Baseball is Returning To The Olympics In 2028; What Will It Look Like?

[Matt Crossland]

Image courtesy of © Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images

America’s pastime will return to the Olympics for the first time since the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo (the games were held in 2021 because of Covid). Many people will have questions about this event. What will the format look like? How will this affect Major League Baseball? Will MLB players play for their countries? Let’s try to answer these questions, but let’s look at the history of baseball at the Olympics.  

Baseball was first introduced as a non-medal event at the Olympics in 1912 due to its foreign origin. A team from the United States, mostly composed of track and field athletes, played against Västerås Baseball Club, a Swedish club. It would remain in this two-team format until the 1952 games in Helsinki, where they played a variant of baseball called “pesäpallo.” These demonstration events continued until 1992, when baseball was added to the Barcelona Olympics, where it remained a regular Olympic event until 2012, when it was voted out by the IOC. It was reinstated for the 2020 Olympics and has remained there since. 

As for the format, it is usually an eight-team round-robin tournament with semifinals and a final. The teams would consist of the host nation, while the other seven would have to qualify through continental competition. Imagine it like the World Baseball Classic, but with fewer teams.  

The teams consisted of only amateurs until 2000, when professional athletes were allowed to compete. With MLB having players from all over the globe, many will want to play for their countries. The problem is that the Olympics and the All-Star game overlap. However, Commissioner Rob Manfred said that the league is trying to “iron through those logistics” and has announced his intention to still have an All-Star game, but maybe a slightly longer break for players. Since the Olympics host only eight teams instead of 20 like the World Baseball Classic, the pool of players temporarily leaving MLB will be significantly smaller.  

Regardless, it will be an exciting tournament. We don’t know which Major League Baseball stars will suit up for their respective countries, but only time will tell.  

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