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As Japan cheered their first and possibly their last title, it was time to say goodbye to an existential crisis disguised as Olympic sport. Why are we here? Will we ever see each other again? If a Fan Cam scans the stands for people dancing on Uptown Funk, in a stadium with no fans, is there some movement really missing?
Officially introduced in Barcelona 1992 (softball followed four years later), baseball was phased out of London 2012, although nearly 120,000 people were interested enough to watch a two-game series between the New York Yankees. and the Boston Red Sox in the former Olympic Stadium in the capital seven years later.
He returned for these Games thanks to the passion of the host country, but the third withdrawal was scheduled for Paris 2024, where breakdance will be on the menu and baseball and softball will not. Yet those sports, bouncing around the Olympic field like wild terrain in the dirt, may well be back when Los Angeles hosts in 2028.
Japan’s previous best performance was silver in Atlanta. Cuba has won gold three times while South Korea has won in Beijing. The Dominican Republic beat South Korea 10-6 earlier on Saturday to win bronze in Yokohama.
Yet as a has-been-and-not-quite-for-the-not-quite American team aimed for their country’s second Olympic title after gold in Sydney, across the Pacific, Major League Baseball’s season continued, highlighting the bond of baseball.
It’s part of the essence of the Olympics (or at least the marketing) that their events are the pinnacle, not a postscript. Olympic sport without the best in the world is obviously a problem, because how many people want to watch it? (See also men’s football. Or not.) But an Olympic sport where the best in the world show up and win consistently, making every tournament feel like it has been won in advance, is also a problem. How many people want to watch this? (I’m looking at you, basketball.)
Without baseball, however, we wouldn’t have had the chance to see minor league second baseman Eddy Alvarez of Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp make his way into history. The Cuban-American from Miami won silver at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics as a speed skater. Now he is also a silver medalist at the Summer Games, only the sixth person and the third American to make the double. And he was the men’s flag bearer for the US team at the opening ceremony.
Without softball, we would have been deprived of the haunting sight of 39-year-old legend Yukiko Ueno propelling Japan to gold ahead of Americans Cat Osterman and Monica Abbott, the top three pitchers of their time clashing one last time on an evening when sweat mingled with tears.
And who could fault Japan for its pleasure here? The hosts, who have won all five of their games and have generously-paid former Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka on their team, beat the United States 7-6 in 10 innings earlier in the week. It was a better night for the pitchers. 23-year-old Japanese starter Masato Morishita of Hiroshima Toyo Carp pitched five scoreless innings.
The hosts took the lead with a home run from 21-year-old slugger Munetaka Murakami of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. The centerfield blast came in the third inning of Nick Martinez, a 31-year-old former Texas Rangers pitcher who is now plying his trade for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball. The league has taken a hiatus for the Olympics, allowing Japan to pick a solid roster of players in mid-season form.
Japan added an insurance point in the eighth with Tetsuto Yamada scoring a Masataka Yoshida single. The United States had six hits in the 2-0 loss. Reliever Ryoji Kuribayashi closed the game, tournament and the sport’s Olympic status and his teammates rushed to the mound, celebrating like there was no tomorrow.
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