Sunday, July 6, 2008 the USA National Team comprised of
college players surrounding the country defeated the Cuban National Team that
will be competing in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in August.
In this colossal upset, Christian Colon (Cal State
Fullerton;
Mike Minor (Vanderbilt;
The National Team (Collegiate) is currently participating in
the Haarlem Baseball Week pool-play action at Pim Mullier Stadium. The team will face
GO
The team will be playing in
The National Collegiate Team has just narrowed their roster to 20 men and will look to add two more members to this team in the next few weeks. The team posts a 10-2 record so far this summer and have beaten Chinese Taipei in the first two games of their series.
We're heading up now for Game 3! Watch live on usabaseball.com!Included in the website are the latest-stories, pictures, videos, history, player features and much, much more! So take a little bit of time out of your day to venture through the new website. Maybe some of the up-and-coming USA Baseball events will be in your area!
USABASEBALL.COM 2.0, as we so lovingly call it, will
hopefully serve as a tool for you, the fans, to find out the latest news and
facts about the teams and players that represent the
So, bookmark the page! Make it your homepage! Tell your friends!
USABaseball.com has upgraded!
]]> The 2008 Tournament of Stars has come and passed
after a successful and entertaining week of baseball action. The 2008 Tournament of Stars welcomed the top
144 18U players in the country to compete for 34 trial spots for the 18U National
Team. After team
The 16U Championships trials have begun as well. Competing in
The National (Collegiate) Team has almost finalized
their roster for the up-and-coming FISU World University Championships and Haarlam
Baseball Week. Narrowing down their
roster to 20 players, the final 2 selections will be announced later in the
weekend. The team is headlined by Outfielder Kentrail
Davis (
The summer has been busy and it shows no signs of
slowing down! But we already can't wait for the rest of the summer!
As
you (and us too!) anxiously await the trials and selection of the U.S. Olympic
Baseball Team, keep updated with all of the happenings with USA Baseball this
summer by staying connected to www.usabaseball.com. There will be so much going on that you'll
always have something new to read!
GO
The ceremonial first pitch has passed as the director of the RBI league threw a strike, right down the middle to the Babe Ruth catcher, Max Stassi.
Babe Ruth will be taking on the NABF at 1pm today.
Stay tuned to usabaseball.com for all of the TOS updates!
]]>Joining
These cities will vie for the next 16-months for the opportunity to host the Olympics. Putting together a "bid" for the ability to host the Olympics is an arduous task that must include plans for building new venues and housing support for athletes and spectators, among other things.
These cities will have until February of 2009 to finish their bid proposals before the members of the IOC will review, visit and evaluate each city to determine which will best exemplify the spirit of the Olympic Games.
The announcement of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games host city will be announced on October 2, 2009.
]]>ESPN and its family of networks will be airing the
best-of-three series between the two schools starting Saturday June 7 at 12
p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) on ESPNU and Sunday June 8 at 1 p.m. (Eastern
Standard Time) on ESPN. If there is a
deciding game three, the third game will be featured on ESPN or ESPN 2,
depending on game time.
So for those USA Baseball fans that are not within a drivable area that have wanted to see the National Training Complex in all its glory--here's your chance!
Schedule:
June 7 - Game 1 - 12 p.m. - ESPNU
June 8 - Game 2 - 1 p.m. - ESPN
June 9 - Game 3 (If Necessary) - 12:30 p.m. - ESPN or 7 p.m.
- ESPN 2
*All game
times reflect Eastern Standard Time
The Golden Spikes Award has announced the five finalists for the 2008 season:
Gordon Beckham, SS, (Georgia)
Aaron Crow, P, (
Brian Matusz, P, (
Buster Posey, C, (
Brett Wallace, 3B, (
The 2008 GSA will be awarded on July 16 as part of a
production by Major League Baseball and MLBAM that will be streamed live on the
Internet exclusively at goldenspikesaward.com and MLB.com. The annual event will
be held this year in
To view stats, pictures and videos on these five finalists, visit the Official Golden Spikes Award Website, available to you on the homepage of USA Baseball.
]]>Holding the national No. 2 seed in this year's tournament,
UNC will be hosting a regional for the third year in a row. Joining the Tar Heels in
For more information on the
Highlighting the 50-player list is Allan Dykstra (
The
Along with the release of the Semi-Finalists, the brand-new Golden Spikes Award website was also unveiled on Tuesday. On the new website you will find updates and profiles for each semi-finalist, featuring pictures and videos. This new website allows the fans, who will be allowed to vote for the first time, research each player individually.
You can access the brand-new Golden Spikes Award website via the front page of USABaseball.com or you can visit: www.GoldenSpikesAward.com
Visit the site and don't forget to cast your vote for who you think should win the coveted Golden Spikes Award for 2008!
]]>Without a "team," per se, we're in a little bit of a different situation, so instead of sending athletes, we sent Team USA Manager Davey Johnson and General Manager Bob Watson. On April 15, the two of them sat through about three hours of press conferences, one-on-one interviews and group media sessions. The coverage was great, and Johnson and Watson made it through every question like pros. Below is the Q/A session from the press conference. More information as always can be found on www.usabaseball.com.
Q: How are you going to select the team?
BW: We'll take non-25-man [Major League] roster players. We'll probably take player 28-40. There is an outside chance -- a real outside chance -- we'll take a collegiate player but mostly Minor League players. We want to pick the players that are playing the best and hot right now to make the best team.
