IOC Drops Baseball, Softball From Games

[Papa_Bull]

Olympics

Softball reeling after getting the boot

Players, coaches bemoan the loss of the international stage the Olympics provide.

By BOB PUTNAM, Times Staff Writer

Published July 9, 2005

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Michele Smith continues to be an ambassador for women's fast-pitch softball.

A member of two Olympic gold-medal squads (Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000), Smith stages dozens of Little League sponsored clinics around the country, works regularly as a commentator for ESPN and pitches for a professional team in Japan.

So Smith was taken aback when the International Olympic Committee decided Thursday to drop softball and baseball from the 2012 Games in London.

"It's a blow to the sport," Smith, who lives in Treasure Island, said Friday. "The Olympics added credibility and put softball among the elite. Now that it's not there, we'll just have to work harder to make it more mainstream and gain acceptance worldwide."

The IOC membership held an unprecedented vote by secret ballot on the fate of all 28 Summer Olympic sports in Singapore, during the same session at which the 2012 host city was announced.

Baseball, which became a medal sport in 1992 at Barcelona, where Cuba won gold, appeared to be the most vulnerable because it had little support in Europe, where more than 40 percent of the IOC members reside, and top major-leaguers would not be given time off in midseason to compete.

Softball seemed to have gained enough support to receive a majority despite U.S. women winning all three gold medals since the sport joined the Olympics, at the 1996 Atlanta, 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Games.

"I was very upset because I think it was more politically driven," Smith said. "The IOC seemed to lump baseball and softball together as bat and ball sports."

Baseball still can thrive because of its popularity at the professional level. Softball players have to make a name for themselves by competing at flash-point events, such as the NCAA World Series and the Olympics, where they build up mountains of goodwill and some level of celebrity before receding from the public consciousness and into, for example, National Pro Fastpitch, a women's pro league that runs from June through August and has just a $100,000 salary cap for each of its six teams.

USF softball coach Ken Eriksen, an assistant coach in Athens, worries about future participation numbers.

"There could be some ramifications down the road," he said. "Young girls are at a crossroads in deciding what sport they want to choose. Will they play soccer or softball? I wonder if that decision will depend on whether they can wear USA on their shirts and compete in the Olympics.

"I just really think this decision quelled the enthusiasm we had gained in the sport."

The elimination comes at a time when softball is soaring in popularity. The number of countries with national organizations in the sport has doubled to 126 since the 1991 announcement that softball would be an Olympic sport in 1996.

"I know that when I first started coaching softball in travel ball more than 10 years ago, there were six 18-under teams in Florida," said Palm Harbor University's Chuck Poetter, who coached 2004 Olympian Kelly Kretchman when she played for his Clearwater Bombers team. "Now there are 400. That kind of shows how big it's become."

But the United States might be too good for its own long-term good. In nine Olympic games last year, the Americans outscored opponents 51-1. Four games were stopped because of the mercy rule.

"It's weird because it seemed like other countries were catching up to us," Smith said. "We lost three games in round-robin play in 2000 before winning the gold medal. Then in Athens, the pitching mound was pushed back from 40 to 43 feet to increase scoring. It seemed to help the U.S. more than any other country. It seemed like the IOC took advantage of our success and used it against us."

Pitcher Lisa Fernandez, a three-time gold medalist, told the Associated Press she blamed the decision on IOC president Jacques Rogge. "Rogge has basically conspired against the sports to get them removed. We had done our job as a sport worldwide to show we belong. I feel one person, the president of the IOC, a person from Europe, has taken it upon himself to ruin the lives of millions, actually billions of women."

Rogge tried but failed in 2002 to get rid of baseball, softball and modern pentathlon.

"I could see this coming after what happened in 2002," Eriksen said of the decision to cap the number of sports at 28 and review the program every four years. "Still, I was hoping the popularity of the sport and the fact that it's been so clean in regards to steroids, would help pull us through."

