For The Associated Press
FUKUOKA, Japan (AP) -The Olympic baseball competition begins Wednesday in Beijing and based on the rosters, it’s easy to see that Japan is willing to do whatever it takes to bring home the gold.
The Japanese roster is made up entirely of the country’s greatest stars while Team USA consists of minor league players whose names most of you wouldn’t recognize, at least not yet. These Americans hope to follow the spike marks of Roy Oswalt and Ben Sheets, who both led the way to victory in 2000.
Major League Baseball decided that no player on a team’s current 25-man big league roster would be eligible to participate in the Olympics. Beyond those 25, all other players are eligible, a pool that goes above 3,000 professionals.
But it’s not that easy because Team USA must seek the permission of the player’s parent club. Even with its hands tied, American officials have worked hard to put together the best possible team, especially after failing to qualify in 2004.
In 2006, Japan won the inaugural World Baseball Classic but lost to the U.S. in their only meeting. The U.S. victory was punctuated by a missed call by home plate umpire Bob Davidson that negated a Japanese run, possibly costing Japan their strongly sought victory.
In spite of the WBC championship, Japanese players and fans still remember the name Bob Davidson and get visibly angry at what they perceive as getting robbed in their head-to-head matchup with the U.S. Point being, these players and fans take great pride in how they fare internationally, especially against the United States, where it is believed the best baseball in the world is played.
This decision to allow Japanese professionals in the Olympics is eye-opening to me, seeing how my Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks are in the middle of a pennant race. We will lose our top two starting pitchers and our starting shortstop, a slick-fielding, lefty-hitting speedster who has been hitting above .320 for most of this season.
It would be like the Yankees losing Mike Mussina, Joba Chamberlain and Derek Jeter for three weeks in August, a move that could potentially cost the team a spot in the postseason. Certainly Hank Steinbrenner would have something to say about that.
The Japanese, however, don’t bat an eye. Not one utterance of unfairness or the hint that maybe this is a bad idea. Hawks fans are proud to see their best players represent their country. Certainly they know what is at risk, but at the same time there is a great sense of pride.
The international stage is a priority and the owners and general managers in Japanese professional baseball gladly give up their best players for what could lead to Olympic gold and heightened national pride. You can be assured that their 2004 bronze medal finish in Athens ignites a passion for redemption.
It’s a pressing issue here, too, because this very well may be the last time we see baseball in the Olympics. Currently both baseball and softball have been voted out for 2012.
Our league will make some adjustments to the season because of the Olympics. For example, there will be a five-day break in August as the players prepare for Beijing, cutting into the number of regular-season games they’ll miss.
Also, any team that loses three or more players to the Olympic roster will be allowed to increase their foreign player limit by one while the Japanese players are gone. Currently, clubs are allowed to carry a maximum of four foreign players at one time. with no more than three pitchers or three position players; that number will go to five for teams losing three or more players, like the Hawks.
I don’t know if I have ever been more interested than this year in how the U.S. Olympic baseball team fares. Team USA will have its hands full battling players who are older and more experienced in international play. Gold in Beijing would be an incredible feat for Team USA and one worth getting behind and rooting for.
As for Japan, anything less than gold would be a disappointment as it puts the best the country has to offer, minus a few Japanese stars now in MLB, up against the rest of the world.
If you’re fortunate enough to see team Japan in action, keep an eye out for two players who could soon impact the majors.
Yu Darvish, dubbed “Dice-K 2.0” by some, is the best pitcher in Japan. The description is pretty accurate and Darvish is an interesting player to watch.
His half-Iranian/half-Japanese ancestry is intriguing on its own. Add in the fact that the lanky right-hander has dominated Japanese hitters with a nasty fastball-slider combination and you have international superstar potential. He is already enormously famous here in Japan and if he continues on his current path will be the most sought-after import player MLB has ever seen.
The other player to watch is Norichika Aoki, a lefty-hitting center fielder with the Yakult Swallows. He is 26 years old and is in his fourth season here.
He won the batting title last year and was hitting .359 at the recent All-Star break. He’s hit 20 home runs and stolen more than 40 bases in past years and plays excellent defense.
After Ichiro made his mark in the States, everyone was looking for the next great outfielder to follow. Aoki is it. It shouldn’t be long before you start hearing about Ichiro 2.0.
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