Q: Are you interested in getting baseball reinstated in the Olympics?
BW: The desire is high. I've got my marching orders -- we better win. We were very disappointed in the vote [to remove baseball from the Olympic program]. With the vote in '09 we feel our performance in '08 will go a long way. Bottom line, baseball needs to be in the Olympics.
Q: What did you learn from the 2000 Olympics?
BW: We learned a great deal. We actually learned more from 2004. Balance, pitching is the name of the game. We're going to have the best pitchers available to us. We've already made some calls to the ball clubs... It will be whoever throws the ball the best.
DJ: I've gone through this process four times: two World Cups and two Olympic qualifiers. We have scouts out there to look at them. We go through and study, watch their line. A lot of the players have played with USA Baseball before. If we're picking the right guys, a lot of the guys will go on to the big leagues.
Q: (Inaudible)
DJ: I think the Olympics are probably the single most important event in the world. I've been all over this world and I [see sport] bringing people together, watching sports and seeing people play. I hate to see politics come into sport, but it happens.
BW: The bottom line is to send the message that baseball is a game that is really interested in growing itself around the world. The big names aren't always the selling point. It's the presentation and the sportsmanship. Those are the things that are important.
Q: (Inaudible)
BW: The thing we learned most from non-qualifying in '04 was to have some semblance of balance. As the GM it's my job to find that balance. Davey likes power. He likes speed. He likes balance. So we're all going down that path.
Q: Are you still planning on announcing the roster in July? And will teams be hesitant to give up their best players during the season to the U.S. Team?
BW: Yes, we will announce our club in the first two weeks of July. I know as a general manager sitting in that chair, it's going to be a very delicate spot for the teams to let me and the U.S. have their best pitcher. Instead of looking at player 26, 27, we're looking at player 29.
Q: Is there anything you can do now to get baseball back on the Olympic program?
BW: One thing that we can do is put on a very good show in '08 at the Olympics. Really show the game with enthusiasm and professionalism, the way we go about our business, being open to you the media, but mainly going about playing solid baseball in a way that people want it in 2016 and going forward.
Q: What do you believe is the biggest problem the IOC has in not letting baseball in the Games?
BW: The game is a global game -- to be honest with you, not sending our top athletes because of the timing of most summer Olympics. Our sport has not shut down for a period to do this. Smarter guys than myself have been working on it. With anti-doping, as of a couple of days ago, Major League Baseball has come up with one of the toughest drug policies. I think that will go a long way in convincing the IOC we're serious about doping.
Q: If you come home with a gold medal, what is your next step?
DJ: My next step would be to go to the beach and wear that around my neck. I've really enjoyed my wife working and me not working. I've enjoyed working with USA Baseball.
Q: Do you think baseball and softball have to go in together to make a return in 2016?
BW: They left together so I'd like to see them go back together. They both play with balls, bats and bases. They should go hand-in-hand. Softball has done very well in competition. I'm glad our guys don't have to hit off of Jennie Finch. I think they go hand-in-hand and I'd like to see them go together.
Q: Will it be difficult to make a cohesive team with so little time together?
DJ: A lot of the times the players come in, and we only get one practice and then we're playing in the Games. I know a lot about my players before they get to my bullpen. Sometimes they surprise me though. We bond pretty quick. It's fun to see them grow as we go along. We'll have more preparation for this Olympics than I've ever had -- we'll probably be bored of each other.
]]>Taichung just played host to the IBAF Final Olympic Qualifying Tournament from Mar. 7-14, and I'm currently blogging from Game 2 of the MLB China Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres.
After a week of pretty dramatic baseball, Canada, Korea and Chinese Taipei finished in the top three in the tournament in Taichung, and in doing so, were the three teams to move on to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Pre-tournament favorites Mexico and Australia finished fourth and fifth, respectively, and Germany, Spain and South Africa rounded out the eight-team tournament.
With the completion of the FOQT, the Olympic field is complete: Canada (FOQT top-3), China (host), Chinese Taipei (FOQT top-3), Cuba (Americas #2), Japan (Asia #1), Korea (FOQT top-3), Netherlands (Europe #1), and the United States (Americas #1).
This is the first time since baseball was introduced as a medal sport in 1992 that there will be four teams competing from Asia (previous high was two [’92, ’96, ’00, ‘04])...
...which, is a good segway into the next Asia portion of this post - a quick mention of the MLB China Series. I guess it's fitting that one of my last posts to this blog was from the baseball test event in Beijing late last year...and what a difference a few months make.
The place looks awesome.
From the music between at bats to the artwork on the field, the feeling around Wukesong Stadium this afternoon is legitimately like that of a big league ballgame...in China. It's important to keep driving this home because China has never seen or felt this baseball atmosphere...ever.
Win or lose, it doesn't matter. The point is, there is top-shelf baseball being played in China. From there we go to the Olympic Games, and to there...? Baby steps...but China is most certainly on its way.
In other news...the IBAF and BOCOG will be announcing the baseball competition schedule for Beijing in the coming weeks. Stay tuned to www.usabaseball.com and www.ibaf.tv for more info.
Until then, we'll do a better job of updating this thing-
]]>USA vs. Cuba in the final.
Cuba has won the last nine World Cups.
The U.S. hasn't won one since the mid-70's.
This is EXACTLY how you want this thing scripted.
Tune in tomorrow at 3:30 AM EST time at www.stadeo.tv, won't you?!? You know you're up that early on a Sunday anyway, so why not check us out.
Either way, GO USA!
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