Major League Baseball (MLB) superstar Shohei Ohtani (30-LA Dodgers) has expressed his desire to compete in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
“Of course I want to go,” Ohtani said at a press conference on the eve of the 2024 MLB All-Star Game at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday (Aug. 16) when asked about his thoughts on competing in the 2028 Olympics.
“International competitions are special, and the Olympics are even more so. I think it’s very important for baseball,” he said, “because it’s a way for people who don’t normally watch baseball to see the game.”
Baseball was first included in the Olympic program in Barcelona in 1992, but the sport was dropped after Beijing in 2008.
It returned to the Games in Tokyo 2020 in 2021 before being dropped again in Paris 2024, but will return to the Games in Los Angeles 2028.
Since the Olympics are being held in the United States, the home of baseball, there is a lot of interest in whether or not a major league team will participate.
Los Angeles is home to the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Los Angeles Angels.
Los Angeles Olympic organizers are hoping to bring in a major league team to help boost attendance. They even made a presentation to the MLB owners’ meetings in February, asking for big league participation.
However, MLB is skeptical.
Commissioner Rob Manfred said, 메이저사이트 “It’s hard to get players to the Olympics because there are games every day. The Olympic schedule overlaps with the All-Star Game,” said commissioner Rob Manfred.
Even when baseball, a sport with less of a global reach, competed in the Olympics, MLB’s biggest stars didn’t participate. This is because the MLB commissioner’s office refused to allow them to compete, citing the fact that they were in the middle of the season.
MLB doesn’t send big leaguers to international competitions, except for the World Baseball Classic (WBC), which is organized by the league’s owners.
Some say MLB should actively send players to the Olympics.
“Baseball’s international tournaments, like the WBC, have a limited audience of baseball fans, but the Olympics have a broader reach,” the LA Times wrote in a story about Ohtani’s decision to compete in Los Angeles, “and the Olympics are a chance for MLB, which has been marginalized by fans, to get out of its funk.”
“The National Basketball Association (NBA) expanded its global reach by sending a ‘Dream Team’ to the Olympics. The NBA had to convince Michael Jordan to join the Dream Team, but MLB doesn’t have to do that now. Its top star, Ohtani, has expressed his desire to play in the Olympics.”
