PLAY BALL!
It’s fitting that the baseball-crazed nation of Japan is the host country to usher the sport back onto the Olympic program for the first time since its last appearance at the Beijing Games in 2008.
Six countries — Japan, Israel, Mexico, South Korea, Dominican Republic and the United States — will compete for gold in the Olympic baseball tournament, which is set to run from July 28 to Aug. 7.
After each team competes in two games of group play (a round-robin stage in which no teams will be eliminated), teams will advance to a double-elimination knockout stage, beginning on Aug. 1 and culminating in the gold-medal and bronze-medal games on Aug. 7.
Team USA — featuring a mix of familiar journeymen currently without big league jobs and minor league prospects trying to impress on the international stage — will be in Group B with Israel and South Korea. The Americans open play on July 30 against upstart Team Israel, then square off with South Korea on July 31.
Japan, Mexico and the Dominican Republic comprise Group A.
Here’s what else you need to know about baseball’s return to the Olympics and Team USA:
Location
Most of the tournament will be played in Yokohama, south of Tokyo on Tokyo Bay, though the opener between the Dominican Republic and Japan will take place in Fukushima Prefecture on July 28.
Who is on Team USA?
While Japan and South Korea are allowed to call on their top domesticbased players from Nippon Professional Baseball and the Korean Baseball Organization, respectively, Major League Baseball-affiliated players may compete in the Olympics only if they are not on their MLB team’s 40-man roster.
Team USA will field a 24-man roster (split evenly between pitchers and position players) and will be managed by Mike Scioscia, who in 2018 stepped down as the Angels’ manager after 19 years with the club.
Headlining the infield for the red, white and blue is former Yankee and Met Todd Frazier, as well as Red Sox top prospect Triston Casas.
Joining them is Marlins prospect Eddy
Alvarez, who won a silver medal at the
2014 Sochi Games in short track speed skating.
Onetime Yankees draft pick
Tyler Austin should be a familiar name in the Team USA outfield, while Edwin Jackson, Scott Kazmir and former Yankee David Robertson should jog some memories for baseball fans among the pitching staff. Young Blue Jays hurler Simeon WoodsRichardson carries a Mets connection to Tokyo: He was part of the trade that brought Marcus Stroman to Queens in July 2019. In all, 14 members of the 24-man roster have logged time in the majors, including two World Series champions in Jackson (2011 Cardinals) and Robertson (2009 Yankees).
Who else is in the tournament?
Active MLB players may not be permitted to compete in the Olympics, but the six teams are still packing heaps of All-Star talent.
Former Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka, who pitched seven seasons in The Bronx before returning to play professionally in Japan this past winter, leads the way for the host nation.
The Dominican Republic team — managed by slugger Juan Gonzalez — boasts two-time MLB home run leader Jose Bautista and former Yankees outfielder Melky Cabrera.
Five-time All-Star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who last played with the Mets in 2018, is the big name for Mexico. Gonzalez arrives in Japan with 317 homers on his major league résumé.
Longtime Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler, a four-time All-Star and 2018 World Series champion with the Red Sox, is the headliner for Israel, along with former Mets utility man
Ty Kelly.