After 2016 rejection, baseball says no to 2020 bid

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The president of the International Baseball Federation said this morning he does not anticipate the sport trying to return to the Olympics in 2020.

The International OIympic Committee last week rejected baseball’s bid to rejoin the Olympics in 2016.

‘The IOC has no interest in baseball,’ IBAF President Harvey Schiller wrote in a letter to supporters. ‘It makes much more sense to spend all our time, money and effort in continued development of the game around the world, as opposed to making futile attempts to work with a group that has no interest in partnering with baseball.’

The IBAF worked with Major League Baseball, the players union and the Japanese leagues in designing an Olympics bid that would provide maximum television exposure, but the IOC wanted MLB to do what the NHL does: stop the season so the best players could participate in the Olympics.

‘It is not a concession asked of soccer or tennis or other sports,’ Schiller wrote, ‘and we did everything possible to provide the best alternative plan that would include using top players for the five-day tournament.’

-- Bill Shaikin