 24th July

Here's what I loathe about the Olympics:

xx They give the 2008 Games to the most horrid nation with regards to human rights abuses for some unknown reason, and said nation has yet to truly do anything to improver her horrid standing...

xx Introduce a ridiculous sport (Women's Freestyle Wrestling) that a lot of people could care less about (except in Japan), let alone bother to watch, which is merely the Olympic Version of Title IX.

xx Take away one Olympic Sport that at least half of the world loves (baseball), and threaten to take away another sport that has been around for a long time, and which has offered incredible drama and exciting matches (Greco-Roman Wrestling) for some inexplicable reason, yet adding such laughable, ridiculous sports as Synchonized Diving, Women's Freestyle Wrestling, and Women's Ice Hockey (for the Winter Olympics)...

xx Give in to unfounded allegations from a sore-loser national Olympic Federation of Drug Use by the gold medal winner, call for a new round of drug testing after said gold medal winner has already gone home, and, when the man refuses to show up for his drug test in his home town, strip him of his legitimately-earned gold medal, and give it to the silver medalist, who just so happens to be from the country who leveled the allegatiosn in the first place (Murofushi being awarded the Gold Medal after the JOF complains about the gold medal winner being "suspicious").

xx States and repeats ad. infinetum how Red China will hold a glorious Olympic Games, despite the lack of progress on human rights, air pollutuion, and freedom of the press for foriegn journalists, and how people should accept China and her efforts as real. Makes one wonder how the Tibetans, Uighurs, Christians, and political dissidents in China think of Rogge's "soothing" words....

Taking away baseball, and threatening to do so to Greco-Roman wrestling is a farce, stupid, and totally off-base (no pun intended) for the IOC. Jaques Rogge and his cohorts are basically making a mockery of the Games, and the fact that they have turned a blind eye to the mountainous problems that Red China still has yet to deal with is beyond the pale. Too bad that this may very well be the last olympics where baseball is played. Too bad because there have been some magnificent baseball contests in the Olympics in the past.
usaexpat at 12:15 AM JST - 25th July

Larguero, totally incorrect, baseball is huge all over the Americas north, south and central as well as Korea and Japan. I think Jaques Rogge and the IOC deleting baseball is a travesty, is it because EU can't or doesn't field teams? Personally the Soccer World Cup, World Baseball Classic and Olypic Baseball are the events I anticipate most. I love the inter-country rivavlry. Anyway, any 3 of these teams could field a worthy winning team and as some14some said I would add South Korea to the mix, they played pretty well in the World Classic.
roomtemperature at 12:28 AM JST - 25th July

Uhhmmm...Australia will never beat Japan at the Beijing Olymics, thepro. They are not there. Haw!!
roomtemperature at 12:31 AM JST - 25th July

"is it because EU can't or doesn't field teams?"

The Netherlands is part of the EU, according to me.
Blue_Tiger at 05:33 AM JST - 28th July

roomtemperature - A shame, because in 2004, it was pitcher Jeff Williams who totally shut down the Japan Team in both games in Athens!!! A shame he couldn't do it again as a part of another Aussie Olympic Team. Further, out of all the EU nations, there's ohly one that showed up: Holland. Why is it that in the Soccer World Cup, Europe gets to qualify 16 teams, but other regions and continents get only 8? Seems like the Olympic Baseball Qualifying Structure balances this out. Perhaps Rogge and his buddies are a bit jealous.

At any rate, it is a travesty to see Baseball and Softball eliminated from the lympics.