That’s right. Our national pastime has been chopped from the list of sports for the 2012 olympics in London along with softball. As a lifelong baseball player and fan, this is pretty unsettling.

I understand that it is not the most demanding sports from a cardiovascular perspective, but hitting a 100 mph fastball has always been called the most difficult sporting activity. These young men and women train their minds and bodies to complete in their sport, and I think that it is a travesty that table tennis, sailing, and badminton are included, but baseball is not. Baseball is more than a US sport. It is widely played in Central and South America as well as Canada, Japan, and the Netherlands.

At the start of the 2007 season, Major League Baseball reported, 246 of the 849 players on team rosters were born outside the United States. That is 29% of players in the Majors. I think it is pretty safe to say that baseball is being played all over the globe.

Baseball and softball are still considered Olympic sports, but have been removed from the Olympic program for 2012. They can be brought back for 2016. I urge anyone with a voice and a passion for baseball to write emails and letters to the Olympic committee telling them to bring back baseball and softball. Here is a link to the Olympic Committee site: Olympic Committee Website.

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