The president is reluctant, but he declared his participation in the Otani Olympics. Why is it a valuable statement
Jul 17, 2024
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Major League Baseball's 「Superstar" Shohei Ohtani (LA Dodgers) announced his intention to participate in the Los Angeles Olympics four years later. It seems like a long future yet, but his expression of intention is quite important. Why.
On the eve of the Major League All-Star Game on the 16th (Korea time), Ohtani responded to a press conference held at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, asking about the possibility of participating in the Olympics in the future. The international competition is special and the Olympics are special. Especially in the Olympics, people who don't usually play baseball will naturally have more opportunities to watch it. I think it's important for the whole baseball community" gave an answer.
Baseball has been excluded from the official Olympic sport. It was temporarily revived at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with the strong will of host Japan, but disappeared again at this year's Paris Olympics. And it will be revived as an official event at the 2028 Summer Olympics in LA.
The reason why Ohtani's remarks are important is that the Summer Olympics are usually held from July to August. The LA Olympics are also scheduled to begin in mid-July 2028. This period is usually when professional baseball leagues in each country are actively developed.
In the case of South Korea, the KBO League was temporarily suspended to participate in the Olympics in the past, and league representative players were recalled for the national team. It was possible because the specificity of the Olympics and the meaning of the best opportunity to promote Korean baseball to the world came together.
However, Major League Baseball did not stop during the Olympics. As the world's largest league, one game and one game are directly linked to big money, so there were many negative opinions that each club would suspend the season even if they suffered losses, and who would be responsible if top players were injured.
However, in the case of the LA Olympics, attention is being paid to whether Major League Baseball will not stop this time as it is held in the U.S. mainland. Baseball also experienced a crisis in which it was completely kicked out of the Olympics, and the U.S. is also showing a different pattern from before, with the top players in Major League Baseball participating in the national team at last year's World Baseball Classic (WBC) to recover its popularity in the country.
Ohtani's remarks on participation can also be interpreted as a deliberate answer in consideration of this atmosphere. This is because if Ohtani, one of the most famous players in the Major League, gives a positive answer to his participation in the Olympics, the atmosphere of the secretariat and each club can also change. Ohtani was named MVP of the tournament by leading Japan to victory in the WBC last year, and he seems to have a sense of mission as a national team because he has yet to participate in the Olympics.
In recent years, several owners have spoken positively about the suspension of Major League Baseball during the Olympics, but Commissioner Rob Manfred said in an interview in February this year that `every day games are held tight. If you look at the calendar, the Olympics are usually held at the time of the All-Star Game, so the complicated issues are intertwined," he said, expressing a negative view.
Bryce Harper (Philadelphia Phillies) also supported Ohtani's remarks. Harper hopes to be able to play for the U.S. at the LA Olympics. Harper said "Otani's comments can support these opinions. "What a player like Ohtani tells us is really big." He stressed the impact on public opinion.
Asked by reporters whether he had a conversation with Commissioner Manfred, Ohtani replied, "Not yet. I don't see you often, but I think I can talk to you," he replied.
youll@sportschosun.com
