I feel like the Soviets must have felt like in 1980:
Now here’s a stunner: The defending champion U.S. baseball team will be at home next summer while countries like the Netherlands and Italy compete for an Olympic medal in Athens.
Manager Frank Robinson and his team of mostly minor leaguers were beaten at their own game, falling to Mexico 2-1 Friday — a loss that eliminated them from a qualifying tournament with no second chances.
I am really speechless.
NYer
In which sport did the Soviets have a team of mostly minor leaguers in 1980?
mayor jimmy
i for one am not surprised. baseball is a dying sport full of crying pansy overpaid players. where were these guys when the chance to win an actual WORLD series came around?
M. Scott Eiland
Unfortunately, the timing of the Summer Olympics pretty much guarantees that the best players won’t participate–they happen in mid-summer, right in the middle of the MLB season–the same is true for the Japanese major leagues. You’re not going to see “dream teams” coming from the Dominican Republic, Japan, and the United States for this reason, which is why the upset in 2000 was such a big deal–US minor leaguers beat Castro’s squad of captive players who would probably be playing major league ball–or at least AAA–were it not for pointed guns keeping them in Cuba.
Andrew Ian Dodge
Well don’t worry Athens plans to hold the Olympics are so behind they might not finish it by then.
Max Sawicky
There’s your miserable failure. And Bush is supposed to know baseball. Feh.
Matt
Bring back the college players.