[image title="london-olympic-logo" size="full" id="15036" align="center" linkto="full" ]I really enjoyed watching the Olympic opening ceremonies last night. The cultural show was a let-down, perhaps because I’m comparing it to Beijing but also perhaps because Canada seemed to overemphasize parts of its culture to the point of caricaturization at times. I’m ethnically Canadian, though I don’t have a lot of connection to my past, and nothing in the show made me all that interested in forming a connection, though I did like what they did with projection on the stage. But that’s all for another blog.
There is something special about watching the Olympics that I have trouble describing. Watching the athletes walk in so obviously proud to represent their country, or seeing Los Angeles Kings defenseman Jack Johnson fly to Vancouver so that he could make the opening ceremonies even though he has a game to make in California today, has resonance. More and more of these Olympians are highly-paid, highly-endorsed stars, but you don’t sense it watching them. They have a look in their eye that you don’t see in professional sports – and everyone has it. Its a sense of purpose. Of course, they are there to personally compete in the toughest stage in the world, but they are also there to represent their country.
National Hockey League players were actually forced to concede other things in order to secure the right for them to play in the Olympics. They enjoy it that much. Hockey players aren’t paid all that much on average less than baseball players, but they still walk around with that glimmer in their eye. In fact, it seems as if these professional athletes, who have plenty of time for personally-satisfying competition back in the NHL, are even more eager to play for the sole purpose of national pride. That’s why they fought tooth and nail for the chance to play in the Olympics, and significantly altered their schedule (the NHL loses money because of the Olympics) in order to do so.
The International Olympic Committee has stated that baseball will no longer be played in the Summer Olympics unless MLB ponies up and sends the biggest stars in the world to play. This should function as impetus to start the discussion on MLB’s side. The World Baseball Classic proved itself this season to be a silly little venture into international competition, largely because of its pre-season timing. MLB should interrupt its season, just like the NHL does, in order to allow its players to compete on that stage. Its not as bad of an interruption as it sounds – the whole thing could be played, theoretically, in 10 days, just like the NHL does.
In many ways, baseball is the perfect professional sport to play in the Olympics. Unlike hockey, baseball functions in a way to allow a real all-star team to function. All-star hockey teams at the Olympics stumble as their players learn chemistry with their line mates. Except for a few positional relationships, this is not a problem in baseball. Teams wouldn’t need to practice together. They could simple move to the Olympic village one day and play ball.
How would MLB do it? I think that there are two possibilities. Let’s assume that they would need 10 days off in order to do it, which is what the NHL does. Teams would play 3 play-in rounds against their group, and then the best 8 teams would advance to a single-elimination playoff. The All-Star game would be eliminated, which gives you 3 days. At that point you need to find 7 days, which could come from a combination of the season starting sooner, ending later, and an off day or two being eliminated. I’d propose shortening the season, but the league would never do that. But really, this looks very doable from a logistical standpoint.
From a business standpoint, I think that a good bit of harmless nationalism could do baseball a lot of good. MLB is trying to expand to China and Europe, and the Olympics are a great stage to introduce people to the game. MLB wouldn’t directly derive revenue from the games, but could find ways to market their players and teams around it. Interest in baseball would be rekindled in a lot of American fans. Baseball lacks true international competition, so this would be a great niche to fill.
But overall, they should do it because athletes sometimes need to compete for something other than money and teams that they are arbitrarily placed on. I’ve seen the look in Derek Jeter’s eye while he plays in the World Baseball classic, and that’s a glorified exhibition tournament. This would be the real thing, with players in top shape, and on a platform infinitely bigger. Get it done, Selig.
(By the way… Zach Parise and Ryan Miller are going to lead the underdog USA team to a gold medal! You heard it here first.)
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7 Responses to MLB Needs To Get In On The Olympics
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TIQ IQ
Would love to see it but I don’t think it will happen. Maybe under a new commissioner.
I would like this a lot more than a Global Series in November.
Which talent would the Olympic team draw from? Minor leaguers, college players, MLB stars? A Tom Emanski AAU team? Interest would be significantly lowered if you’re dropping from David Wright to Brett Wallace. But would Wright want to play? I’ll get to that later.
For now, logistically, would it supplant the All-Star game for just that year? How will MLB decide home field advantage in the playoffs? You can’t expect them to be pragmatic and impose some sort of merit-based system, like, you know, the team with the best record gaining the HFA. That actually makes sense. For this very reason, it won’t happen. They’re more likely to have players guess how many marbles are in a bowl, see which number is closest, and choose based on which league that player is a part of. Russ Ohlendorf will win every year. How is that equitable?
Shortening the season reduces revenue. As you said, that simply isn’t going to happen. Lengthening the season also means the Cole Hamels-effect could be even more magnified. Baseball already features the longest season in American sport. Expanding a minimum of 172 games for some teams would be troublesome. You can’t expect guys to throw 275 innings without a carryover effect.
I’m not going to get into a debate over patriotism, but would American MLB stars be willing to risk injury if it doesn’t benefit their MLB standing? The teams will unquestionably be against it and rightfully so. You could argue there are fringe benefits—more exposure overseas may lead to more talent pipelines in places like Europe, China, and India. Would that possible benefit override the risk of letting their best players expose themselves for little immediate team benefit?
If I’m a big star playing on a team in a tight race, no freakin’ way am I going to hop across the pond to possibly play for a Dusty Baker who may have me throw 170 pitches. Then, when I get back, I’m drained and what did I get?
I think the luster of the Olympics isn’t as shiny as it once was. Too many competing interest would likely doom this idea.
I just don’t see how it would work. Plus I think it would kill the WBC. I don’t see why they need major leaguers though. Baseball could still be in the Olympics.
This makes no sense, you would be stopping relievers, starting pitchers most importantly and batters for about two weeks. All-star break is a matter of days. Pitchers would lose sharpness, relievers would come back useless, and all the hitters would need to find their groove again. If you weren’t on an Olympic team that is. The pitchers on the Olympic teams will be thrown out of wack, baseball is all routine. You can’t stop that routine for two weeks in the middle of the season. I take the WBC over this 100x over, but I say no to all of it without shortening the season.
It’s far simpler, and sinister than scheduling. The majority of major league players could never pass the stringent Olympic drug tests.
Who do you have winning the silver and bronze, EJ?