Why baseball cannot be kept out from Olympics and what role Major League Baseball can play?-Part 1
Ironically, a sport which boasts its talent across the world is not included in the Olympics. While baseball featured in the last five Olympic events held, it has been excluded from the 2012 and the 2016 games.
If the nonchalance of the International Olympic Committee is any determinant, it will not be added even in the 2020 Olympic extravaganza. However, sooner or later authorities will accede to the fact that without baseball Olympics are incomplete.
The two countries which maintain robust presence in the Olympic Games have baseball as one of their fastest growing sports. Both Japan and the USA see baseball flourishing in their domestic circuits. Therefore if the talent they possess is not brought before
the whole world, it will be against the very spirit that the Olympics strive to uphold.
The notion that the world’s largest sporting event accommodates all the greatest sports which are being played in numerous countries cannot be justified in the present culture of snubbing baseball. A game which holds attraction for millions across the world
cannot be brushed aside using excuses which defy logic and also the empirical reality.
Olympics participants like South Africa, Australia, South Korea, Philippines and many other countries promise great potential for producing one of the most premier baseball players. If they are given opportunities on consistent basis at competitive level,
the monopoly that Major League Baseball enjoys with regard to producing legends can be eliminated.
There are bright chances that once the present baseball playing nations play under the spotlight of the entire world, it can inspire the other countries. Thus, a spill-over of expertise in this sport will take place, which is good for the development of
the game as well as for making the Olympics fiesta another platform from where the talent churns out.
Just like most other games that are included in the Olympics, a baseball match spans over few hours, which should serve as another argument in the favour of the sport being accommodated in grand events.
The basis on which baseball has been denied an entry is hollow, unsustainable and just not meeting the criteria of general practice around the word. International Olympic Committee say without MLB players, playing baseball in Olympics is more like ceremonial
actions by the folks than the professionals demonstrating their skills. Therefore, he maintains other sports which feature their best talent deserve preference.
However, if this is a rationale behind keeping baseball out, it is unacceptable to begin with. Why negotiations between with MLB and Olympics officials cannot be carried out? Why one of the sides cannot take the leap for the sake of making Olympics an all-encompassing
and all-embracing sporting event?
Complacency by the International Olympic Committee seems to be a bigger problem than anything related to the MLB indifference. This is more so in light of the fact that some of the MLB officials have stepped forward in expressing an interest to bringing
baseball in the Olympics fold.
Off-course, there can be impediments like the scheduling of MLB regular season and that of its overlapping with the Olympic timing. However, these matters are solvable. The fact the Olympic are played after four years can be deployed as an argument to convince
MLB officials to surrender to the world community and make concessions in this regard.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
Continued in Part 2
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