The IOC rejected adding squash and karate, which failed to get the necessary two-thirds approval. Baseball and softball will remain on the program for the 2008 Beijing Games. The sports, the first eliminated since polo in 1936, are eligible to reapply for the 2016 Games.

But that will not be good enough for softball players such as Dani Hofer, a recent graduate of Palm Harbor University who was named the Gatorade national softball player of the year. The 18-year-old right-hander signed with Louisiana State and dreamed of competing in the 2012 Games.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

A sample of reaction Friday from officials, coaches and players to the IOC's decision to drop baseball and softball from the 2012 London Games:

"I would like to invite the leaders of these sports that will not be included in the program to make their very best efforts during the coming years so as to be able to convince the session that they deserve to come back to the Olympic Games in 2016. We shall support them in their efforts." - Jacques Rogge, IOC president.

"I wasn't even thinking about it a day ago. Waking up to the news in London and going to bed with the news about softball, I thought it was a nightmare. I went down and got the paper this morning and there was nothing in it, so I thought maybe it was just a dream." - Mike Candrea, U.S. softball coach.

"I think they've made a big, big mistake. Baseball is played by all countries now and softball, too. That's really going to hurt the Olympics. I don't want to knock the other sports, but I think this is a big mistake. I am very disappointed." - Tom Lasorda, former Dodgers coach and U.S. baseball coach.

"Young boys always envision playing Major League Baseball. For them, Olympic baseball was not something they aspired to but something they had an opportunity for. In our sport, it was always get a scholarship to college and the Olympic dream. That was ripped away from the 126 countries that play the sport of softball. That just vanished. Why did this happen after three successful Olympics? What wasn't done that needed to be done." - Dot Richardson, U.S. softball gold medalist in 1996 and 2000.

"What kind of message does the IOC send when there is complete secrecy on an issue that is important to the world? I strongly urge that we reconsider the idea of sending a sealed envelope by messenger to a notary to Switzerland who keeps it in a safe somewhere. It's off message in the year 2005. We should be proud that we're able to decide and we should know exactly what the outcomes should be." - **** Pound, Senior IOC member from Canada.

"They wanted us out. They didn't get us out - it took them three years and now they got us out. I just think the IOC wanted some opportunity to introduce several new sports and in order to do that, they had to remove a couple of sports and that's what they did today." - Don Porter, American president of the international softball federation.

"If that did play a role in the decision, then that's pretty pathetic. I don't mean to cut anybody down, but it's supposed to be the best of the best, and if you get knocked for your excellence, then that's just not right." - Crystl Bustos, two-time softball Olympian on U.S. outscoring opponents 51-1 in Athens.

"I feel like somebody who has been thrown out - it's certainly not a good feeling. I don't think the IOC members know our sport deeply enough. But we'll continue to survive. We're looking ahead to Beijing and putting on a good show." - Aldo Notari, Italian president of the international baseball federation.

"This really hurts Japan. Baseball and softball are both team sports that draw a lot of excitement and are the only ones that medals are a virtual certainty." - Tsutomu Hayashi, Japan Olympic Committee secretary general.

"Those who bear most of the blame are the owners of the professional leagues who refuse to free up their ballplayers to compete." - Carlos Rodriguez, Cuban Baseball Federation president.

"There are countries that don't have the opportunity to compete in other sports and play for medals, and in that sense the Latin American countries are the most affected." - Julio Cora, Puerto Rico Baseball Federation tournament director.

[Last modified July 9, 2005, 01:02:12]

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/07/09/Sports/Softball_reeling_afte.shtml

[smazza]

the olympics are so passe

"our most prized olympic sports" are track and field the  baseball and softball

nyc was lucky not to get it.it is a losing proposition

though i had a ball in LA in 1984

i worked nights a bar in the olympic village.those foreigners were  very friendly to the locals

[bullwark]

Baseball and softball were dropped because of an American backlash by the IOC, lets remember these are American based sports, its a **** shame for the kids who have trained for this moment from all the nations that were to compete in these sports.