SeaTown Sports Brew - Baseball's Biggest Stars Deserve the Olympic Stage

Aug 12, 2024

Welcome to the SeaTown Sports Brew, a briefing that provides insight into Seattle’s sports teams, including a roundup of last week’s games and top performers. Have an opinion? Leave us a comment or email me here. Want this in your inbox Monday? Subscribe below.

The Leadoff - MLB Players Belong in the 2028 Summer Olympics

The last two weeks were fun, weren’t they? It will be four years until the Summer Olympics return, and 2028’s edition will take place in Los Angeles. It will also feature baseball as a competition. But there will be hardly any interest in baseball if the world’s best players are not participating in the Olympics, and as of now, unless the MLB changes its mind, we will not see Shohei Ohtani, Bryce Harper, or Paul Skenes in the 2028 games.

MLB’s current policy prohibits its players from participating in the Olympics. Why? The Olympics cut right into the heart of the MLB schedule, which is unlike Olympic men’s basketball which takes place during the NBA’s offseason. Teams may not want their best players playing in a tournament that poses injury risk, especially when there is close to half of the regular season left.

Could the MLB’s policy on prohibiting Olympic participation change? Maybe.

Both Harper and Ohtani have openly lobbied to play for their respective countries in the 2028 Summer Olympics when baseball returns as a sport. Ohtani, perhaps makes the best case of why the MLB should change its policy and allow its players to participate: “knowing the fact that there will be non-baseball fans watching the games as well, I think it would be really good for the baseball industry.”

Exactly, Ohtani.

What are other good reasons? Well, the Olympics could provide a boost of interest in the MLB in the middle of the season. This means more interest in the league’s biggest stars. More interest in the league, means more money for everyone, including the owners.

So, would the MLB be willing to let its season be interrupted to accommodate players participating in the Olympics? Possibly, especially if that interruption just means that the five to six day tournament takes place during the already scheduled All-Star break.

Casey Wasserman, the CEO of the Wasserman Agency and the chairperson of a group that pushed to bring the Olympics to Los Angeles, presented to MLB owners, this potential tournament structure. The 2026 World Baseball Classic could potentially be used as the qualifying tournament to participate in the Olympics.

I’m hoping the MLB and the players union work together to make this happen. The men’s and women’s basketball tournaments in the Paris Olympics would not have been as fun to watch if the rosters were full of college stars and players not in the NBA and the WNBA. The world deserves to see the global game of baseball be celebrated. It would not be a proper celebration if the world’s best players were not participating.

Winners and Losers

Winner - Seattle Mariners (63-56) - It feels not right to say, “good vibes only,” without Eugenio Suarez as a member of this team, but it feels like good vibes only since Randy Arozarena and Justin Turner’s arrivals. Despite dropping two of three to the Detroit Tigers (56-63) earlier this week, the Mariners redeemed themselves and swept the New York Mets (61-57). Much thanks needs to go to Cal Raleigh who hit two dingers in the team’s sweep-clinching win on Sunday. Are we ready to say he’s the best catcher in Mariners history yet?
Winner - Seattle Sounders FC (10-8-7) - The Sounders notched a round of 32 Leagues Cup, 3-1 victory over the LA Galaxy last Thursday. Center backs Yeimar and Jackson Regan both scored less than 10 minutes into the match.
Winner - Seattle Seahawks (1-0) - The Seahawks kicked off their preseason with a 16-3 win, giving Mike Macdonald a debut victory in Seattle. The new-look Seahawks defense dominated Jim Harbaugh’s Los Angeles Chargers.

On-Deck

The Mariners begin a nine-game road trip on Tuesday, with a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers. Seattle will try to avenge its series loss in Seattle this past week. After Detroit, the team will travel to play the Pittsburgh Pirates (56-61) for a three-game series. The likely starter for the Pirates on Friday will be phenom Paul Skenes. The Friday game will also be on Apple TV +, which means the Mariners’ new-look offense will make its debut on Apple Friday Night baseball.
The round of 16 match for the Sounders takes place today against the Pumas UNAM at 7:30 p.m. PT; on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, FS1, UniMás, 950 KJR AM, and El Rey 1360AM.
The Seahawks (1-0) continue their preseason, heading to Tennessee to take on the Titans on Saturday, 8/17 at 4:00 p.m. on King 5.
The Storm (17-8) opens up post-Olympics play this Friday, 8/16 on the road against the Atlanta Dream (7-17), at 4:30 p.m. on ION. Seattle then travels to Indiana to take on the Fever (11-15) on Sunday, 8/17 at 12:30 p.m. on ABC.

This Week in Seattle Sports History

On August 15, 2012, Felix Hernandez threw the Mariners’ first-ever perfect game in a 1-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. This was the last perfect game until the New York Yankees’ Domingo German threw his perfect game in June 2023.