Sadaharu Oh pitches baseball, 8 sports bid for spot at 2020 Olympics

From December 2014:

"Tokyo Gov. Yoichi Masuzoe on Tuesday cautiously welcomed the International Olympic Committee’s decision to open up the event to new sports but spoke of anxiety over the costs of providing them in 2020."

What this means with costs spiraling out of control like an Olympics always does, sports will be chosen by potential TV viewership for sponsors, already available facilities, and the sports in which the host country has the best chance of getting a medal in.

So say Heeeellloooo, baseball and softball!

Wushu? Karate?

Let's just cut to the chase and make MMA the Olympic event instead.

Baseball and softball are not played outside of a few countries and should not be included in the Olympics.

Baseball and softball are summertime sports. Makes sense that they should return to the summer Olympics.

The Olympics shouldn't include any sports that have their own major, globally-watched tournaments like soccer, golf, tennis, or baseball.

Shouldn't that opening line read "World homerun king" ? I believe Oh-san hit a bit over 800 four baggers in his illustrious career.

@smithinjapan

The WBSC - the governing body of baseball and softball - lists 141 member nations and over 65 million athletes.

Oh-san hit 868 HRs in his career. Almost 100 more than the steroid-induced Bonds.