Should major leaguers particip8 in the Olympics (2 keep it a Olympic sport)?

Question

I'm lookin' @ the Wikipaedia article "Baseball at the Summer Olympics." 1 of the many reasons y America's pasttime could b dropped is the fact that the MLB won't allow their men 2 go 4 the gold. & as a sports fan, I've been dying 2 watch the big leaguers in the Games 4 years. U'no, Pujols & Vladimir G for Team Dominican Republic, Ichiro in Team Japan, Ryan Howard for Team USA, etc. The NBA does it, & I think the NHL still does it. & I hope MLB won't mind taking a 2 or 3-week chunk outta their ≈ 162-game sched (longer then the 82 games played by the NHL & NBA.} Did I mention that baseball & the Olympics' dopin' scandals r something they got in common? To the IOC, u can + cricket; I'm sorta interested in watchin' Pakistan & India compete 4 a medal. Just don't drop baseball & softball 4 cryin' out loud!

Answer 1

The olympics were so much more interesting when it was about amateur athletics.  I don't want to see major leaguers from any sport play.

Answer 2

The only way to do that would be to either extend the season into November or have a shorter schedule.

Answer 3

Absolutely not!!! The Olympics should be for amateurs not pros! Let's keep the playing field level for all countries to have a chance, shall we?! There is a lot more to the Olympics than winning and losing. IT's about bringing countries together to participate on the same ground as one. The win at all costs mindset the U.S. has  is ridiculous. It's feats of athleticism people, not World War III. Lets keep it even.

Answer 4

It would be too hard as a business for MLB. They would have to stop the season every 4 years. It's too hard on pitchers to play that much. Some players that come from countries with not so good teams would rather try to win a world series then lose in the olympics imo.

NBA is lucky, they can have players play every day & not worry too much about fatigue, plus they happen to have the right time to be in the off season so they can go to the Olympics.

Answer 5

MLB players are under contract to play a 162 game schedule and no team is going to allow their players to leave the team to play baseball somewhere else during the season.  Remember, it is just not the time to leave and go to the Olympics but the time off would also have to include certain world and qualifying games to get there and even more time would be needed for these events.  It is estimated that MLB players could miss as much as half a season to qualify and go to the Olympics.  If you were an owner of a MLB team would you want your players gone for that period of time?

Answer 6

Absolutely not. Keep it to the minor-leaguers.

Most teams are in important runs right now.

For instance the White Sox/Twins in the Central.

The battle in the AL East as well...

Edit: Some players were rostered for the Olympics, but got called up because their MLB teams thought they would be key for the race to the playoffs.

Answer 7

i think they SHOULD let major leaguers play in the olympics because they are the reason why baseball is so great in the US. they could take a break in the regular season to play their olympic games. and its only every four years! its not like it would be an annual thing.

but the 2012 summer olympics are dropping baseball and softball. and its unknown whether its just for the year or for good. i think thats dumb too. thats the perfect summer sport and certainly shouldnt be neglected.

Answer 8

Emphatically no! The MLB season has baseball prescidence over the olympics due to the sport's tradition and history. The olympics were supposed to be for only amateurs and it should have stayed that way. Why should MLB have to take a back seat during the Olympics? Leave it as it is....Anyway, this is the last year baseball will be an Olympic sport.

Answer 9

No, it's a major interruption to an important time in the schedule, and if my team's in a pennant race, that could s***w things up big time.  

Why don't you just watch the World Baseball Classic every few years during spring training?

Answer 10

I think they should wait till after the play offs or at least during the play offs so they could still have the other greats play in the olympics. I think that would be a killer Dominican team.

Answer 11

they should because it would be a lot more interesting